Global connections

When I was reading Friction, one of the questions that resonated with me was the one about global capitalism. Tsing asks, "Why is global capitalism so messy? Who speaks for nature? What kinds of social justice make sense in the twenty-first century?" Then I remember how during my trip to Honduras this past summer while driving to see the Mayan Ruins, I saw a billboard that caught my eye –especially because I had been looking at some of the work by Fatimah Tuggar, who was going to be a guest speaker in my class. Anyway, the billboard showed an indigenous woman with a cellphone, and I was sorry I did not take the picture because it showed some of the contradictions of globalization but also because it showed the inescapable incursion of technology in developing countries. It showed both the conversation Tuggar wants establish, and some of Tsing's concerns, the friction of things, travel, movement, translations. When I boarded the plane to return to the States, I browsed the in-flight magazine and there it was, the same add. I saved the page and now here it is. The caption reads:

"Panana, millenary and modern. Panama is a land of unexpected contrasts, with a disposition open towards trade. Businesses here are of the most highest and sophisticated level. But it is in the human relations where more vividly the intelligence, and the profound and sublime nature of the Panamanian is reflected."