This book explores ideas put forward by the Kyoto School of philosophy in Japan and by continental European philosophers including notably Gabriel Marcel concerning the relationship between globalization and identity. It discusses in particular how philosophers in both East and West have become aware of the propensity of globalization to homogenize culture and identity – of people, places and things – worldwide, how such philosophers show that this neutralization of culture and identity is different from the emptying process aspired to in Buddhist meditation, and how through a process of “concrete self-awakening” people can regain, despite the effects of globalization, an appreciation and understanding of the rich, individual nature of the identity and culture of people and places. Throughout, the book considers a wide range of concepts, thinking and approaches by both Eastern and Western philosophy.
