Identities, Cultures, Spaces

Book excerpt: The intense circulation of people, contents and goods that characterises the current process of globalisation has led to unprecedented cultural encounters, which can be perceived either as the source of conflicts or opportunities for dialogue. This volume adopts a multidisciplinary approach to address issues that emerge at the confluence of “identity” and “culture”; and in their articulation, with the involvement of distinct geographic factors, by means of analyses of the notions and discourses involving such concepts, and the examination of specific intersectional contexts. From the macro- to the micro-level, from the collective to the individual, and the real to the constructed, then to the imagined and back to the real; from ideology to utopia, isolation to integration, and from “belonging” to “possessing”, the book discusses the role of shared spatialities in the forging of commonalities, and the multiple aspects that influence the formation of identity and the legitimation of cultural practices, as well as introducing conceptual tools like “dialogue zones” and “homely landscapes”.