COMMUNITY VALUES AND GLOBALIZATION

The keynote speaker at this symposium in Calgary, Canada, concerning the effects of globalization on community values, delivers his fuzzy message with whispering and shouting that makes it sound like a revival meeting. Eschewing concrete examples, his one-hour jeremiad consists of dozens of authoritative statements assembled in random order. Between sentences he puts his nose next to the microphone and sucks in air with a great "whoosh." Other lecturers speak less and cover related subjects such as travel, AIDS, and the Internet, with some taking questions from the live audience. The conference demonstrates that the whole world now suffers from the global epiphany of 9/11 and struggles to understand its impact on smaller societies. J.A.H.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]