Friction

Anna Tsing examines globalization not as a smooth, uniform process but as friction generated by encounters across difference.

Her ethnography follows political, economic, and environmental relationships in Southeast Asia and beyond.

The book shows how projects of global integration depend on local histories, unexpected collaborations, and uneven power.

Tsing pays particular attention to translation, negotiation, and the ways marginalized actors reshape global processes.

Its central insight is that friction is not merely an obstacle but a condition through which connections become possible.