Canclini is director of the Program of Studies on Urban Culture at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitan in Mexico City.

From the Primitive to the Popular Theories about Inequality between Cultures
1

Introduction to the Study of Popular Cultures
21

Artisanal Production as a Capitalist Necessity
37

The Fractured Society
55

From the Market to the Boutique When Crafts Migrate
69

Fiesta and History To Celebrate to Remember to Sell
87

Toward a Popular Culture in Small Letters
105

Notes
115

Bibliography
121

Index
127

"Transfoming Modernity" tells the story of the popularization of Mexican culture and crafts. He shows how the desires and tastes of tourists have homogenized traditional Mexican crafts into the few forms favored by tourists (like those associated with death and skulls). He also talks of the folklorization of festivals. Festivals ostensibly in honor of saints have become huge tourist attractions, which have lead to their mutation into little more than a market to sell goods. Very, very interesting and theoretical look at how the global affects the local, and at culture change...something people often talk about but never demonstrate this effectively.