Metroethnicity

So I've got a multiethnic background and am a hybrid of a few different cultures. What is foreign to me is being rooted in one culture or country with blood relations and knowledge of a "homeland," (region of a country), ancestors, and lineage. In terms of my ethnicity, it has always been a contruct I'm piecing together...

I've recently read a very interesting article called, "Metroethnicity, language, and the principle of Cool," by John Maher.

Here is an excerpt:

"Metroethnicity is a reconstruction of ethnicity: a hybridized ‘‘street’’ ethnicity deployed by a cross-section of people with ethnic or mainstream backgrounds who are oriented towards cultural hybridity, cultural/ethnic tolerance and a multicultural lifestyle in friendships, music, the arts, eating and dress."

No surprises here... The article goes on to discuss the ties between language and identity. In this age of globalization, I am fascinated with the way countries either accept or reject global perspectives and to a degree, identity. What they accept, why they reject other things, and how it encourages some countries to revisit their cultural heritage in new ways. Consequently, how does that affect one's identity in countries around the world, speaking English as a Lingua Franca?

Globalization encourages self-assertion to a degree we've never seen before. I think this crosses all frontiers and cultures. And it's not about "becoming American." It's about "lifestyle emancipation," as Maher puts it.

Even if I was tied to my biological roots/land, would I still seek a "lifestyle emancipation" from my culture? I wonder.