The documentary Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh (John Page, Chris Breemen, Helena Norberg-Hodge & Eric Walton, 1993) provides an excellent introduction to the local, human scale traditions in Ladakh, and how local communities have been affected by the industrialised notion of “progress”. The observation that consumer culture as portrayed in advertisements and Western media appeals primarily to insecure teenagers is apt. I am tempted to qualify the observation from my autistic perspective: consumer culture is designed to target neuronormative teenagers, […]
Jorn Bettin is an autistic anthropologist by birth and a knowledge archaeologist by autodidactic training. He is the author of The Beauty of Collaboration at Human Scale, and is part of Autistic Collaboration – a mutual support hub for neurodivergent individuals and ventures.