Globalization has challenged concepts such as local culture and cultural autonomy. And the rampant commodification of cultural products has challenged the way we define culture itself. Have these developments transformed the relationship between culture and autonomy? Have traditional notions of cultural autonomy been recast? This book showcases the work of scholars who employ a broad definition of culture to trace how issues of cultural autonomy have played out in various arenas, including literary criticism, indigenous societies, the Slow Food movement, and skateboarding culture. Although they focus on the marginalized issue of autonomy, they reveal that globalization has both limited as well as created new forms of cultural autonomy.