How rice failed to unify Asia: Globalization and regionalism of early farming traditions in the monsoon world
Processes of globalization were ultimately driven by migration, of farmers with their crops, or the adoption of new diversity through contact. However, despite such processes, agricultural systems and foodways remain diverse and often regionally distinctive. These distinctions are not easily explained either by ecological differences, or entirely by broad cultural traditions. Instead patterns of regionalism persisted despite globalization in part due to disjunctions of cultural traditions and ecological constraints and the complex mosaic of these boundaries.