Global from Global Perspective?

I really liked Tsing’s idea of friction and like Robin pointed out, it is interesting to consider Tsing’s concepts of “universals”, “globalization”, and “friction” as it applies to past theorists and articles. In chapter 3 Tsing mentions that we often fall into the trap of using locality to find the “cultural specificity” she talks about. I keep wondering why “locality” seems tempting—why can’t we examine the global from a global perspective? It seems that we constantly need local examples and comparisons to define or create the “global picture”. How can Tsing’s definition of “globalization” be defined in a way that Tsing herself would approve of?

On a side note—it would be pretty cool if during section we could discuss the definitions of “universals” vs. “global” (sometimes I feel they are used in inconsistent ways).