INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

 

The aim of the course paper is to describe the phenomenon of globalization (especially in cultural sphere), to analyze the effects produced by globalization and call attention both to its negative and positive impacts. The understanding of globalization’s negative effects on culture can help us preserve our values and cultural identity, while the knowledge of its positive influences will allow us to derive benefits from it.

For most of human history, people’s picture of the world was determined by their immediate surroundings. There was no way of knowing what was happening on the other side of the planet. The 20^th century has seen a profound change. Technology has brought people together. Television programs showing life in New York or Paris are watched in Argentina, Botswana and Indonesia. Books written in Germany or Canada are routinely printed Spain, Hong Kong or China. Wearing jeans, eating burgers and listening to rock or rap have become the habits of hundreds of millions of people across the globe. All these are results of the phenomenon called globalization. The first writer to use “globalization” in its modern sense was an American academic Theodore Levitt.  In 1983 he observed that all around the world people’s tastes seemed to be converging. Globalization has become such an important and pervasive word in our current vocabulary that it has almost become the flavor of the day. Despite its wide use, it remains a confusing concept in many ways.

Globalization has been one of the most hotly-debated topics in international economics over the past few years. Many social scientists have devoted much time and effort to analyzing the complex processes that characterize international activities today, but they have not formulated conceptual models that adequately explain current global events. Contemporary processes of globalisation have several dimensions or faces: technological, cultural, religious, economic and political. In this work I concentrate on the cultural aspect of globalization because it has a direct influence on our everyday life. Cultural globalization refers to the notion that people around the world are conforming in their habits (such as watching the same television shows and eating the same food) and their attitudes (such as beliefs about democracy and human rights).

For me the concept of globalization is of great interest, because it has become an integral part of our everyday life and as a future specialist of “Intercultural Communications” and “Area Studies” I am keen on understanding the process in which cultures and societies connect and interact.

So, in this work I am trying to give both the general characteristics of globalization and the main problems that come forth in the process of cultural globalization. The structure of the paper is as follows:

Chapter 1 describes the process of globalization, gives its brief history bringing forward two contradictory views concerning the starting data of globalization. It also highlights present factors active in the spread of globalization and speaks about the tensions that result from it.

In the second chapter first of all the concept of culture is discussed, as only after having  a basic notion of  it we can understand the phenomenon of cultural globalization. Afterwards, general characteristics of cultural globalization are given. In this chapter we also come across with idea that cultural globalization represents the “Americanization” of world culture, together with which the concept of “McDonaldization” is described as a synonym to globalization. The next point discussed in this chapter is the impacts of cultural globalization (both positive and negative).

The work ends with a conclusion and a bibliography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 1

GLOBALIZATION: HISTORY, FACTORS, TENSIONS

 

   In the last twenty-five years the term “globalization” has come to the forefront of political discussions. The implications of globalization have always existed, but it has not been until more recent times that the full affects and the conditioning of globalization have been more apparent. Globalization is mainly a socio-economic term which is nowadays synonymous with the economic development of a country. In simple terms, it is a continuous process through which different societies, economies, traditions and culture integrate with each other on a global scale through the means of communication and interchange of ideas. Globalization in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones. It can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together.¹ This process is a combination of economic, technological, sociocultural and political forces. Globalization is often used to refer to economic globalization, that is, integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology. It personifies an intensification of worldwide relations and interactions with local environment and way of life being affected by what is happening elsewhere in the world. The intensification of these relations can be grouped into in the following categories: ecological (worldwide recognition of problems, such as climate change), economics (an evolving awareness of wages for instance connected with the goods purchased, the working conditions and prices), strategic (implications of global weaponry) and ethical issues (democracy, human rights, poverty and recognizing the value of the cultural mosaic).²

  

1.1. HISTORY OF GLOBALIZATION

 

  According to most scholars and researchers, it is the modern age which led to the origin of globalization. In this age, wide spread development took place in the field of infrastructure and connectivity. This led to more interaction between the nations and sharing of ideas, culture and tradition took place. All these put a direct impact on the process of globalization. In the economic scenario, more trade links started taking place between countries on a global scale which influenced global as well as domestic economies to a great extent. However, there are some scholars who point out that the origins of the history of globalization can be traced back to the ancient times. According to them globalization began when the first humans, who originated in what we now call East Africa, traveled north first, and then into Asia and Europe in the one direction, and to Siberia and then into the Americas in the other direction. Migration was thus the first human experience in globalization, one that placed the whole world on a single stage. In this particular time period, we can see the mix of cultural and religious ideas.³

   Globalization in the medieval age: The Islamic period in the medieval era is an important epoch in the history of globalization. This was when the Jewish and the Muslim traders started going to various parts of the world to sell various items. This led to a blend of ideas, traditions and customs. Then came the age of travel, when courageous individuals like Marco Polo and Columbus, started expanding the parameters of the European experience by traveling and exploring, driven partly by curiosity, partly by a search for spices and silks, and partly by a simple desire to find out whether the earth was flat or round. They established trade routes, which contributed to heightened communication channels between countries, and more importantly, continents. Following this era of travel came trade, when people became aware of how much you could gain by exchanging goods, or even by exchanging ideas and cultures. All these factors were a major cause for the development of the pre-globalization era. It was in this period that Africa and Eurasia engaged in cultural and economic exchange between them. Gradually, this led to the growth of colonies in various parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The colonial experience included the colonizing power that forcefully ruled over many people, which cost human lives and suffering in terms of human and natural ecology. Included within this wave of globalization was the cultural implantation of knowledge, values and beliefs. The colonizers determined what was in the best interests of a people who inhabited the African and Asian continents for generations. As a result, there was constant blend of the ideas, languages, rituals and customs between the natives and the foreign inhabitants. In fact, this system of colonization put a deep impact on agriculture, trade, ecology and culture on a global scale.

  Globalization between the pre modern periods to modern period: The industrial revolution in the 19th century was one of the major periods in the history of globalization. Due to the industrial revolution, there was a significant increase in the quantity and quality of the products. This led to higher exports and better trade and business relations. Due to better products and colonization, lots of countries across the world became the consumers of the European market. As advanced countries in the West quickly rose to power, weaker countries began to adopt their ideas, and eventually the entire world went through the globalization process called westernization. The ideas that came from this westernization, such as steam powered locomotives, helped globalization snowball by allowing for faster transportation of goods over longer distances. The period from the end of World War I to 1950 experienced some elements of the present globalization as new technology joined expansion in finance, trade, investment, and culture throughout the world. Yet in a major sense this was an era of deglobalization: first, the international economic system malfunctioned or broke down; then, during the Cold War, the world divided along ideological fissures. World War I accelerated the expansion of U.S. business overseas. American firms were especially successful in replacing dominant British firms in Western Hemisphere and Asian markets. In addition, war requirements created a soaring U.S. demand for raw materials, especially copper, iron, and other key mineral products. Soon American firms, with the help of their government, began scouring the world for essential raw materials.  The phase of pre globalization perhaps came to an end after the First World War was fought. The war put a significant adverse effect on the economic scenario and it led to the Great Depression and gold standard crisis in the later part of the 1920s and early 1930s.⁴

  Globalization in the modern era: Globalization, in the modern sense of the term, came into existence after the Second World War. One of the main factors for this was the plan by the world leaders to break down the borders for fostering trade relations between nations. It was also in this period that major countries like India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and some countries in South America gained independence. As a result, these countries too started having their own economic systems and made established trade relations with the rest of the world. The establishment of the United Nations Organization (UNO) was also a major step in this regard. Gradually, the economic scenario of the world strengthened and it led to better trade relations and communication. Some other factors which have put a positive impact on globalization are:

• Promotion of free commerce and trade
• Abolition of various double taxes, tariffs, and capital controls
• Reduction of transport cost and development of infrastructure
• Creation of global corporations
• Blend of culture and tradition across the countries

Another milestone in the history of globalization is the creation of the World Trade Organization which led to the growth of a uniform platform to settle trade and commercial disputes. According to economic surveys, the world exports improved significantly from 8.5% to around 16.2% due to globalization. As the twenty-first century opened, the globalization revolution continued to roll forward. Jet airplanes, the internet, satellites, e-mail and other marvels of our modern world have all made significant contributions to globalization.  These inventions have allowed for faster transportation of goods and information, which allows for more efficient outsourcing, global collaboration, and immigration. While the global spread of information, the integration of markets, and the erasure of borders have the potential to promote global peace, prosperity, and the convergence of basic values, there is also a dark dimension. With all happy talk of globalization of opportunities, the gap between rich and poor is growing. If we compare the average income-per-head of the top 25% in the developed states with that of the bottom 25% in the developing states the ratio between these two is currently around 90:1, increasingly, if you go back 30 years you will find that it was only 40:1. So, this gap is not just unacceptable in absolute terms, it is also doubling and getting worse. It is inevitable to conclude that globalization has widened the gap between peoples in the world. Globalization can benefit organized criminals as well as corporations. The turnover of the criminal economy is estimated at about $1 trillion annually. Narcotics account for about half, but a trade in people is also lucrative. Gangs move from four to five million people annually and earn some $7 billion in profits. In the health area, globalization presents a number of challenges. Public health officials worry that increased human mobility enhances opportunities for microbes. The risks range from trade in illegal products and contaminated foodstuffs, divergent safety standards, indiscriminate spread of medical technologies and experimentation, and the sale of prescription drugs without approval of national authorities. With some two million people crossing borders daily, industrialized nations may face threats from emerging infectious diseases, exposure to dangerous substances, and violence such as chemical and bioterrorist attack.⁵

  

1.2. THE FOUR GLOBALIZING FACTORS

 

     Firstly, human rights and migration. A respect for human rights is of course a vital part of all spiritual underpinnings of society. However, this principle has assumed for greater importance over the past few years. It is this increased focus on eliminating serious human rights violations that underlies the progressive erosion of the erstwhile inviolate principle of  
”sovereignty” and “exclusive domestic jurisdiction”, which was once seen as entitling a nation state to act as it liked within its borders. Nowadays, this “chastity belt” of Article 2.7 of the United Nations Charter has lost much of its sanctity, and countries and rulers that violate human rights can no longer claim that their actions are nobody else’s business. In other words, the walls that enabled countries to seal themselves off have fallen down before the onslaught of human rights concerns, and clearly this is a most positive development.

   Unfortunately, this erosion of hermetic walls of sovereignty works in one direction only. If respect for human rights implies a respect for the desire of peoples for a better and more decent life, and an elimination of obstacles, then people from poorer countries should also be able to cross those walls in the other direction also in their search for a better life. Alas, they cannot do so. In fact, in many ways, there are barriers to free immigration. So we have a fundamental inequality  here-one part of the world can criticize the other with impunity for human rights violations, but people from the countries that are most often criticized cannot migrate towards the richer countries  in their search for a better life. So while we talk of an open world of opportunity, we are actually doing our utmost to prevent this world from really opening up. This is a sad one-way street indeed.

   Secondly, trade. Trade has visibly emerged as a major engine of growth. The assumption of the open and competitive market then was that barriers of all types would be progressively dismantled, for the general benefit of all. Only the “competitive edge” would rule. Yet protectionism is threatening, particularly in relation to the exports of poorer countries, which stand lower down on the scale of industrial sophistication. The tariffs on textiles, for example, are a full ten times higher than the tariffs on industrial goods. In general, while we may talk about a level playing field in trade at the world level, it is nevertheless a field in which the “weight” of the richer countries is so heavily skewed in their own favor, that the results are foregone for the developing countries. Efforts to insert respect for the principle of Special and Differential Treatment in favor of developing countries have lost ground with the establishment of the World Trade Organization.

   Thirdly, the environment. The environment is the perfect globalizer, as it has no respect for nationalities and passports and borders. We see its impact every day, as environmental events in one part of the world produce effects in other parts of the world, frequently with devastating results.⁶ Once again, these effects are unevenly distributed. Some see no evil in their overexploitation of finite fossil fuels and inordinate pollution of atmosphere, while others in far corners of the world suffer consequences in health and economic well being. One-forth of the total gashouse emissions that we pour into the atmosphere come from a single country alone.

     Fourthly, the Internet. Of course, the Internet offers great opportunities for those who can use it, allowing anyone with access to it to draw upon as much of the data-base of the universal knowledge as the richest or the most powerful. In that, it is one of the major milestones in human history, ranking with moveable type, or the mass-produced paper back, as a great and democratic equalizer. But just as a sizeable part of the world has neither access to safe drinking water nor to electricity, a lot of people in the world do not, and will not, have access to the Internet in any foreseeable future. Just to take one example, in sub-Saharan Africa, 90% of the connections to the Internet are in just one country, a former bastion of colonialism of the worst type. So, the tool exists, but it cannot be used by those who need it most. And yet, in it lies perhaps the only chance for the future. Where an effort has been made, the internet and cell phones have helped rural villages get connected to the rest of the world, helped women in developing nations become entrepreneurs. A major problem with the Internet arises from the predominance of English as a language of choice. Language is not just a neutral tool for communication; it also embodies culture, and defines the parameters of our thinking processes. It would be a very sad day indeed if one single culture were to spread and dominate all others. Homogenization may be good for milk, but it is not necessarily good for the rich diversity of cultures in the world, many of which are an endangered species now.⁷

 

1.3. THE THREE TENSIONS OF GLOBALIZATION

 

   Three inherent tensions reveal the conflicting values at stake in the process of globalization.

The first tension is between individual choice versus  societal choice: A conflict occurs when a person, exercising her right to choose a particular lifestyle, to buy a particular product, or to think a particular thought, is at odds with what society at a whole views is most preferable for all citizens at large. For example, some people may prefer to smoke or to drive without wearing a seatbelt. Society, however, may believe that there are costs to society as a whole that require laws to restrict private choice. In the arena of globalization, such a tension is evident in debates over the spread of American culture. France, for example, objects to the spread of American popular culture in the form of films and television. In fact, France has laws about non-European content on French television and radio stations. France even insisted that there be a "cultural exception" to world trade rules on services agreed to in 1994 to allow the French government to limit imports of American popular culture products. Such positions, however, ignore the fact that no one forces an individual French person to watch an American film or television show or buy a CD by an American recording artist. French consumers buy those products because they choose to do so for reasons of personal preference. Some people and societies may value social choices above individual choices, some people and societies may believe that in areas of culture, preservation of a local culture, because of history, tradition, and a desire to pass along heritage to succeeding generations.

    The second tension is between free market versus government intervention: This tension is something of an aggregate of the first, because the free market is the aggregation of lots of individual choices—Adam Smith’s famous "invisible hand"—while government intervention is the practical way that societies decide on and implement the choices they make about their values. Thus, a free market determines what goods are produced and how money is invested in order to satisfy consumer demand (that is, the sum of all the individual choices). The free market also plays the crucial role in creating an efficient response to changes in the economy, when consumer demand increases or decreases for certain products, or when factors such as a decline in investment or damage to the environment changes the supply of money or products. Nevertheless, the free market may sometimes fail to provide crucial goods, especially at reasonable prices, necessary for overall social order. The government, for example, is often required to provide key services, such as water, electricity, sewage, and garbage pick-up, not to mention police, fire, and defense forces.⁸

    In the international arena, one of the most burning issues is the failure of the free market to provide affordable drugs to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Such drugs are available in the Europe and the United States to allow people with HIV/AIDS to have productive lives for about $10,000 per year, an affordable sum in the developed world. Such a price, however, is far beyond the ability to pay of people in Africa, where the vast majority of the population afflicted with HIV/AIDS lives. In fact, the disease is a scourge in Africa and the rest of the developing world, where whole societies are on the brink of collapse because of the social chaos and economic impact of infection rates that are as high as 25 percent in some countries. Governments therefore, prodded by international non-governmental organizations involved in promoting public health, agreed at a meeting of the World Trade Organization in 2001 to allow poor countries to make generic copies of drugs needed for pubic health emergencies. Thus there is a tension between two equally important values. How can the international system balance the need to promote an efficient free market system that rewards innovation and the development of new medicines, while also ensuring that the poor and needy are taken care of?⁹

 

    The third tension of globalization is that between local authority versus extra- or supra-local authority: That is the tension between decisions made at the level most close to individual citizens and decisions made at higher levels of authority distant from the people they may affect. As with the other tensions, we see this in our daily lives as well, but the tension takes on special characteristics in the global arena. Many Americans believe that the federal government in Washington is a distant, separate culture, unfamiliar with their daily problems and concerns and captive to special interests. Local and state governments, on the other hand, are often more trusted to deal with practical, everyday issues. In the globalized world, many Americans and citizens in other countries feel that international organizations outside their democratic control are making decisions without any input from the people who are most affected by them.¹⁰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 2

CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPACTS

2.1. INTERPRETING CULTURE

 

   To understand cultural globalization, we need to be clear, or as clear as we possibly be about what we mean by culture. If we assume that culture is more than just the creative arts and learning, we are immediately confronted with the problem of trying to define a concept that is notoriously slippery and contested. Culture can be conceptualized in a very basic sense as “a way of life”, but such a broad approach struggles to encapsulate the individual experiences of people inhabiting particular cultures. Within any cultural groups there will be different ideas and attitudes reflecting people’s individual positions, lifestyles and outlooks, as a result of factors, such as age, gender and class. The idea of culture as “a way of life” underplays the different types of culture- national, regional, popular, local, business, elite, Western, as well as subcultures. There are also different dimensions to culture, notably political, social, institutional, economic and historical. The complex nature of   culture has led many writers to work with other analytical   categories when theorizing about the concept. In this regard Pierre Bourdieu has articulated his conception of “habitus”, a system in which groups of individuals learn and develop over time cultural attitudes and dispositions, which are not uniformly pursued but are instead exercised uniquely in relation to particular contexts or fields. However this “system of acquired dispositions” does not take account of the ways in which cultures are permeated by the flows and processes of globalization. In fact the very notion is problematic under contemporary conditions of circulation and mobility.¹¹ Culture has always been a dynamic and protean process in the sense that its meaning has changed over time and it assumes different forms. Nowadays it is increasingly viewed as a process rather than an entity, a verb rather than a noun, especially within anthropology and cultural studies. As the anthropologist Roy Wagner (1986) has argued, cultures are continuously changing and being re-created as part of an ongoing process. In particular, cultures are informed by numeral internal pressures and influences, ensuring that they are neither static, nor stable. They are also shaped by external forces and hence are not homogeneous, discrete and bounded entities; rather, they overlap and draw from other traditions. For instance, patterns of global migration, and more specifically immigration into the United Kingdom since the 1950’s, have led Britain to become a more visibly multicultural society, which in turn has influenced its national culture. At the same time there have been internal pressures working upon this culture. Developments within British society, such as the decline in deference, the changing position of women, improved levels of education and devolution reforms, have all in varying ways impacted upon British national culture. Cultures are, therefore, continuously evolving, and contemporary globalizing processes certainly increase this tendency, and doing so, arguably widen awareness of the essential changeability of culture.¹²