‘Understanding Globalization and its Impact on Culture’
Has the world shrunk? Well, not literally, of course; but in a way, it has. Technological advances, faster communications, and transportation in a sense have ‘shrunk’ the world bringing distant parts of the globe closer to one another. We often call this remarkable phenomenon of the 21st century ‘Globalization’. It’s a complex term; there are various ways to define it, and there are many ways to understand it. A simple definition of global interconnection alone is not enough to explain the complexity of this term.
What exactly is Globalization? That is certainly a question having no straight answer. It could be defined in terms of flow or movement; and this flow could be of various kinds — Flow of ideas / information from one part of the world to another; flow of capital and commodities across international borders; and flow of people moving to different parts of the world in search of better livelihoods. So there is something we can call ‘worldwide interconnectedness’ that continues to exist as a result of these constant flows. Globalization also refers to the growing interdependence between different people, regions, and countries in the world.
Is Globalization just about global interconnections? If Globalization is about global interconnections we need to ask whether it is really a new phenomenon. In fact, Globalization in the broadest sense is nothing new. Globalization in terms of the four flows, i.e. ideas, capital, commodities, and people, has happened through much of human history. But, we must say, there is something novel or something distinct about contemporary globalization. The scale and the speed of the four flows have brought about a situation which is unprecedented in modern times. In other words, the phenomenon of Globalization is happening on a massive scale at an astonishing speed, and that’s the uniqueness of Globalization in the contemporary era.
Globalization is a multi-dimensional concept. It is wrong to assume that Globalization has only economic dimension; that would be only one way of looking at it. It is necessary to discuss the cultural aspect, which is significant, but less talked about. There are multiple ways that Globalization affects culture. What is culture? Culture as we know refers to the way of life, the general customs and beliefs, of a particular country, region, or group of people at a particular time. It includes art, music, dance, films, languages, dresses, food, etc. Culture can not be seen as an unchanging fixed entity that can either collapse or remain the same when faced with social change. Culture is dynamic; it changes all the time.
Globalization affects what we eat, drink, wear, how we spend our leisure time, and indeed what we think. It shapes our preferences. The cultural effect of globalization leads to the fear that this process poses a threat to cultures in the world. It does so, because globalization leads to the rise of a uniform culture or what is called cultural homogenization. Communication technology is a critical element in this context. Today events taking place in one part of the world certainly have an impact on another part of the world.
The rise of multinational corporations is a major feature of globalization. A feature of the products and services provided by multinationals, such as McDonalds, Levi’s, Nike, etc. is that they offer customers an identical experience. These companies promise the same product no matter where we purchase it. Global consumption of increasingly uniform products leads to the concern that the cultural differences of nations will be eroded. The rise of a uniform culture is not the emergence of a global culture. What we have in the name of a global culture is the imposition of Western culture on the rest of the world. In the same context, sometimes we come across a term ‘global village’, which is used to express the fact that distances between people have shortened and their ways of life are now more similar, just like in a village.
Glocalization! Yes, you read it right – that’s Glocalization. There is no spelling mistake. The term refers to the mixing of the global with the local. In other words, it refers to the localization of the global cultural products or forms. The concept was developed from the practices of transnational companies and their strategy of taking a global product and adapting it for a local market. Foreign television channels using Indian languages, McDonald’s not selling its beef products in India, the popularity of Bhangra pop, Indi pop, fusion music, etc. could be cited as examples in this context.
Mr. Shubhra Atreya
Content Writer
IT Department, SVSU
