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Globalisation - Australia and Asia Essay

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Edward Said states, “No one today is purely one thing. Labels like Indian, or woman, or Muslim, or American are no more than starting points.” Said’s idea illustrates the evolution of relations between communities as a result of globalization, and the understanding and recognition of other cultures through the interpretation of cultural borders.

In this essay I will analyse to what extent globalisation is affecting identity formation, and also the roles of cultural borders in today’s world. I will assess whether through globalisation of the media we are in fact overcoming cultural borders and traditional stereotypes and in turn forging a mutual respect between foreign communities, or as Said argues (Said cited in Crary & …show more content…

Archival accounts of the continuous race hatred directed against coloured people in Australia…reveal the sexual and other preoccupations that occupied those white minds from which such fantasies emanated (p. 43)

Australians wanted little to do with Asia, and besides those who wanted to “expand the Western Sphere of influence in the region” (Rizvi 1996, p.175), few Australians traveled to Asia. Asian people were essentially defined by their race, and by their embodiment of not being European.

It is with these historical perceptions in mind that Said’s statement holds extreme worth. Said could be seen as acknowledging past stereotypical labels enforced on Asian people, and dismissing these labels in today’s world, implying that something has changed to make these labels “no more than starting points”. Relating this to Australia/Asia, we note that Australians previously judged Asians purely and solely on racial grounds: “Race became a key explanatory factor not only in academic anthropology, but more importantly in the popular imagination of Australians.” (Rizvi 1996, p. 175).

Cultural confusion and an unwillingness to appreciate local customs and values gave birth to a contempt for local culture. Local people were simply seen as ‘other’, and “non-European people needed to be tamed or civilised, made ‘normal’” (Rizvi 1996, p.175).

Whereas before people of different

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