Globalisation Leads to the Homogenization of Cultures Essay

Globalization is the process by which the markets of different countries become integrated due to the exchange of goods, services, technology, and capital. Globalization depends on social, economic, and political factors, and continuously alters the way that the world works. All the vital components of the evolving global, political, economic and social institutions being examined seem to constantly converge and to perpetually intertwine during the day to day administration of global affairs. Diplomacy is employed to keep a measured balance between conflict and cooperation. The global guarantees of international law are placed in sharp contrast to the grim reality of human rights on daily basis and policy is dictated by the scales of political power and the urgent priorities of economic necessity. To understand how the globe functioned in the past and how it wishes to function in the future, we must study each factor separately and observe its inevitable interactivity with the other factors that occur. It is important to note that none of the dynamics can be given greater weight in comparison to the other crucial instrumentalities.

Individuals of the same ethnic background share the same culture a factor that explains that there, as many cultures as there are ethnic backgrounds across the world. Globalization has, however, led to interaction of people from varied cultural backgrounds. Because of the interaction, globalization has been accused of limiting cultural diversity. It is, however, not the case in reality. The purpose of this paper is to analyze some of the factors that justify that globalization has not limited cultural diversity as its critics say. Thus, globalization should not be viewed as a hindrance to cultural diversity because the best subject of moral concern should be the individual person and not the nation, community or the society.

In order for assimilation to occur a minority group becomes an integrated part of the majority group; this assimilation results in non-distinguishing of one group from another by cultural characteristics. In order for this process to be complete, it must entail, not only an active effort by the minority group to shed all distinguishing actions and beliefs, and also complete unqualified acceptance of that individual by the dominant society.

At this point of time, globalization has grown to be a phenomenon that is significantly important economically, politically, and culturally. The amalgamation and incorporation of the world economy around the globe has reshaped business. Not only this, it has created "new social classes, different jobs, unimaginable wealth, and, occasionally, wretched poverty" (Kiggundu 2002, p. 4) by restructuring the lives of the individuals. For some, globalization is associated to modernism and contemporary practices. Others understand it as American domination (particularly those living in Asia). On the other hand, some people believe it to be the emasculation of America (Kiggundu 2002, p. 4).

Some argue that globalization will, on the long term, bring all cultures as a unique Western, if not Americanized, culture, while others argue that some cultures will persist in order to keep their own essence and therefore avoid the homogenization of all cultures. Alongside pure tradition, global conflicts, contradictory political regimes and the diversity of economic systems, some cultures are bound to face issues when trying to fully fit in a global western culture, and that is why cultures are adaptable to one another, but with some limits that we will express in this essay.

culture in order to fully become part of a different society (“Assimilate”, 2015). This type of

Key Concept 4.2.II.D; 5.2.III; 5.3.III.C Theme Theme 2: Development and Interaction of Cultures Theme 4: Creation, Expansion and Interaction of Economic Systems Theme 5: Development and Transfer of Social Structures Skills for Basic Core Points Argumentation; Comparison; Causation; Synthesis

To what extent is our understanding of economic globalisation challenged or expanded by analysing the lived experience of global processes.

Globalization is far reaching in this day and age. Globalization is the worldwide flow of goods, services, money, people, information, and culture. It leads to a greater interdependence and mutual awareness among the people of the world (Tischler, 2011, 2007, p. 430). One non-Western culture that has been impacted by globalization is China. An example of the impact of globalization on China is their economy. Since joining the World Trade Organization, China has transformed from a culture that relied on economic self-sufficiency and shunned the thought of globalization to an economy that is progressively more open to trade and foreign investment.

Globalization involves a variety of links expanding and tightening a web of political, economic and cultural inter-connections. Most attention has been devoted to merchandise trade as it has had the most immediate (or most visible) consequences, but capital, in and of itself, has come to play an arguably even larger role than the trade in material goods. Human movements also link previously separate communities. Finally, there is the cultural connection. All the individual data would indicate that we are undergoing a process of compression of international time and space and an intensification of international relations. The separation of production and consumption that is the heart of modern capitalism appears to have

Lastly, religions play an important role too by gathering people scattered across the globe under an identical cosmology, thus creating imagined communities (Anderson, 1983). Globalization, by connecting people through the media, also creates such a community: inhabitants of the world share the idea of a global community and an international identity. This is why we could define globalization as the compression of time and space (Harvey, 1983). Communications as well as people can travel at an ever increasing speed, thereby giving the impression that every corner of the world is at hand. The main thesis about globalization argues that it leads to a phenomenon of homogenization. My hypothesis however is that some cultures are so different and so deeply rooted in their environment that they can't simply be erased. They will be modified, influenced but not standardized under one unique model. This will lead to hybrid products, thereby proving the hypothesis of glocalization, introduced by

Today more than ever, individuals and societies are built as an integration of different cultures and carry different characteristics that construct their unique identity.

Since the advent of modernisation and the rise of globalisation around the world, issues regarding the cultural homogenisation of the world have arisen. Anthropologists have raised concern about the spread of capitalism as the dominant form of market exchange, the commodification process and the prominence of Western media in contributing the erasure of cultural difference in many areas around the world (Inda and Rosaldo 2002, 14). Many first world leaders during the Cold War believed that emerging nations would become prosperous only if they became capitalist nation-states (Schultz and Lavenda 2005, 360). A neo-colonialist form of political intervention emerged, as more developed countries believed that it was their duty to teach developing nation-states about capitalism, so they can achieve economic success and independence (Schultz and Lavenda 2005, 360). As thus, there is a threat of cultural homogenisation, whereby the dominant cultures of the core, such as America, impose their beliefs, values and cultural products to developing nations, thereby replacing cultural differences with that of the dominant culture (Inda and Rosaldo 2002, 14). Despite the seemingly homogenising process of commodification and capitalism, social transmutations of the capitalist

Globalization is commonly examined by simply dissecting its political and economic consequences. As a result, the effects on culture are often overlooked. According to U.S. Census projections, by 2043 non-Hispanic whites will become a minority consisting of 47 percent of the U.S. population (Barreto, et al 1). Examining the world as a whole, a 2015 study by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division found that between 1950-2000, an average of 2.8 million people per year migrated to North America and Europe. From 2000-2015, that rate accelerated to 4.1 million per year. What is more, this study projects that from 2015-2050, 91 million people are expected to migrate to high-income countries and produce an 82 percent increase in population in destination countries. Clearly, the prospect of steady migration and the continuing effects of globalization are expected to produce more multicultural societies. Unfortunately for many, “foreign” has become synonymous with danger (Rothkopf). The debate between cultural unity and cultural plurality dates back to the Greeks where they questioned universal human goodness and the differences between societies. More than two millennia later, the issue of a common versus diverse human culture remains contentious. This paper argues that a diverse human culture is more desirable than a universal culture because states and societies benefit from promoting and protecting diversity.

Globalization simply defined is the intensification of global interactions. The case studies we have studied depict two of the main types of globalization. Economic Globalization, which is the production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and tangible services, and Cultural Globalization, the exchange of materials and symbols that represent facts, meaning values and beliefs. When Globalization occurs it usually has a major impact on indigenous cultures. Optimists or “champions” state that the relationship between culture and globalization has positive effects as it creates a balance between nations. Conversely, critics state that relationships between the two have negative effects, leading to the loss or deterioration of a