Modernization And Cultural Exchange

Over five hundred years ago, the world was holding its breath as a man stood on the shores of what, he thought, were the West Indies. He had sailed with the hope of acquiring riches and fame from Asia, but instead, was met with an island full of lush, green vegetation. This island was nothing like the cosmopolitan cities of Asia, with prospering trade and opportunities for the aspiring merchant. His calculations had been wrong and now he was in new territory that was not on any map. What this man had “discovered” was a diamond in the rough and would launch a period of globalization like never before. This Italian merchant’s name would be documented in the history books centuries after his death and the process of trade he initiated between Europe, Africa, and the Americas would come to bare his name: the Columbian Exchange. The impact that this exchanged had on the world would resonate for years after as new ideas, cultures, technologies, and diseases got shared. Not one civilization was spared and the changes that ensued were numerous. The Columbian Exchange would throw an active light on Europe on the global stage and devastate previously thriving native populations, but perhaps most prominent, it increased emphasis in the differences and importance of races.

Countries are no exception, their course of history and culture created a unique identity for themselves. Their cultures involves; language, values, belief, religions, and norms that identify who we are. This has caused division and struggles between groups or people, which influence our daily lives. Nevertheless, at the same time makes every person or country a unique culture to learn and explore. As the article, “The Roots of Identity and denial” stated more than 200 years ago there were no borders on this planet. People were able to travel through the hemisphere with no problem or differences.

Finally, globalization has given way to human development through culture integration, information sharing, and competition between countries. As people disperse from their native countries they take with them their culture and ideologies. At the same time technology is rapidly advancing, allowing information to be instantaneously shared across the globe. These events culminate in the diversification of society. As opposed to living with one view of the world people can now choose from any number of beliefs or views and find others that share them.

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.

Many aspects of our identity such as our language, culture, and religion were shaped by the past, and by not embracing these past events, a large part of one’s identity is being disregarded. An example of this is Brazil, a country where the dominant language and religion today was brought over by the Portuguese in the 15th century. This event is an important factor in the lives of many people living in Brazil, as many of them trace their ancestors, language and religion back to the original Portuguese settlers. If citizens were to ignore events of the past and not realize the origins of their practices, they would lose an aspect of their identity in the process, although it is difficult to ignore such a large legacy present in one’s life. This makes disregarding the past ineffective because the results of historical globalization are so prominent in everyday life and cannot be easily

Acceptance and understanding are major factors that must be met in order for people to come together. In many circumstances, it is up to the minority whom are joining the majority to adopt and change its customs and practices in order to assimilate into the majority. However, there are some circumstances in which the minority somehow becomes able to overpower majority and take control. This is the situation which occurred between the Natives and the Europeans during the 1513 conquest. The Spanish Conquest of Central and South America and the voyage to the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought the Spanish crown a great amount of wealth. The native inhabitants which resided in the Americas prior to the discovery, saw what was

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.

Throughout history, identity is often viewed as a something inherently stable. However, I argue that identity should be viewed as something far more complicated than this – particularly if one articulates the modern notion of a fluid conception of identity. Identity is something that is constantly in flux. Then, identity is constructed of the vastly diverse geographies, histories, and the spaces and places that one inhabits throughout their life. To put it simply, identity defines who we are. Therefore, it is inextricably bound to notions of difference , where representations of people can change depending on the

“Globalization has had a profound impact on culture, largely through the existence of very powerful world information and communications system (Baker 66) leading to ethnocentrism not only on the global scale but also locally. This causes the unequal treatment of individuals of different races, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, labeling

In alignment with one of the key points from the previous section, which denies the integral and unified account of identity, this section elaborates the discursive view of identity. In order to understand this shift in conceptualising identity, we will revisit the simple definition of identity from Longman dictionary (section 9.1.1). The later part of this definition, specifically, the second key phrase “different from other people” brings about the discussion of the discursive approach to identity. Departing from the essentialist viewpoint of identity as a stable core of self, later literatures have advocated a close relation between the processes of intersubjectivity and the crucial role of ‘the others’ in identity construction (Hall, 2000). As a nature of human beings, the process of identification is seen as a universal need to belong to a group, to reflect on others, thus define themselves and others. In other words, it is to say that identity is constructed through ‘difference’ and experienced by contrast (Benveniste, 2000). Specifically, “[i]n common sense language, identification is constructed on the back of recognition of some common origin or shared characteristics with another person or group, or with an ideal, and with the natural closure of solidarity and allegiance established on this foundation” (Hall, 2000:16). The common origin or shared characteristics here do not adhere to the essentialist viewpoint of identity as an identical and unchangeable stage of

An essential theme with respect to identity highlighted by the author is the theme of opposition between an individual and the society, between the majority and minority. The state machine was doing everything they could to make people believe in the necessity of this order while

He begins to live for himself and his own. He begins to crave for an identity and he does his best to carve it out. Man’s identity is strongly influenced by his surroundings. In order to preserve this identity, Man begins to take measures to safeguard it. To protect all that he has learned and accumulated over the past centuries. A strong nation is indeed built by strong borders and a strong army. Good fences make good neighbours. That is true. But one has to begin questioning the limits of such culture preservation. Would culture preservation be culture intrusion to the other communities? For Man, has since time immemorial adopted the belief that the best form of defence is offense. In order to preserve and propagate his culture, Man has set out on a quest to annihilate any other existing culture. The theory of ‘The survival of the fittest’ determined the setting of borders in the medieval times. Civilisation has come a long way since then. But only the ways and strategies of remapping the world has changed; not the intent behind it. Man’s allegiance to his nation can be described as an innate quality. His ability to identify himself with certain cultural, religious or

He scrutinizes the notion of identity questioning “the uniqueness and distinctness that clings to” identity, and points out that identity often “lacks apparent sustainability or permanence” (Olivier). With that being said however, the average person usually develops, at the least, a “standard” identity; that which is usual for the individual, and to which the person has become attached, 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.

The United States prevails as an ever-evolving, unique amalgamation of people, cultures, and influences. Due to the growth of technology use in the world, globalization, the process of interaction and integration among people, is spreading rapidly ("What Is Globalization?”). Historically, people have often identified in a collective way in order to associate with a group, culture, or individual (Miladinovic). However, nowadays, this form of identification cannot be used as people are changing the way with they identify with others, due to the considerable influence of globalization. Though typically used as an economic term, globalization is characterized through a multitude of other factors as well. The onset of globalization has especially influenced culture and identity, most pivotally through industrialization. When smaller cultures are forced to urbanize as a result of globalization, people question modern culture and may even culturally re-evaluate their own culture. As a result, people often abandon their traditional cultures in favor of a conforming to homogeneous mainstream ‘American culture’. In turn with this, psychologically, people impacted by globalization become uncertain of their identity, not knowing which culture to claim: that of their ancestors or that of mainstream American culture. Consequently, people have started to distinguish themselves in a whole new way: through either self-made cultures or through the adoption of a blend of traditional and new