Paradoxes Of Culture And Globalization

Culture is defined as a whole basis of knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, and customs that define a person or group of persons. Culture differs is so many ways and that culture is what defines each of person as an individual. This concept comes from the cultural that was taught and developed from after birth and through our adolescent years. Our culture is the foundation of who we are. It identifies the lifestyle and pursuits that are practiced in the group of people we interact with in our society. Culture beliefs, values, and practices are learned from birth.

Since the inception of human civilization there have been countless cultures and societies which have helped shape the current world today as we know it. The modern human race dates back more than 200,000 years and in that time frame many cultures have risen to great virtue and success only to deteriorate or cease to exist altogether. First before examining one of these cultures we must know what culture truly means. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Culture Center defines culture as a “dynamic social system,” containing the beliefs, behaviors, values and norms of a “specific organization, group, society or other collectivity” learned, shared, internalized, and changeable by all members of the society (Watson, 2010). In

Culture is the characteristics of a group of people defined by language, cuisine, religion social habits music and art. There are many different types of culture including western culture, eastern culture, African culture and many more. Culture is influenced by the groups of people that make up the country (Zimmermann, 2012). The term culture was first used by an English Anthropologist named Edward B. Tyler. It was first mentioned in 1871 in his book named ‘Primitive Culture’. He stated that culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Since then culture is the main focus of anthropology.

In the textbook , “An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in Global Community,” by Fred E. Jandt, the author defines culture as the, “sum total of ways of living, including behavioral norms, linguistic expression, styles of communication, patterns of thinking, and beliefs and values of a group large enough to be self-sustaining and transmitted over the course of generations.” In a culture

Culture is defined to be the complete range of behavioral patterns that is learned in a particular group. Edward B. Tyler, a renowned anthropologist explains it further in his book Primitive Culture, to be the “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." It is true, that we are a product of our environment, and that we are taught to embrace our respective cultures. But in recent history, and in today’s society, we have seen any and every type of discrimination not only based on race, but gender, ableness, and religion. How have these issues formed the variety of cultures that are present in the modern day world, how have the negative influences affected these cultures, and are these influences to be solely recognized or celebrated as well? Ultimately and inevitably, cultures, through continued traditions and overcoming hardships, evolve.

Culture is defined as “The ideas, attitudes, customs, beliefs, values and social behaviour of a particular group of people or society that are passed on from generation to generation” (Brentnall, A., n.d.).

As you can see, definitions of culture vary according to the focus of interest, the unit of analysis and the disciplinary approach (psychology, anthropology, sociology, geography etc.)

Culture can be defined as “the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics shared by groups of people” (“Cultural Relativism, n.d.). Relativism, simply put, is “nothing is intrinsically right or wrong” (“Absolutism and Relativism,” n.d.).

Culture refers to the sum of integrated learned behavior traits shared by members of a society ADDIN EN.CITE Hofstede2001449(Hofstede, 2001)4494496Hofstede, G.Culture's Negation-Comparing values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organization Across Nation2001USASage Publication( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_2" o "Hofstede, 2001 #449" Hofstede, 2001). In the 19th century Edwad Tylor gave the classical definition of culture as the complex whole including; arts knowledge, morals, custom, law, beliefs and any other habits and capabilities man acquires being a member of a society ADDIN EN.CITE Ghemawat2007448(Ghemawat, 2007)44844817Ghemawat, P. Managing differences; The central challenge of global strategyHarvard Business ReviewHarvard Business Review59-688532007( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_1" o "Ghemawat, 2007 #448" Ghemawat, 2007). This definition gives us an overall understanding that culture is obtained and observed out of interactions in the society. The international perspective of culture intimates that attributes of a given society need to be observed in business operations.

One of the most outstanding elements that define an ethnicity is their culture. The definition of culture is based on the beliefs, customs, arts and other elements of a particular society, group or place. Therefore, customs, practices, ways of being, rituals, the way of dressing and behavior standards are topics within the culture of a specific society. In many cultures, globalization and consumption are two very identical phenomena. Globalization is undoubtedly a phenomenon of our time, which has great influence in many aspects on which the various contemporary societies develop. Globalization has a great impact on cultures. During my visit to a regular supermarket store and to an international supermarket, the sociological concepts were easily very noticeable. The melting pot at an international market becomes alive with all the different ethnicities. The first difference I noticed was the congestions in the parking lot, when I visited the stores, the parking was packed. At the regular American store, it was very obvious that most of the customers were Caucasians. From the moment one enters the stores, the differences and similarities are very obvious; in this case, I felt the differences were more obvious. The neighborhoods where these supermarkets are located are very different as well. I would say that most people living in the surroundings of the regular mainstream grocery store are Caucasians or African Americans, and most people living near the international store

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).

Globalization has more of a negative effect on traditions than a positive effect. Many cultural traditions are extinct because a lot of cultures are modern and revolve their cultural practices off of America’s practices or another culture’s practices. Globalization has a negative effect on cultures and traditions in many ways; globalization causes traditions to disappear, older generations to feel angry, and businesses to fail. Globalization is a positive thing because it causes a bigger bond and better understanding of other cultures. In general, globalization causes more bad than good within different cultures around the world.

Globalization brings more negative consequences that outweighs its benefits. One area it has really affected that gives me concern is "culture". "Globalization can be defined as the interaction and integration amongst people, companies and governments of different nations. Its a process that it's aided by international trade and investment and driven by information technology" extracted from ( globalization101.org) "Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts"(published on livesience by: zimmermann, July 12, 2017). Globalization has impacted so much negatively on culture. The section of culture I believe globalization has affected most is the fashion industry, language and the character of people world wide. Nigeria where I come from is a developing country and we see globalization as an opportunity for development. This has been one of the major mediums that has earned globalization the lands of Nigeria to dominate and our culture to alter. In the early centuries in Nigeria, women used to be known for wearing clothes that fully covered their body. And any woman seen in a cloth that exposes any sensitive part of her body(shape, breast, lap) was regarded as irresponsible and in most cases, regarded as a prostitute. Young boys were also known for wearing trousers that weren't tight on them or sagging . This is no longer the case since Nigeria embraced globalization. Today all over the streets of Nigeria, indecent dressing has captured the hearts of our youths and even the elderly. Our young girls now wear mini skirts, slacked blouse that exposes their breast, and also tight trousers all in the name of "civilization". And sadly enough even some married women Have adopted this pattern of dressing. This has lead to so many divorce and rape cases in Nigeria. Now, most guys consider sagging of their pants(trousers), wearing tight/ pencil trousers and earrings as fashion. These are things that was regarded in the early centuries as signs of madness and a show of indiscipline. Globalization has also impacted negatively on our language system. Our local dialects are no longer spoken and regarded the way it was in

Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1962) identify over 150 scientific definitions of the concept of culture. Indeed, many authors have tried to define culture and this is why there are so many definitions and that a unique one is hard to find. First of all, Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) assume that culture is a suite of patterns, implicit and explicit, “of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts” (p.47). Later, Hofstede adds that culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede, 1991, p.51). This definition is the most widely accepted one amongst practitioners. For Winthrop (1991), culture is the distinctive models of thoughts, actions and values that composed members of a society or a social group. In other words,

Culture was defined by anthropologist as learning and sharing concept, value and belief or can be said as an adaptable system (Lyman, 2008). While, in the wholistic sense, culture can be conceived as the empirical result of manifest in behaviour which already accumulated, transmitted and shared ideas.