The Case for Contamination, by Kwame Anthony Appiah

When it comes to globalization, everyone may have a different vision of it’s outcome. For Marcelo Gleiser, the author of “Globalization: Two visions of the Future of Humanity”, a completely globalized world may result in a dystopia. In contrast, Jeffrey Wasserstrom, the author of “A Mickey Mouse Approach to Globalization” and Tanveer Ali, the creator of “The Subway Falafel Sandwich and the Americanization of Ethnic Food” may think of globalization as other cultures sharing each other’s components to interact on a new level and spurring a more “open-minded” (Ali 27) individual.

In “The Case for Contamination” the author Kwame Appiah analyzes and points out the many ways in which the world is becoming globalized. He uses many extensive examples to show that the world is getting ‘contaminated’. By ‘contamination’ he means that the mixture of all the innovative values and traditions are damaging and eventually destroying what our ancestors have left us. In his analysis, he describes the gradual transformation of many cultures and different religions to support his points but in his personal opinion he is very open-minded and is not greatly influenced by his religion. His tone is informative and gives the reader the freedom to decide between

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.

Contemporary globalization is an exceptionally multifaceted phenomenon and can be defined as "an intensification of cross-national cultural, economic, political, social and technological interactions that lead to the establishment of transnational structures and the global integration of cultural, economic, environmental, political and social processes on global, supranational, national, regional and local levels" (Huynen, Martens & Hilderink, 2005). The very nature of the American society has experienced insightful and compound changes due to globalization that has brought with it both new opportunities and risks. Similarly, the impacts of globalization

Through the lenses of preservationists, culture is authentic, carries traditions that keep historical ancestry alive, and is threatened by “cultural imperialism”. From a cosmopolitan perspective, culture is the freedom of choice, made up of multiple values and ideas that allow individuals to reinvigorate its uniqueness in an ever changing society. In “The Case for Contamination”, published by the New York Times Magazine, Kwame Anthony Appiah addresses the concern regarding the diminishment of cultural identity in poor countries by introducing the idea of cosmopolitanism: being free from cultural preordains and engaging in a pluralist society. Appiah endorses globalization and explains that resisting cultural interconnection will perhaps trap people in a stagnating society and avert it from achieving a pluralistic environment. He claims that cosmopolitanism enables individuals to adopt foreign culture based on how they see fit within their cultural context, and without “structuring the consciousness” and detaching people from traditional beliefs.

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.

Another argument Appiah makes is for the liberties and freedoms that are entitled to us as individuals, an idea supported by cosmopolitans. In “A Case for Contamination”, he mentions the Unesco document for which its members’ priority was to protect and promote cultural diversity while shielding it from globalization. However, as Appiah points out the document is a paradox for it carefully upholds the significance of new ideas, human rights and values, and the freedom of thought and expression. Individuals should be able to make their own decisions based on their moral convictions and desires, isn’t that what freedom is? Shouldn’t societies operate with a moral compass, too? It should be in their best interest to take into account their members

The author of the article named Kwame Appiah who is also from Ghana, precisely analyzed and demonstrates examples of the ways in which the world is indeed becoming globalized. Depending on how one may look at globalization, it may appear as a good thing, or it may appear to come off as a bad thing. It will all be based on that person’s paradigm or personal experiences/beliefs. From the author Kwame Appiah’s standpoint he demonstrated globalization as a positive thing yielding good results.

The world is not a large and strange place anymore. The world is a place that is interconnected and intertwined. The world has become from a place that each country and their peoples are separate and isolated to a place that each country and their peoples are part of a global network. Thanks to globalization this is occurring. Globalization is the ‘international integration” or ‘de-bordering’ – “a number of highly disparate observations whose regular common denominator is the determination of a profound transformation of the traditional nation-state” (Von Bogdandy 2). Globalization is connecting different people from different cultures and backgrounds together. More and more corporations are entering new foreign markets to sell their

In “The Case for Contamination” the author Kwame Appiah explains out in different ways how the world is becoming globalized and different at the same time. He uses many examples to show that the world is getting “contaminated”. He uses the term “contamination” to explain how the mixture of all the innovative values and new traditions are damaging what past generations left us as heritage. He also meant that if we continue like this we will destroy them as well. He also describes the gradual transformation of many cultures and different religions to support his points.

During the last decade of the twentieth century, the word ‘globalization’ has become an increasingly prominent feature of political, social, and economic discussion in academic and policymaking circles, as well as in the media. The processes and outcomes of globalization drew attention and debates that had one thing in common. The research shows that nearly everyone agrees that globalization is a trend that is changing the face of the world, and as a result the world society lives in a more ‘globalized’ world. Nearly two and a half decades passed since 1990s, and studies have been conducted to examine the causes and consequences of globalization. Moreover, nearly every person experiences some type of globalization and can testify firsthand the effects it has on their life, society, and the state. The analysis of the effects that globalization dynamics have on the world society indicates that globalization has a significant positive impact via spreading opportunities and wealth across nations, stimulating innovation and productivity, enhancing the economic development of poorer countries, and helping to improve living standards.

To begin with, Kwaume Appiah’s main argument in the article, The Case for Contamination, is for the equality of the preservation and globalization of foreign cultures from Western norms. Throughout the article, Appiah balances the cons and pros of globalization and hardships of preserving native traditions. Due to his word choices and stories he is advocating an intermediate position, therefore, he contradicts himself but makes his points consistent and clear. In short, his article is about society 's ability to impact traditions, rituals, and culture. He is convinced that society can greatly influence a nation 's decision on maintaining their older cultural practices or adapting to western ways.

Cultural individuality and distinctiveness is the pride of every nation. All communities rejoice in the richness and exoticness of their own cultural symbols, be it dressing, architecture, language or way-of-life. With the dawn of globalization, however, cultural variety and distinguishing characteristics are vanishing; giving rise to a monoculture common to all. While this may be a harbinger of unity and relatedness among all people of the world, it also damages the unique cultural identities they once took pride in. This paper discusses the effects of globalization on culture, along with its positive and negative effects. Since the effects of globalization on culture are non-exhaustive, it is attempted to incorporate a few of the most

The process of globalization has created a borderless world through the free flow of knowledge and materials and mobility of people and making it become a global village (Andleeb, 2014). According to Rouse (n.d.), he mentioned that "globalization is the process in which people, ideas, and goods spread throughout the world, spurring more interaction and integration between the world's cultures, governments, and economics." However, the world virtually looks like the broken mirror, between rich and poor, powerful and powerless, strong and weak. This situation has affected many different parts of the society, such as education, health, finance and economy. And today it has already become the different picture as we have imagined. To address