Cultural Globalisation

What is cultural globalisation:

• Cultural globalisation is where information, images and commodities produced in one part of the world, will enter into a global flow.
• This tends to 'flatten out' cultural differences between nations, regions and inviduals.
• Cultural globalisation is closely linked with the communication and information revolution, which happened due to the rise of technology.
• It also linked to and emerged with economic globalisation.
• However, this can be complex because it generates hemogenisation and cultural 'flattening', leading conflict.
• Polarisation and diversity may ocur due to cultural products spreading more easily, adapting to local traditions and understandings, and percieved domination by foreign ideas, values and lifestyles can fuel the rise of ethnic, religius or national movements.

Cultural globalisation arose:

• Since the 1980s, when the Information Communications Revolution happened.
• This was because this led to the growth of the internet and other techonology, and the emergence of 'new media.'
• This has made borders more permeable, and make technologies more transnational.#
• This interlinks with economic globalisation because it allows it to flourish, flowing as one through advertisement, transportation and tourism.
• Cultural globalisation has allowed the spread of cultural products.
• Problems with cultural globalisation includes cultural backlash (Samuel Huntington), such as ISIS.
  • E,g, 2. Brexit- racial hatred against minorities living in Britain.
  • E.g.3. As a reaction to the spread of the media, states such as China, Burma and Iran attempt to restrict what their citizens can see. (China arrested journalists for critizing the country).

What is cultural hegemony:

• This is the tendency for all countries to become similar or identical.
• This weakens cultural diversity.
• This has been fuelled by the growth of TNCs, especially global media corporations, such as Disney etc.

The nature of social connectedness has also changed:

• Manuel Castell's 'network society' where people coordinate social life, through loose and informal relationships between people or organisations.
• This is usually for the purpose of knowledge dissemination or exchange.

Cultural globalisation has been associated with the worldwide advance of the culture of consumer capitalism:

• COCA-COLONISATION is one of the aspects of consumerism, which refers to the emergence of global goods and brands.
  • This has since dominated economic markets in more parts of the world.
• Benjamin Barber, portrayed the emerging world of cultural globalisation, as a 'McWorld' which s tied together by technology, ecology, communications and commerce.
  • This is where people are mesmerized by 'ast music, fast computers and fast food, sch as MTV, McIntosh and Mcdonalds.
  • This presses nations into one commercial hegemon.
• This has been the spread of materialist values, based on the notion of intrinsic link between wealth and happiness.
• This has been westernized and Americanised.

Due to cultural globalisation, there is a westernization or Americanisation of the world:

• The WESTERNIZATION model of cultural globalisation derives from the fact that the West is the home of consumer capitalism and industrial society.
• The AMERICANISATION model reflects the disproportionate extent to which the USA dominates the media and the modern commerce.
• This means that consumer capitalism has taken over the world.
  • Particularly a US model of consumer capitalism.

The 4 things that cultural globalisation has:

• 1). Broadened opportunities and provided an alternative to the narrow Parochialism of traditional societies.
  • This has happened through the advent of consumer culture and access to wider range of goods and cultural products.
• 2). Cultural globalisation has served interests of economic and political domination.
• 3). It has created cultural homogenization, which has condemned an assault on local, regional and national distinctiveness.
• 4). Consumerism and materialism has been condemned for manipulation, distorting values and denying happiness.