Cultural Globalization
2013051495
Journalism and Masscommunication
KIM TAE YOON
The Relationship
between Globalization and Culture
Globalization
primarily refers to the dynamic and multidimensional connectivity of virtually
everything in our lives, including people, information, pollution, fashion, and
so on; it is present in our economy, politics, technology, environment, and
culture. It Influences and defines the very moment of our lives such as the
food we eat, movies we watch or clothes we wear. The more connected we become,
the denser it gets.
The economic
sphere has a dominating significance in global connectivity and the process of,
as it is what drives the global capitalist market. However, considering the
complexities of intrinsic connection between economy and culture, which in
itself is an elusive concept, we cannot oversimplify the reason for this
dominating significance solely to the global dominance of the capitalist
system.
What is an
economic practice is also cultural by nature, and culture is not something that
can be defined by taking an ultimate stance in the discussion of cause and
effect. Driven by the innate need for ‘meaning’, humans create socially shared
meanings, and this process can in turn influences individuals. This loop of
process not only happen within the context of culture but relationship between
globalization and culture itself; “culture is a dimension in which
globalization both has its effects and simultaneously is generated and shaped.”
Through
globalization, a new pattern is emerging; the world is becoming more unified
with its own limits and exception, pushing us towards a ‘global culture’.
Several obvious examples include the EU - economic and political union of 28
European countries, corporations operating in a global scale, or the CFC
emissions - local environmental effects becoming a global problem.
Despite the unifying quality of globalization,
the process of globalization is not quite equal and a common assumption is the
pattern of cultural imperialism of Western capitalists - domination of world
cultures by iconic brands such as Disney, Coca-Cola, and more. Yet,
globalization is also bringing different or even opposing cultures closer into
contention. This unifying pattern is not new to history, however, as many
cultures and societies have imagined the world as a single place with each of
their own cultures at the center. (Examples in texts)
Karl Marx’s
radically euro-centric communist society is among these historic examples. What
was interesting of his communist vision was that despite his radical beliefs he
had a Eurocentric attitude towards other cultures.
Although very common, it is not right to view
one’s culture as a model of others; it is important to try to think relatively,
with the inclusion of other cultures as well.
As we can see from deterritorialization, culture does
not rely on local circumstances. For example, we can easily find worldwide food
in local supermarket. This kind of phenomenon take effect from many reason, but
one thing sure is that it is a key difference in 21century life.
Interesting point
Actually, I was
curious about how the globalization spread out. And I somewhat agree with the
statement that the process of globalization is not equal and common assumption,
because of the pattern of cultural imperialism of Western capitalists. We can easily
see that some brand(Coca-cola, McDonald’s Corporation, Starbucks and so on)
dominates the worldwide culture.
Also, before do this
assignment, I had never heard about deterritorialism and cosmopolitanism.
Through this, I can understand the concept of deterritorialism and
cosmopolitanism. Some expressions were grammatically very hard to understand,
but I believe I went quite close to what is cultural globalization.
Discussion point
I want to discuss
about Korean culture. Korean brand, especially Cosmetic company, Food company,
Media entertainment is very powerful in many Asian countries such as China, and
Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and so on. A lot of people are consuming
related products and producing similar culture on their own. Considering this
situation, I would like to discuss following question. Is Korean culture also
can be seen as Cultural capitalists?
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