Samuel Huntington suggests that any notion of an emerging “universal civilization” implies the “cultural coming together of humanity and the increasing acceptance of common values, beliefs, orientations, practices, and institutions by peoples throughout the world.” While Huntington finds little evidence that this is happening, Amy Chua claims that most peoples of thew world “hate” Americans (by which she means the U.S.) partly because Western culture is exerting itself on peoples of the world due to market dominance. So….what is happening? Is there such a thing as cultural globalization? What evidence is there of increasing cultural integration and convergence, and of sharing and acceptance of language, beliefs, values, religion, ideas, practices, social norms, and expressions?
And as a class, what we are further interested in are the following two questions:
1. So, what causes this? What are the “mechanisms” (institutions, policies, laws, habits, practices, phenomena) that encourage this? And…
2. What contemporary global issues does cultural globalization contribute to? Benefits? Problems?
Rise, Brittney, Yoshino
A few contribution to cultural diversity are the spread of businesses. Business can make more money when they expand to other countries. However when they expand, they can affect the country’s’ economy by bringing in more jobs. The country could also adopt the businesses work ethics and techniques. Also technology advances contributes to cultural globalization. For instance, Google is currently creating robots that can drive cars and do other activities to help humans. Google can share the information from their findings and projects with other countries. The mechanisms for cultural diversity is encouraged by economics and social media. Businesses can spread if there are agreements for trading between countries. Trading agreements are encouraged to help build and balance economy. Also, the social media can share lots of information to contribute cultural diversity easier and faster to the world. Sharing information with social media is effective. There are some contemporary global issues that contribute to globalization and these affect positively and negatively. The benefit is that people start to be interested in other cultures and try to understand other countries’ history. For example, people in the world share pop culture, such as music, movies, books, clothes, and social media. The another example is that students tend to study abroad to know other countries that they are interested in. The disadvantage is that each culture
Globalization has become a general direction for companies around the world these days. This is also one of the reason why other countries hated The U. S. The cause of this could be that The U. S. has a very free market that allows them to expand their companies to other countries. Also, the technologies and the quality of their products could increase the buyers desire to use their products. The capitalistic government also plays a huge part in allowing these industries to grow.
The biggest problems of cultural globalization is losing identity. Fast-food is a good example. We have McDonald everywhere. We can eat American burgers anytime, but otherwise, we can be less opportunities to eat what we used to eat. Cultural globalization invades the tradition.
-by Johnny Lu, Shintaro Kurachi
There are many causes for this cultural globalization that is expanding around the world. One of the main reasons is the rapidly growing use of technology throughout the world. institutions such as companies like apple, twitter, Facebook have been apart of the new age technology connecting people to other cultures. other reasons are trade, and travel and the growing use of a global banking and a global economy. the way these factors influence not only the U.S. but the rest of the world shows how much of an impact that cultural globalizations plays a factor into todays world.
cultural globalization has the power to grow the human interaction between countries in a positive way. positive factors into globalization can be showing issues that might be going on in one country and giving it attention so that the whole world can see it. also globalization could help solve some of the most troubling problems to the human race, such as climate change, raise global economy and work towards world peace. negatives issues in globalizations could be how the wealthy and the poor are treated in this time. powerful institutions could take over and have a say in many thing that they shouldn’t have a say in just because of their. also with the growing globalization the risk for diseases being spread is a huge concern in humanity which could lead to a loss in some cultures.
By Justis Owens, Luda wilder, Raven Daniels
Daniel Boyer, Shane Byerley, Luke, and Emanuelle
There is evidence of cultural globalization mainly is business and pop culture. It could be that all people of the world have a desire for popularity, wealth, and/or power. Currently, the hatred aimed at the U.S. could be for the irresponsibility and dishonesty that’s is seen from top business leaders of the country. The world could perhaps have hatred to the United States on account of military interventionism. The United States possesses a large military budget that provides funding for international military bases. Many nations do not like the presence of military personal and equipment in their regions and country. Another way that United State was seen around the world was as the rich country. Others just think that United States is not doing well on the economy because of taxes and loans. Taxes and loans due give this presentation, but the United States international businesses are doing well. The United States is able to bring in foreign companies to build relationships with those countries, and hopefully build a better relationship with individuals in that country at the same time.
by Alex Guidi
The idea of cultural globalization seems like it could be more of a possibly now more than ever. That is because the advances in technology have created instant communication highways for culture all over the world. These communication pathways allow for many different cultural exchanges. For example, we are now able to broadcast media, politics, and other cultural practices around the world. Amy Chua believes one of the most vast and spreading cultural practices is the western market presence, especially the United States market. The United States has brands like Nike, Disney, and Coca Cola that dominate the market places all over the world. The spread of these brands and the market is just one of the ways western influence is imposing itself on cultures around the world. The western media is not the only presences the United States has around the world, they also have strong military presence. All of these factors working together can make it seem like the entire world is moving towards a single global culture based off of Western culture.
One contemporary global issue that cultural globalization is contributing to is the United States choice to insert themselves to help rebuild some Middle Eastern nations. These nations have been ravaged by war, and are in desperate need to rebuild a structural government. The United States has taken it upon themselves to show them how our country runs, and to help them rebuild their nations modeled after our own. This example comes back to the United States vast military presence around the world. Our large military base is able to impose our way of politics and government on developing nations because we consider it to be the most effective and correct way.
Funa Yamagishi, Hunter McGinnis, Morganne Gibbs
Cultural globalization is a movement that does exist is today’s world, though not to the extent that some people may believe. The evidence for people who believe in complete cultural globalization comes from facts like English becoming the predominant language, faster communication occurring between people from any part of the world, and multinational corporations being built within more countries’ borders. Although these are valid arguments for the believers in cultural globalization, they are slightly skewed.
English becoming the predominant language does not mean it is a person’s everyday language of choice. English is used as “the world’s principal Language of Wider Communication (LWC),” as Huntington stated. This means that English is used to make political and economic talks between people of different nations easier to both parties. Therefore, English has not been accepted as a culture’s language of choice, but is simply an easier communication tool. This allows cultures to remain diverse, not globalized.
With a LWC comes easier communication, but it is not the only factor that plays into globalized communication. Today’s technology makes something as simple as everyday pleasantries to something as complicated as trading international stock easier than ever. Social networking sites allow any and all types of communication to occur, no matter what writeable language is used.
The final argument that multinational corporations’ frequent comings is evidence of cultural globalization is easily disproven. Two of the biggest corporations McDonalds and Wal-Mart are the main examples against cultural globalization. Though both companies’ roots lie on United States’s soil, each company regionalizes individual facilities in order to increase profits by recognizes and promoting each region’s culture. For example, a McDonald’s in the United States is not selling the same products as a McDonald’s in Japan. On the same page, a Wal-Mart in Japan would sell clothing and entertainment items that pertain to Japanese pop culture (J-Pop) whereas a Wal-Mart in the United States would sell items pertaining to “American” pop culture.
Cultural globalization brings both benefits and problems. One main benefit is increasingly easier communication with today’s technology. As stated earlier, this makes it easier for everyday conversation globally, which increases a citizen’s individual happiness. Increased communication on an economic basis allows an easier way for developing countries to increase economic profit. A request for advice or aid can be sent between borders or across oceans with the simple click of a mouse. Along with nearly any other event, technological communication advances do not benefit everyone. A prime example would be indigenous populations who do not have a written language, or may have specific characters in their written language that are not used by more than a small minority of the world. These peoples would find it difficult to use a keyboard, the common tool to type a message to another person. Therefore, these people are conflicted as to whether they should continue using only oral languages/languages with uncommon characters, or they should change their traditional ways in order to stay “modern” with today’s technology, which is the main problem with cultural globalization.
In short, cultural globalization is a real concept, but may be presented as more extreme than it actually is. Cultural globalization is “the cultural coming together of humanity and the increasing acceptance of common values, beliefs, orientations, practices, and institutions by peoples throughout the world.” Yes, humanity is coming together and becoming more accepting of another person’s or population’s traits listed above, but this does not mean they are conforming to another person’s or population’s said traits, which is the extreme some believe cultural globalization is.
Graham Richards, Jennings Kelly, and Grace Costa
The process of globalization as pursued by United States interests penetrates cultures across the globe in respect to technology, fast food, language, transportation, consumer goods, etc. Some Americans assert that our economical strategy is to target international markets for our own advantage. Globalization as fueled by American markets is both an organic and planned machination of government and business. Many institutions such as missions, embassies, military presence, universities, health care, non-governmental organizations such as Red Cross, and the IGO Peace Corps, create a web of interdependency and mutual benefits between the US and other countries. For example, foreign students study abroad at American Universities to benefit from our educational system and thus integrate their learning into their home countries afterward.
The migration crisis now affecting Europe is heavily influenced by the Western idea of human rights. As globalization steadily introduces an idea of universal human rights, peoples coming cultures that don’t recognize the ideals of human rights, are now fleeing to the EU for asylum and protection under those ideas.
The Iran deal between America and the Iranians over development of a nuclear program further exemplifies Americans pushing cultural globalization because this phenomenon puts America at the forefront of influencing global nuclear aggression and neutrality.
However, the result of our culture being personified by fast food, consumerism, and military around the world is not entirely positive. Trademarks of our culture can have negative stigmas that are attached to Americans as a whole whether they are traveling or appear in international media.
by Hannah Chretien and Christopher Payne
Globalization is a process that began back in the 1900’s. As technology grew, so did the interconnectedness of the world. As stated in the article by Huntington, more people become involved in newer technology in a shorter amount of time than the last model. It took forty years for 50 million Americans to use the radio, but only four years for the same amount to join the internet. Now, people can view clips of events happening globally with a mere Google search. International trade has also contributed to this idea of globalization. As countries form alliances and open their borders to international commerce, this allows goods and culture from other countries to become introduced where it formerly was unknown.
Having this international connectedness is beneficial for mass communication. Issues that are happening across the world can be seen on televisions in the United States. This allows people to rally in times of need to help others, and to celebrate new accomplishments that would have otherwise gone unknown. However, globalization is not always viewed as a good idea. Many countries feel that with globalization comes the concept of “westernization,” a word that is used to describe the absorbance of western culture across the world. Countries whose cultures come into conflict with westernization feel like their own native believes are being threatened, and sometimes react violently to globalization because of it. This issue is still widely discussed today, and does not appear to have a clear solution as of now.
Haleigh, Aryne, Zeke
One of the bigger factors contributing towards this is social media and how the world is now communicating. Businesses use social medias for advertisements, which helps them spread their product globally. Movies, music, and all things pop culture gets shared through social media outlets. Social media is the main connection the world has and it contributes to the spread of culture.
Foreign aid is also an aspect of this. A country who has to receive aid will be more open to learning about other ways of life. A country in debt will think that they are doing something wrong and take notes from the countries who are sending them aid.
Donald Trump, a candidate in the presidency, is a prime example of a contemporary global issue that affects the rest of the world. Due to his experience with business outside of America, he is extremely well known. He can use his wide platform to not only connect to people in the United States, but also to people across the globe. This helps him get his ideas out there, which is a form of culturally globalization.
Mariah Franklin, Rachel Manning, and Arik Stuvek
The increasing interrelatedness of cultures is undeniable, yet controversy rages as to its precise extent. Western cultures are often pointed to as the source of much of so-called global culture. In the years since the fall of the Soviet Union, the West, and especially the United States, has long used its status to influence and shape global culture and policy in ways both self-evident and subtle. Evidence for these claims can be provided by referring to the pace at which the English language has gained traction as a lingua franca in the fields of education and government, the acceptance of Western styles of dress and modes of individual and institutional behavior as typical, as well as in reactions against so-called “global” culture.
The causes of a global culture dominated by Western nations are multi-faceted, and range from the fact that the esteem accorded to artistic and scientific work produced in the West wholly overshadows that accorded to work produced in other regions, to the immense power wielded by Western-affiliated regulatory bodies in the international sphere, financial investment in non-Western countries, and multinational corporations based in the West. From a historical perspective, the present day’s increasing global integration seems to be largely the product of the years following the Second World War, in that these years saw the emergence of entities such as the UN, which, at least in theory, promoted a more unified world system. While financial investment in and aid allotted to non-Western countries may be initially thought of as a straightforward business transaction, in reality the terms attached to many agreements further the cause of globalization by stipulating that the country receiving funds must meet certain standards of democracy. Similarly, many large multinational companies have contributed to developing a type of global culture by standardizing the range of available consumer goods. Unpacking the causes of the development of a global culture further underlines the seeming inevitability with which globalization perpetuates itself, whether for good or ill.
Separating the positive aspects of globalization from the negative is a difficult task. Proponents of cultural globalization might suggest that it contributes to the cause of greater cultural understanding. On a straightforward level, this argument has some truth in it; by virtue of the fact that English is rapidly gaining new speakers, a certain amount of previously impossible cultural understanding is sure to be fostered. Some scholars have argued that globalization makes wars more difficult to fight by linking nations more tightly to one another, and those who support this view may find a degree of confirmation in studying the course of the Cold War. Although this suggestion has definite merit, its limitations are fairly obvious – throughout history, even heavily interdependent states have engaged in hostilities. Conversely, globalization can be seen as playing a part in a limiting the diversity of world cultures and enforcing a sense of Western cultural superiority. Globalization has long been associated primarily with Western cultures, and more specifically with the US. Western nations’ history of imperialism has further provided opponents of globalization with a legitimate sense of unease. Globalization has also been subjected to criticism for its potential problems in ensuring that all countries of the world enjoy equal access to the benefits of a fully globalized system. The varying opinions on the subject of globalization underscore the complexity that ideas of culture carry with them.
Olivia Cleveland, Renee Reeve, Joshua Junnier
We think America forces its culture onto other countries—whether they mean to or not. Because America is the dominant country in literally every aspect, it is natural that their culture seeps into other countries. However, that does not mean it is right. Due to their monopoly of economics, culture, and technology, it is understandable why countries become resentful—their culture is being standardized by American culture. This possibly could have happened due to World War 2. Due to all other countries being devastated by the war, America stepped up to help. All of this brought the monopolization of the culture. This leads to cultural appropriation; America manipulates other countries’ cultures and makes them their own.
There are few benefits to this; people are able to learn about other cultures and learn from other countries’ mistakes, but the advantages end there. Occasionally, US citizens use these cultures in a way that is insulting to the original culture. Cultural globalization leads to a glut of problems, most of them being cultural appropriation and resentment from other countries. America’s economic, technological, and cultural success is due to the domination of other countries, which is unfair. This is especially seen in the pop culture. Around the world, people are wearing jeans and t-shirts, losing their traditional dress. The influence of American celebrities also contributes to this spread of culture. In a positive way, it provides a common ground. Everyone knows who Brad Pitt is around the world. This encourages people to want to be more “American”. Fortunately, with the influence of the Internet, more celebrities, like from Korea and Japan, are able to break that barrier and bring their influence into the field. That being said, we agree with Chua more. She makes the argument that countries that America has dominated are resentful, and after reading her article, we believe that their feelings are justified.
Carter Habeeb, Eric Lipka, Qiana Barrett, Rose Sampley
Cultural globalization is defined as the increasing integration in commerce, sharing an accepting language, beliefs, values, religion, ideals, practices, social norms, expressions, promoting increased interdependence through communication, technology, and contact between people. We believe that the recent increase in availability of technology has led to a larger scale of cultural globalization. Through globally accessible websites such as Google, Facebook, and YouTube, people are able to communicate, understand each other, and discover new ideas at a greater rate. Multinational corporations have also helped further the integration of our cultures around the world. For example, McDonalds can be seen all over the world integrating their original American concept with local cuisines. These corporations connect us with a way of relating to one another. Even companies that don’t come to mind, such as non-profit organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, are working around the globe to better our world with help from people everywhere. Furthermore, even nations that have negative views towards other nations such as America still embrace American culture.
One current event going on in the world is the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Doctors Without Borders, a non-profit organization, has helped to push back against Ebola and contain it from being any worse than it already is. This global organization allowed scientists to study the outbreak and have helped save the lives of countless people in West Africa. DDoS is an example of a negative outcome of expanded technology in our world as terrorist groups like ISIS can issue computer attacks and compromise intelligence systems. It is evident that globalization can lead to positive and negative outcomes. Multi-national corporations have done their fair share in contribution to negative and positive effects from globalization. For example, the first McDonalds to open in India was burned to the ground due to locals being irate over the serving of beef. This hurt India’s view of and relation with America which wasn’t repaired until much later when McDonalds offered a completely vegetarian menu in India. In conclusion, there are positive and negative sides to each option of globalization based on how the options that we have are used.
Claire Rehmke, TJ Lloyd, Tricia Soper, Kade McGlohon
There are many different mechanisms that help encourage globalization for the better such as: Social media interaction, travel, tourism, and even study abroad programs. All of this plays into simple interaction between different cultures around the world; not only for the youth but its now a big factor among companies, cultural organizations, and even charities around the world. For the bigger picture agencies like the UN contribute to globalization and sharing of ideas, global problems, and trade among countries. Sports like the NBA, FIFA, and hockey connect different cultures together through athletics to support fight against racism together, which is the main slogan of FIFA. The Olympics on an even greater scale is a collaboration of countries and athletics that shares culture. These are only some of the ways that connect the world together in a positive way.
The effects of globalization can go either way, some positive and some negative. Forced globalization is definitely negative; like when the Maassai tribe in Kenya was being forced to change their customs on how they chose their leaders of the tribes. On a positive note when cultures connect and know one another’s problems we are able to aid one another in disaster relief and pandemic situations. Back to the negative, this can also create global conflict when different countries get involved in situations they have no business in because they think its OK because we are all CONNECTED.
Universal Civilization
By Jacob Roberts, Hadis Karatashi, Stacey Padila, Brandi Jeanis
There are multiple causes for the globalization of culture. One mechanism by which globalization is facilitated is the internet. The internet allows for instantaneous transnational exchange of thought, ideas, and information. The way people use technology is a changing factor in the world, because people have access to a lot of information by the internet and global news sources like CCN, BBC, and Al-Jazeera. Another mechanism is the policies of law, such as common laws around the world. UN resolutions and treaties bind the world together in political, social, economic aspects. Some examples are the United Nation, laws of the sea, the World Health Organization, and the IMF. Another mechanism is a global moral common ground, such as having a family, not murdering, not killing civilians. Finally, some global habits include the rise of driving individual cars and increasing environmental protection.
Global issues are impacted by cultural globalization. These include the way modern warfare is conducted globally on a technological and strategic bases. Conversely, increase contact between nations and commerce promote relative peace between nation-states in the world.
The biggest factor that has led to globalization across the world, is the development of improved means of communication. With the creation of the internet, tools like social media and blogs have led to the rapid increase of globalization, as they provide a worldwide space for communication amongst each other. Another major factor which has contributed to globalization, is the creation of improved modes of transportation. With the invention of planes and other pieces of machinery, goods and products can be moved back and forth between countries with ease. The common brands that rule the American economy also have a major impact on the global market: brands like coca-cola, apple and McDonald’s have spread out from their American homes and have taken over the global economy, providing yet another way in which we are all bonded. One of the benefits of globalization is the increase in the amount of those who live above the poverty line across the world. As technology has improved, it has spread out to the far reaches of the world, bringing the vast majority of the world into the 21st century. One of the downsides to globalization however, is the disappearance of indigenous cultures and traditions across the world.
– by Sidra Fatima, Hannah Morgan, DJ Stone, Josh Clark