Rival views on the Cultural Implications of Globalization

Globalization is a force that can be considered to be unstoppable, which is slowly spreading throughout the world and influencing many things that were once thought to be only specific to certain regions. Globalization had not only had a huge impact on the political and economic arena of the world but it has also had far reaching effects on the development of the cultures of many countries all over the world. The globalization of culture is one of the most fundamental aspects of the modern world and for this reason; it has come to receive the attention of many people. While some believe that globalization has had a positive impact on culture, there are others who believe that its effect is negative, since it is eroding long established cultural practices in diverse regions of the world.  The process of globalization, which started out in the economic sphere where liberal economic policies were developed and adopted by many countries has come to weaken the once strong foundations upon which many of the world’s cultures were built. There are many ways through which globalization has come to influence diverse aspects of cultures all over the globe, and these have been both positive and negative.

Globalization has intensified the economic competition among the various developed nations of the world and to increase this competitiveness, they have come to adopt policies which are aimed at influencing other countries to adopt their cultures so that they can be able to find markets for their products. Advertisements promoting the western way of life have come up all over the world, and many youth, who have been educated, have been influenced by them. It has nowadays become a trend for the youth to adopt aspects of the culture of the west, stating that their own cultures are either backward or archaic (Scheer 2003 730). This has become a cause for concern among many people in the world, who fear that the force of globalization is slowly but surely eroding their cultures. They believe that if its influenced is not stopped, then it is most likely that globalization is going to ensure that many cultures are going to come to an end. While this fear is justified, one would state that globalization has also had a positive influence on some cultures, because it has enabled them to spread all over the world where many people have come to adopt and practice them. An example of this is the consumption of Chinese food, whose origin was in China but has come to be adopted by people from other countries.

One of the cultural implications of globalization has been the way families function today in various regions. In many cultures outside the western world, for example, families were often large units, with extended families living close to each other. There was no lack of family contact and one would say that these families were close knit. However, globalization has changed all that since it has brought about the realities of a globalised economy on previously highly social cultures. The new economic reality does not support the concept of large families living together and this has led to a break up of extended families as individuals have moved away to other places for the purpose of earning a living. This has created a situation where there is very little contact between family members since many have been scattered all over the world (Horowitz 2000 107). The culture, which was prevalent in many societies, is that children have an obligation to take care of their parents and to cater for their every need. While this was the case, this concept has come to fall into disuse since the beginning of the spread of the era of globalization. This is because of the fact that many of the young people have become highly individualistic and independent in nature and have chosen to leave their cultural practices behind in favor of the western ways. Despite this being the case elsewhere, it seems that this concept has remained strong among the cultures of the Far East. When one considers the cultures of China, Japan, and Korea, one will find that most of the traditional concepts have remained intact despite the fact that these cultures have also adopted aspects of the westernized, global culture. This can be said to be a positive aspect of globalization, because it has led to the further development of cultures without losing their identity.

Globalization has come to affect those cultures which were previously conservative concerning the rights of women within their societies. It has become a force for the championing of the rights of women, especially in conservative societies in regions such as the Middle East. The conservative view towards women’s right to education and work has come to put in the background as more women are taking the initiative of not only getting themselves educated but also becoming active in the economy by working alongside men, something that was previously unheard of (Harik 1999 677). Even the most conservative governments in the world, such as the one in Saudi Arabia, have relaxed their cultural stance and have come to recognize the fact that women can no longer be denied their rights and these are now taking tentative steps towards the easing of women into public life. One of the results of globalization has been the development of   recruitment agencies, and in the Middle East, they have come to target women because of the loosening of the cultural bounds that denied them employment. The aim of these agencies is to help women to find work and these are said to be having a very high degree of success as more women are getting into the job market. Women are now getting more confident in their ability to assert themselves in society and this trend is most likely to grow as more and more women become active in public life.

While globalization has propagated a unified culture in some regions, in others, it has brought about what can only be termed as cultural relativism. Cultural relativism can be said to be the notion that all faiths, norms, and principles or values are relative to individuals within their own social contexts. The spreading of this idea because of globalization has been of an effect that is a direct opposite to what many people who oppose the globalization believe. Many of the opponents of globalization have said that its main effect is the continued erosion of local cultures, in favor of the more dominant, western one. However, as seen above, globalization has led to the spread of cultural relativism, which is a theory states that all cultures in the world should be treated as equal, whether their influence is great or small. The idea of right or wrong are relative to the culture within which an act is being practiced; this suggests the what is believed to be morally wrong in one society or culture may not be deemed to be so in another (Harris-Short 2003 131). The need to have cultural relativism in the world has come out of a desire to better understand the cultures which are not one’s own and to treat them as having equal value. This is a direct effect of globalization as cultures which previously functioned apart from one another have now been brought together, and in some areas, they exist hand in hand. This means that however much people might feel about other cultures, they have to accept them because not to do so would mean losing the benefits that comes with globalization. The need to accept other people’s cultures as being equal to the one, which one practices, can be extremely difficult and many have, for various reasons, found it hard to internalize the idea or sense of cultural relativism in the globalizing world.

One of the biggest effects of globalization, its opponents may state, is that it has not only brought numerous military conflicts around the world, but it has also ensured that there has been an increase in the incidents of terrorism. Globalization has inevitably led to a clash of cultures, with some, like the Muslim Middle East, believing that globalization is a way of establishing Christian dominance over them. To counter this perceived threat, some people I these countries have chosen to form terrorist groups, in the name of defending Islam as well as its people. There have developed many terrorist groups in the Middle East, the most prominent of which are Al Qaeda and Hezbollah. They state that their main aim in undertaking actions of terror against their governments, the state of Israel, or the interests of the United States is because these are corrupt countries which are the symbol of all that is bad in the world. Because of the sectarian divisions in the Middle East, which were fostered during the European occupation of this region after the First World War, terrorist organizations find it easy to gain some political support from some prominent members of their governments, who sympathize with them (Monshipouri & Motameni 2000 706). It can be said that external forces in the Middle East, such as the American and NATO’s military presence, have helped strengthen these organizations. For example, the power vacuum left from the American led war in the ousting of Saddam Hussein in Iraq ensured that the presence of Al Qaeda was expanded to this country. Thus, in this sense, globalization can be seen to have had a negative impact in some areas of the world, because the current conflicts taking place are as a result of this new order.

Globalization has led to a viewpoint where there is the belief that morality is dependent on the norms of a culture which practice it. It is this society which determines whether the actions of individuals in morally right or wrong. Those who propagate this belief state that there is nothing that can be said to be the absolute truth concerning morality because what is believed to be right in one society may not be considered the same in another culture (Esikot 2012 130). There are often chances where what is considered morally right in one culture may be considered wrong in another, an example being the position of the society on homosexuality. While, in the western world, homosexuality is an accepted norm in society, in other parts of the world, especially in Africa and Middle East, one would find that this practice is looked down upon, and those found in the act tend to be severely punished and at times even ostracized from their societies. However, globalization is slowly introducing the ideas of the west into other cultures in the world, and this can be seen in the aspects of democracy that has become almost universal in the entire world. While democracy has been a significant part of western culture for over two hundred years, in other parts of the world, it is a fairly new concept. Despite this, this idea has come to spread all over the world, with many new states being founded on its basis. It can therefore be said that despite the fact that there are still many beliefs that are not common in all the cultures in the world, globalization is changing all that, and it certain that future generations will most likely have the same cultural beliefs.

In relation to the globalization of the western cultural ideal of democracy, one would give the example of the ongoing Arab Spring, which came into existence as a response to the lack of political freedom in the various countries in which it has occurred. The promotion of this ideal followed the western practice of making non-violent protests, where people took to the streets to demand justice. This was an unprecedented move among the Arabs because such movements had never taken place in their countries before, and this can be attributed to the influence of western culture through globalization. While at first, they were peaceful protests, the vicious crackdown by their governments turned them violent, becoming armed struggles whose aim was to topple the autocratic regimes ruling over these countries. The use of force against unarmed civilians led to the discrediting of the legitimacy of such governments and calls for the stepping down of these leaders were made from many international organizations and governments. Moreover, in cases such as Libya and Syria, the peaceful protests suddenly became fierce armed rebellions against the government which attacked the unarmed civilians (Bajrektarevic 2011 101). It can therefore be said that the globalization of culture has been directly responsible for the changing of the systems of government all over the world, since people in other regions have opted to adopt governmental systems which are similar to those of the west.

Globalization has made the world to be viewed as such a small place, because faster modes of transport have ensured that people can get from place to place within hours where previously, it would take months. People from different cultures all over the world have moved to other countries mainly for economic reasons, and this has led them to encounter new societies and cultures, and in some cases, it has led to culture shock. Culture shock is a growing phenomenon all over the world as globalization continues to spread and many people move from one country to another in an effort to improve the economic circumstances of their lives. Many people experience culture shock when they encounter other cultures that have no similarities with the ones which they were raised within. This unfamiliarity with the new culture makes many of those who encounter it fail to understand the factors which influence conduct of local people so that they are not able determine how they should behave. At times, some of the practices of the new societies are completely in conflict with the ones they understand to be right according to their own culture, and they often find this difficult to adjust to or comprehend. When these people lose all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse, they have to try to adapt themselves to different lifestyles, living conditions and business practices in a new cultural setting and this often proves to be an extremely difficult process. Under such circumstances, it is not uncommon for feelings of alienation accumulate because of the poor adaptation to a new culture and as a consequence, culture shock occurs, and this is followed by a series of psychological confusion and emotional discomfort (Cross 2008 1060). There are often many responses to culture shock and this depends on the experiences of individuals in their new cultural settings. There are some who adapt so well to the new culture that they decide to completely immerse themselves in it. There is a tendency by such people to reject their own cultures in favor of the new one, feeling that they are better off with the latter. There are others who choose to only adopt certain aspects of the new culture they have encountered and consider to be good. However, these people continue to practice the culture, which they are more familiar with. Another group of immigrants chooses to completely reject the new culture and remain completely loyal to their own culture. These, more often than not, choose to live among themselves in almost complete isolation with the new culture, and only rarely encounter it; the younger generation is often the first to attempt to fit into the new culture.

Among the major consequences of the coming together of many cultures is that it has led to cross cultural marriage. This type of marriage has been brought about because of the globalization of culture, which has not only enabled people from different cultures to meet, but has also enabled the sharing of such cultures. Globalization has made it possible for romance, which leads to cross cultural marriage, to take place, and this normally begins either on the internet, or when the couple meets at a mutual place of work. The most inevitable result of such marriages is the bringing together of two distinct cultures (Fenyo 2001 334). While many people believe that such marriages are a positive aspect of globalization, there are others who believe that it brings about negative results. They state that since the couple comes from different cultures, then it is inevitable that they are, at one time or another, going to clash. They state that cross cultural marriages have created more conflict within marriages that previously, hence weakening the institution. They point out to the high divorce rates among such people as proof that these marriages are not feasible. There are others, however, who disagree, stating that just because people come from different cultures does not mean that they are going to fail. In fact, they state that globalization has enabled the enrichment of other cultures through the promotion of understanding as well as the bringing up of multicultural families.

In conclusion, it can be said that globalization has come to have a profound influence on the cultures of many people in the world, and this influence has been both positive and negative. In certain regions, it can be said to be a blessing to those cultures which it has come to influence, because it has not only enriched these cultures, but it has also ensured that some of their characteristics have been spread all over the world. However, it has also been noted that globalization has led to the erosion and near extinction of some cultures and these have come to be replaced with the dominant western culture, which is the driving force behind globalization. One would even go as far as to suggest that globalization is a force which is inevitably going to destroy other cultures, and if not, it will change these cultures beyond recognition. It is an irresistible force of cultural change which cannot be stopped without the isolation of other cultures from the globalised, western one. This would be an impossible feat, considering the fact that globalization has made the world interdependent, with one state not being able to survive without the support of others. It is therefore, inevitable that globalization will not only continue to influence culture, but it is likely to change or destroy them.