Globalization and Culture Change
Transformation of culture, or cultural change, to the dynamic process
whereby the living cultures of the world are changing and adapting to external or
internal forces. This process is occurring within Western
culture as well as non-Western and indigenous cultures and cultures of the world.
Forces which contribute to the cultural change described in this article
include: colonization, globalization,
advances in communication, transport
and infrastructure
improvements, and military expansion.
Many of the themes discussed
in the context of transformation of cultures
and cultural change have particular urgency for the world's indigenous peoples. Indigenous systems of
collective economic production and distribution do not conform to capitalism's
emphasis on individual accumulation. This phenomenon is not new, although
processes of globalization have increased the scale and
frequency of such conflicts of perspective. The contradictions between indigenous
and capitalist modes of production, and the tensions generated by their
intersection, have deep historical roots in the process of colonization.
In many cases, the two worldviews are indeed antithetical. Victoria
Tauli-Corpuz, an Igorot activist from the Philippines,
summarizes the difference when she writes that "industrialized
culture
regards our values as unscientific obstacles to modernization
and thus worthy of ridicule, suppression, and denigration. The industrial world also views our political,
social,
and land-tenure traditions as dangerous: our collective identities; our
communal ownership of forests, waters, and lands; our usufruct system of community
sharing, and our consensus decision-making are all antithetical to the
capitalist hallmarks of individualism and private property."
Many indigenous peoples view "resources"
in a very different way from that of global industry's commodity-centered
calculus. A leader of the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, Secwepemc
author Arthur Manuel writes: "Mainstream economists
tend to value development strategies solely in terms of
their wealth
generation potential for industry and governments. So resources are viewed in
strictly monetary terms. But indigenous peoples consider the value of land and
resources in far broader, more integrated terms, including cultural, social,
spiritual and environmental values, and their sustainability.
Among indigenous peoples, decisions about caring for resources and the environment are usually made as part of a
collective process, where the community takes into account a full spectrum of
values and benefits other than short-term economic gains"Around the world
many indigenous groups have over centuries or millennia successfully sustained
economies in one particular place and ecosystem.
The co-adaptation of people with other elements of their ecological
systems has meant that the integrity and functioning of these systems has been
sustained even as the communities' culture developed and changed historically.
These economic arrangements are viewed as one component of a cultural
understandings that include sacred interactions with the world. Indigenous economies can thus
be seen to be sustainable to the extent to which the holders of culture
interact in a culturally appropriate way with the world around them, including
those elements of the world known to modern scientists as "natural
resources". In many areas indigenous people have sustained communities for
centuries, and the ecological systems of which they are a component have
maintained relative richness and resilience to natural perturbations such as
drought or fires. The ecosystems that have been remained predominantly under
control and care of indigenous peoples thus tend to be characterized by high biodiversity,
abundant renewable resources, and relatively unexploited nonrenewable resources.
For many indigenous groups, the advent of globalization threatens the
sustainability of their economies by making their land and knowledge valuable
targets as commodities in a globalized economy.
Environmental
stresses and impacts on cultures
Cultures around the world are
undergoing change due to environmental stresses, such as climate
change. Globalization and increased consumerism
are increasing environmental stress by contributing to deforestation.
In addition to deforestation, other stresses such as introduction of foreign
species, pollution,
and urban sprawl.
Indigenous
resistance
In many cases, however, indigenous
people have not passively acceded to the penetration of extractive
capitalism into their communities. The following section thus not only reviews
how globalization
impacts indigenous people, but also describes how indigenous communities resist
or negotiate to defend their territories and cultural integrity.
Economic
policy, when set on a global scale, can undermine the political
gains that indigenous peoples may have made within the legal systems
of nation states. Victor Menotti of the International Forum on Globalization
has written of how World Trade Organization(WTO) authority is
diminishing the sovereignty of nation states over their land, water, genetic
material, and public services. The General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS), for example, favors the privatization of systems (such as
those for water distribution) that serve the general public but without an
equitable provision of services that is often at odds with maximization of
profits. Structural Adjustment Programs
(SAPs) imposed as a condition of loans from global finance
agencies such as the World Bank also often mandate privatization.
The effects on indigenous peoples and other poor people can be devastating.
World Bank-mandated SAP privatization of coal mining
in the Indian
state of Orissa
in the 1990s, for example, resulted in contamination
of rivers,
increased rates of fluoride poisoning, infections, and cancer, displacement of towns, and power rates that increased
by 500%. The World Bank and IMF have also made water privatization a prior condition for
granting loans and debt reductions. Structural adjustment programs also weaken
national-level environmental and labor laws that indigenous communities may
have relied on in previous struggles to maintain control over territory and
resources.
Other new international trade
rules also negatively impact indigenous peoples. For example, Article I of GATT
prohibits national governments from restricting imported
goods specifically from any single other WTO member nation. This article thus makes
it impossible for national governments to restrict imports from other WTO
countries with questionable human rights, labor,
or environmental records and thus disallows a
potential safeguard for the rights of indigenous peoples. Article III of the GATT, together with its
corollary Articles V and XI, requires governments to treat all imports "no
less favorably" than locally produced goods and bans restrictions on
imports. Victor Menotti writes of how this feature of GATT "prevents any
government from favoring or protecting it own local industries,
or farmers
or cultures
that might otherwise by overwhelmed by globe-spanning corporations
bringing vast amounts of cheap imports that make local or indigenous economies
non-viable". Similar "free trade" policies under NAFTA have
already been demonstrated to undercut the livelihoods of small-scale Mexican
corn
farmers, many of whom are indigenous, who are unable to compete with cheap,
mass-produced grain
from the US.
Technological
impacts
Technological innovations can enhance,
displace or devalue human existence and culture. Advances in medical technology
have contributed to demographic changes, including increased
longevity and decreasing fertility. For example, although China has slowed its
population increases through a one-child per
family policy, the median age of its people will soar in the next 35 years. In
some Third World countries, kidneys, eyes and skin are sold in a flourishing
market for body parts There is also rising concern amongst many indigenous
people groups over the interrelated issues of genetic patenting and biopiracy.
For example, a Guaymi
woman was diagnosed with leukemia in 1991. Whilst in hospital in the city of Panama she had
blood samples taken and without her knowledge or free, prior, and informed
consent. The cell-line enclosed in these samples was stored,
"immortalized", patented, and put up for sale at a price of $136 US dollars.
The scientists involved in this process claimed to have "invented"
this woman's cell-line. Their rationale for taking the samples and processing
them for patenting was that these samples held "commercial promise"
in the scientific world for the discovery of potential medical breakthroughs
and that the government encourages the patenting of anything which
may have a link to such a discovery. The main contention in the debate apart
from ethical
dilemmas over genetic research is the fact that the woman from whom the samples
were taken was never consulted about the process, so in effect, the whole
process was done without her knowing it was going on or understanding what was
happening to her.[24]
This presents an additional dilemma alongside the issue of genetic manipulation: freedom of information. There is also the
implication of "why her", "why an indigenous Guaymi woman and
not a Euro-American". This type of technological case-in-point presents as
a more recent dilemma for indigenous groups because commonly, such failure to
properly inform insofar as the impact of either scientific research endeavours
or corporate-style development schemes are concerned has
historically tended to coincide with policies and paradigms of practice which
have their basis in racial discrimination.
On the more positive side,
certain technological innovations such as computers, the Internet, and
miscellaneous sound and visual recording
media have been welcomed and embraced by indigenous peoples as a
means of communicating to wider society their concerns about the dilemmas not
only faced by them but by the whole world in view of the extent of socioeconomic,
cultural and political transformations that have continued to evolve and impact
global diversity in far-reaching and often unpredictable ways.
Sociocultural globalization
Shakira,
a Colombian multilingual singer-songwriter, playing outside her home country.
Culture
Cultural globalization has increased
cross-cultural contacts but may be accompanied by a decrease in the uniqueness
of once-isolated communities: sushi
is available in Germany as well as Japan, but Euro-Disney outdraws the city of
Paris, potentially reducing demand for "authentic" French pastry. Globalisation's
contribution to the alienation of individuals from their traditions may be modest
compared to the impact of modernity itself, as alleged by existentialists
such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.
Globalization has expanded recreational opportunities by spreading pop culture,
particularly via the Internet and satellite television.
A McDonald's in Osaka, Japan illustrates the McDonaldization
of global society
Religious movements were among the
earliest cultural forces to globalize, spread by force, migration, evangelists,
imperialists and traders. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism
and more recently sects such as Mormonism have taken root and influenced
endemic cultures in places far from their origins.
Conversi claimed in 2010 that
globalization was predominantly driven by the outward flow of culture and
economic activity from the United States and was better understood as Americanization,
or Westernization.
For example, the two most successful global food/beverage outlets are American
companies, McDonald's and Starbucks,
are often cited as examples of globalization, with over 32,000[91]
and 18,000 locations operating worldwide, respectively as of 2008.
The term globalization implies
transformation. Cultural practices including traditional music can be lost
and/or turned into a fusion of traditions. Globalization can trigger a state of
emergency for the preservation of musical heritage. Archivists must attempt to
collect, record or transcribe repertoire before melodies are assimilated or
modified. Local musicians struggle for authenticity and to preserve local musical
traditions. Globalization can lead performers to discard traditional
instruments. Fusion genres can become interesting fields of analysis.
Globalization gave support to the World Music
phenomenon by allowing locally-recorded to reach western audiences searching
for new ideas and sounds. For example, Western musicians have adopted many
innovations that originated in other cultures.
The term was originally intended for
ethnic-specific music, though globalization is expanding its scope; it now
often includes hybrid sub-genres such as World fusion, Global
fusion, Ethnic fusion and Worldbeat.
A Coca-Cola
stall outside the Grand Gateway 66 shopping mall in Xujiahui,
Shanghai
Music flowed outward from the west
as well. Anglo-American pop music spread across the world through MTV. Dependency Theory
explained that the world was an integrated, international system. Musically,
this translated into the loss of local musical identity.
Bourdieu claimed that the perception
of consumption can be seen as self-identification and the formation of
identity. Musically, this translates into each being having his own musical
identity based on likes and tastes. These likes and tastes are greatly
influenced by culture as this is the most basic cause for a person's wants and
behavior. The concept of one's own culture is now in a period of change due to
globalization. Also, globalization has increased the interdependency of
political, personal, cultural and economic factors.
A 2005 UNESCO report showed that
cultural exchange is becoming more frequent from Eastern Asia but Western
countries are still the main exporters of cultural goods. In 2002, China was
the third largest exporter of cultural goods, after the UK and US. Between 1994
and 2002, both North America's and the European Union's shares of cultural exports
declined, while Asia's cultural exports grew to surpass North America. Related
factors are the fact that Asia's population and area are several times that of
North America. Americanization related to a period of high political American
clout and of significant growth of America's shops, markets and object being
brought into other countries. So globalization, a much more diversified
phenomenon, relates to a multilateral political world and to the increase of
objects, markets and so on into each other's countries. The Indian experience
particularly reveals the plurality of the impact of cultural globalization.
