CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION


CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION
According to Wikipedia it refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world in such away as to extend and intensify social relations. Cultural globalization also refers to the rapid movement of ideas, attitudes, meanings, values and cultural products across national borders. It refers specifically to idea that there is now a global and common mono-culture transmitted  and reinforced by the internet, popular entertainment transnational marketing of particular brands and international tourism that transcends local cultural traditions and life styles, and that shapes the perceptions, aspirations, tastes and every day activities of people wherever they may live in the world. This process is marked by the common consumptions of cultures that have been diffused by internet, popular culture media and international travel. This has added the process of commodity exchange and colonization which have a longer history of carrying cultural meaning around the globe.
Cultural globalization is also a phenomenon by which the experience of everyday life, influenced by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, reflects a standardization of cultural expressions around the world. Propelled by the effiency or appeal of wireless communication, electronic commerce, popular culture and international travel. Cultural globalization is influenced by the number of factors. These factors are centered on discussion as follows:
        i.            New technology and forms of communication around the world help to integrate different cultures into each other. For example the invention of communication accessories such as computers, phones with social network such as face book, twitter and internet has influence the people’s culture to integrate around the world.

      ii.             Growth of transportation technologies and services along the world with the mass migration and individual travel contribute to this form of globalization allowing for  cross-cultural exchanges.


    iii.            Infrastructure and institutionalization embedded change example teaching language such as English across the world through education systems and training of teachers. This has lead to the adoption of western culture to the other parts of the world through reading of the western stories and novels in the learning process. It may include the adoption of language, ideology and beliefs.

    iv.            Migration is the important aspect of cultural globalization, in the sense that, this process has been going on for several centuries, with languages, religious beliefs, and values being spread by military conquest, missionary works and trade. However, in the last 30 years, the process of cultural globalization has dramatically intensified due to technological advancement in both transportation and communication technology.

      v.            Converging global consumption pattern, this is the process of making a homogeneous environment which mainly appear much in the major city in the world that made the customers to share the similar consumption experience. For example the shopping malls and leisure parks which provide a homogenous cultural experience in different regions across the world.
Importance of cultural globalization.
i.It allows for profit to companies and nations. There are many cultures in the world, but the influential one dominates all others. In that sense the European culture dominate the world. They made a lot of profit as they sell their product to the rest part of the world example products like clothes brands from western, food products and so forth to mention.
ii.Offers opportunities for development and advancement in economics, technology and information transformation and this usually benefits the developed countries. The large manufactures of technology accessories benefit the market of the third world counties especially in Africa and Asia.
iii.Creates a more homogeneous world. Since the ideas and values from the different parts of the world are integrated and create some similarities among the globe. This act as importance because there are slightly differences among the people around the globe as the communication are made easy through internet.
iv. It generates interdependent companies among the company. These are the small companies that are produce the same product as that produced by the company for example the coca cola companies, Pepsi companies .These interdependent companies has increased the profit since it had reduced the cost of production.
Phases of cultural globalization.
The phases of globalization are grouped into three;
1) Pre modern phase of globalization or the early civilization, this was influenced by
i. Early human migration facilitated by trade and creation of social networks amongst other nations. This was the first stages of globalization which integrated the peoples culture, during the trade people have to create the trading language that will facilitate trade activities, in that sense the integration among the people was inevitable.
ii. Emergence of world religions, the spread of the religion especially Islam and Christianity has influenced the world faith to be homogeneous, since the new faith has the same way of belief example in Christianity they believe on the one God, living in the heaven
iii. Development of trans-regional trade networks example long distance trade many centered in china and India. Early forms of globalization especially with the silk route which linked the Roman Empire and the Chinese Han Empire.
2)  Modern phase of globalization
At this phase the contributing factor include
i. European imperialism (rise of the west European expansionism especially with the discover of new world by Columbus which allowed goods and people to cross the Atlantic)
ii. Emerging international economy
iii. International migration and developments outside of the west.
iv. Spread of modernity.
v. Rise of nation-state or a development of freedom of movement and cultural diffusion.
vi. Industrialization which increased the demand of raw materials to supply in industries. Science grew immensely with modernized shipping, railways and new forms of communication such as internet technology.
3) Contemporary phase of globalization
It started from the year 1945 up to present. It influenced by the number of factors as explained below.
i. Struggle after cold war led to a slow but steady increase in cultural flows with the immigration of peoples, ideas , symbols and image. It was soon after the Second World War when the third world countries were needed to allow the external investments in their countries, this increased the flow of the Europeans towards the African resources under the umbrella of free market policy.
ii. Represented global cultural inter-connectedness, which eventually led to the developments in transport and transport infrastructures such as jet airlines, construction of roads and railways networks. This allowed for more tourism and shifting patterns of global migrations
IMPACTS OF CULTURE GLOBALIZATION ON AFRICA
i. Culture globalization affected us socially on the wider scale. For example for issues such as race, ethnic and class systems that socially inequalities plays a part within those categories. The past half-century has witnessed the trend towards globalization with in media and population culture. It has shaped the individuals to have certain attitudes that involve race issues thus leading to stereotypes.
ii. Cultural globalization brings together urbanization and migration and how it has affected today’s trend ,before the urban centers had developed the idea of globalization after the second world war was that globalization took place due to the shifting of state restrictions by different nations. There mere national boundary for the flow of goods and services.
iii. Cultural globalization affected much over political aspect especial when we are made to adopt the western way of ruling our people and dismantle our ethnic ruling which once upon a time was used and everyone in the society involved in running government, also these metropole countries use some ruling elites to dominate dominate different parts of the world for their interests. For example the issue of the Middle East, issue of Libya and the Congo crisis, this is the some examples that show how Africans have been affected by cultural globalization.
iv. Cultural globalization affect the Africans negatively at the economy due to the fact that even after independence  the Africans have remain the main producers of the raw materials for export, and made to be the market of the European manufactured goods. That is to say that we Africans produce what we don’t consume and we consume what we don’t produce, in that sense we are exploited without our awareness since we contribute much on the growing of these metropolitan countries and they contribute much on our under development.
v. Positively, cultural globalization has lead to the improvement of the health and health services, due to the fact that it lead to the flow of ideas and techniques on solving different matters especially those concerning with the human health. In that sense it has reduced the rate of death that were once caused by lacking of skills and knowledge about diseases and how they can be managed, as they undergoes through different researches they come out with the facts which come to be more applicable.
vi. Cultural globalization has also increased the market for the Africans goods especially the internal market, and hence increase the income for the African entrepreneurs. Today’s world has changed the market are now expanded people can buy products and goods in the internet, this has played a role for the Africans to expand their market also the Africans have learned the new ways of running bossiness’s since people can learn through other achieved entrepreneurs’ and hence to run their business smoothly.
CONLUSIVELY, although the cultural globalization has increased the inter connectedness among the peoples in the world. It has benefited more the developed countries rather than developing one, that is to say that it has played the great role on the under development of the third world countries without their own consciousness.



References,
J.Paul (.2006). Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism. London. Sage Publication.
Crane, D. (2011) Cultural Globalization.University of Pennsylvania. Available
                From; Sociopedia. Isa (6 November 2016 )
Steger, Manfred. Globalization. New York: Sterling Publishing 2009.
Kluver, R., &Fu, F.(2004) . The Cultural Globalization Index. In Foreign Magazine. Available
Salvatore Baones (15 April 2008) Studying Globalization: Methodological Issues. The Blackwell
                 Companion To Globalization. John Willey &Sons.



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