Globalisation

• High culture is considered to be important and valuable, usually enjoyed by the ruling class. Art, literature, theatre, opera, ballet etc
• Folk culture is local or regional culture based in tradition, like Irish Dancing or Morris Dancing. It might be being replaced by popular culture
• Popular culture reflects the culture shared by a majority of people - it may be mass produced and is often considered lesser or dumbed down
• It might be elitist to suggest popular culture is dumber - what makes it any less important?
• Marxists say popular culture serves to distract the masses from their exploitation
• Some forms of high culture are being popularised and absorbed into pop culture
• Globalisation has allowed for greater cultural homogeneity, where we all share the same culture
• Jenkins says participatory culture has been enhanced by new media, allowing individuals across the world to shape the media themselves and form new communities
• Cohen and Kennedy say we don't abandon local culture just because of globalisation. Instead, global culture is mixed and matched with local culture - this is called glocalisation
• Strinati says the line between high and popular culture is becoming blurred, and that people can shape their identities through the media they consume
• Murthy says younger generations utilise social media sites to raise awareness of political issues and co-ordinate efforts, creating a global protest e.g. spreading awareness of the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza
• There might be a hybridisation of culture happening, where pop culture and folk culture are combining. For example Bollywood, which combines Indian and Western culture
• Some would argue globalisation is causing cultural imperialism, where Western culture is dominating and erasing folk culture across the world
• McBride says cultural imperialism creates a ready market for Western goods because Western culture seeps into every part of the world
• Some say we are experiencing specifically Americanisation - consider Halloween or school proms which are now part of UK culture too
• Ritzer speaks of McDonaldisation - companies are the exact same everywhere. You could travel to most countries and never have to eat local cuisine
• TNCs might be more powerful than governments
• Klein identifies an increase in cultural homogenisation, where local culture is killed and we're indoctrinated into one single culture
• Commodity fetishism - we no longer see the social links behind products, only the products. Know nothing about who was behind it
• Conspicuous consumption - people will buy the most expensive luxury versions of products even if they have the same functionality, because people attach higher status to them
• False needs are things people think they need that they actually don't, that companies use to encourage consumption - these can be abstract eg social status or physical eg a smart fridge