Globalization and Culture

• In the not-too-distant past, there existed greater cultural variations among peoples of different societies
• Today, similar cultural practices are found in markedly different geographical regions the world over
• Individuals in different countries worship similarly, wear the same clothes (we find jeans everywhere), listen to the same music, and consume many of the same types of food
• English is rapidly emerging as the universal language in most countries of the world
• Global culture


  A single culture emerging across the world
• Societies around the world have more contact with one another than ever before, involving the flow of goods, information, and people
• Global flows


  • Goods (global economy)
  • Information (global communication)
  • People (global migration)
• The global flow of goods, information, and people is uneven
• Urban areas have stronger ties to one another, and rural villages remain isolated
• The greater economic and military power of North America and Western Europe means that these regions influence the rest of the world more than the other way around
• The global culture thesis assumes that people everywhere can afford various new goods and services
• In developing countries, where many people experience extreme poverty, many are deprived of even the basic necessities of a safe and secure life
• Although many cultural practices are found throughout the world, people everywhere do not attach the same meanings to them
• Globalization allows international economic and political systems to dominate local cultures
• Societies today are more interdependent than ever before
• Such interconnection has been facilitated by economic imperatives and social needs, as well as significant developments in transport and communications
• As standards and perspectives become institutionalized, culture becomes fairly stable
• In reality, culture is constantly emerging as ideas and norms change, and as material aspects of a group's way of life change
• We produce culture, even though it influences everything we do
• Globalization and its attendant forces such as trade, technology and travel, made accessible a wide range of attractive foreign cultural products
• These have the potential to supersede what already exists in the Caribbean if allowed to do so
• The region, through the new forces of globalization, is further challenged to maintain its cultural identity
• Caribbean culture is rich and diverse
• The culture is steeped in the history of the region and involves aspects originating from the different people (Spanish, French, Dutch, British, Chinese, Syrians, Portuguese, East Indians and others) who occupied the Caribbean at one time or another
• Each country's culture arises out of a common heritage, that of slavery, yet the culture of each territory is unique in many ways
• The peoples of the Caribbean have fought hard to maintain their cultural heritage despite the forces of colonialism
• The peoples of the Caribbean are now faced with a new cultural challenge in the form of globalization