Globalisation And Western Culture Imperialism

Globalisation is a leading topic of discussion for many countries and cultures around the world as fear of western cultural imperialism is becoming more prominent. Many people believe that their cultural identity is under threat from the increasing dominance of western powers in foreign countries. Through the trade of popular culture such as movies, television shows, publications and music, western traditions and festivities are starting to become common practice in non-western countries as consumers, particularly the youth, are becoming increasingly aware and enthusiastic about foreign cultures and customs. The rapid advancement in technology has provided easier accessibility to information, communication and transportation with cheaper costs, which allows for powerful countries to mass produce goods and services through their multinational corporations and establishments. Such powers have made it difficult for less developed countries to compete and local goods and services are being replaced by massed produced products. Many people believe that people’s exposure to foreign cultures can undermine their own cultural identity. Cultural awareness is becoming increasingly more important as people are promoting their cultural identities and educating others about their customs and traditions, particularly through the use of social media platforms in order to preserve their cultural identity and ‘protect’ it from western imperialism. Globalisation has had a significant effect on education, particularly due to western institutes being introduced to developing countries. Internationalisation is creating a demand for higher education and people with advanced knowledge and skillsets as society becomes increasingly competitive and information based. One would argue that western education does not provide substantial education for cultural identity as it is primarily focused on preparing students for urbanisation and the development of the global economy. western cultural imperialism caused by globalisation will continue debated as the main effect of globalisation.

The expansion of global ‘pop culture’ typically gets the most attention for its effects on globalisation of culture. Many see this form of globalisation as “Americanisation” as America is the biggest producer of popular culture in the world, with its main output being movies and television shows. Although Hollywood integrates elements from many cultures in its creation process such as foreign actors and directors and remaking popular foreign films, from the outside Hollywood is seen as something that is distinctly American (sunny Levin institute).

Hollywood is a major contributing factor to western cultural imperialism as people from all over the world are exposed to traditions and festivities that are distinctly American or ‘western’ such as Valentine’s day or Halloween. These trends are often seen replicated in foreign media as they are trying to appeal to the target audience’s common conception of fun and exciting ‘western festivities’. Today’s youth are typically more accepting to foreign celebrations and festivities and can be generally more enthusiastic about celebrating them. These trends have become common practice in many countries that traditionally did not celebrate such trends as a result of exposure to western media.

Globalisation promotes the decline of costs. Free flow of information, rapid progress of technology in transportation and communication and cheaper traveling have made the world a “global village”. The globalisation of the production of goods and services produced by powerful countries have invaded markets all over the word, leaving countries unable to compete with the market competition. This results in these countries being threatened by the viability of local products as they are unable to enter areas of influence that are occupied by multinational companies thus, local cultural goods and services are replaced by mass produced products. One of the most commonly stated concerns of globalisation is the “Americanisation” of world cultures through multinational corporations such as fast food chains. For many countries, food is an integral part of their culture and Many people believe that the influence of American chain restaurants depletes the value of a countries local food culture as they affect and change eating habits and traditions. “Starbucks causes cultural concerns in Italy because of the association that Italians make between coffee and leisurely sidewalk cafes. Coffee in Italy is more than a drink; it is part of the way of life and Italian mores. While in the United States it is common for people to buy takeaway coffee for drinking in the street or office, in Italy people usually prefer to relax and chat with peers while drinking coffee” (Sunny Levin Institute).

In the face of homogenising effects, globalisation has greatly helped the promotion and exposure of various cultural identities through the increase of international trade in cultural products, such as movies, music, publications and social media platforms as a result of the vast development and spread of technology and cultural awareness. For example, the concept of cultural appropriation has in recent years become more popular through the use of social media platforms as people aim to educate others about their culture in order to protect the importance of their cultural identity and customs. “Many observers have speculated that the homogenizing effect of globalization on national cultures in fact tends to produce a reaction among indigenous peoples, which leads those whose cultures are threatened to want to reaffirm their own local traditions” (Sunny Levin Institute).

Globalisation has had a significant effect on education, particularly on developing countries in the 20th century due to the introduction of institutions from the West. The rise of higher education brought on by internationaliation is shaping children into ‘global citizens’ who are equipped with a broad range of knowledge and skills to apply to an increasingly competitive information based society brought on by globalisation. Some believe that this development is an opportunity for developing countries to raise their standard of education, while many others believe that it is a modern version of cultural imperialism that will eventually lead to a homogenous western society (editor open praxis 2006). David Orr (1999) argued that Western education has replaced ‘indigenous forms of education throughout the world and focuses on preparing students exclusively for an urban existence.’ He also stated that through this process people are losing knowledge of their cultural worth and that global economy will fall above all else. ‘our graduates of tomorrow will be trained, above all, to keep the wheels of the global economy turning’. As globalisation continues, there is a higher demand for more knowledgeable and skilled people in the fields of culture, language and business methods from all over the world. “What helps these processes is the global dominance of English. This factor has a big importance in the issue of cultural identity and globalization. It is clearly the availability of cheap and rapid communication and knowledge of one common language that permits the phenomena of integration of international capital market.”

In conclusion, As the trade of popular culture , movies, television programs, publications, and music has become more widely available to people in foreign countries, the practice of typically western traditions and celebrations has become increasingly more common in practice within non-western society’s, particularly within in the youths of these communities, as they are developing awareness of foreign cultures and more open to foreign traditions. The advancement of technology has also contributed to globalisation, as information, communication and transportation has become more accessible, providing cheaper ways for multinational corporations to be able to mass produce goods and services. Cultural awareness is becoming ever more important as people aim to promote and educate about their cultural identities. More impressive skillsets and knowledge are in high demand as education and society becomes more competitive and focused on the development of the global economy. As globalisation is inevitable, western cultural imperialism will continue to be a popular topic of discussion as well as both beneficial and harmful to developing countries and cultural identities.

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