Track 65

Track 65.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Today we continue our series of talks about globalization, and today’s talk is on the globalization of culture.

This is quite a complex topic as there are lots of different ways in which we can look at culture.

To begin with, there is no agreed consensus on how best to define culture.

Culture can cover both visible aspects. such as music, clothes, food and architecture, as well as less visible ones such as value and belief systems.

An important point I want to stress from the beginning is one that anyone who studies culture needs to understand.

It’s not enough to just look and see what’s happening on the surface.

You need to look beneath the surface to understand the meanings that people assign to cultural phenomena.

Let me give you an example.

The American film Titanic proved hugely popular in China when it was released in 1998.

When this was studied in detail by sociologists, it was found that it had nothing to do with the popularity of American culture.

The film was understood by the Chinese purely in terms of their own historical circumstances.

So, the whole idea of cultural globalization needs to be looked at beyond the superficial level.

OK, let’s move on to discuss some different views on the globalization of culture.

For some it’s seen to be a very negative thing indeed.

Many critics see it as an extension of global capitalism.

They see capitalism attempting to extend its influence to all corners of the globe through advertising and marketing, creating needs people didn’t know they had in order to sell their products and services.

One of the main criticisms of this economic approach is that it has led to corporations trying to find uniform answers to the needs of everybody, a kind of one-size-fits-all approach to products and services they produce.

In other words, this approach does not consider or cater to the different personalities that different cultures have, and therefore either ignores or is detrimental to their individual needs.

Some even see this process as a form of corporate imperialism, comparable perhaps to the colonization of the ‘new world’ by European powers in the 15th to 19th centuries.

This can lead to a form of cultural extinction; long-held customs and traditions slowly disappear or die out.

This is a fear that many nations have expressed.

In 1999, for example, a survey in France found that 60% of people in that country felt that globalization was the greatest threat to the French cultural way of life.

Many people, however, view globalization in a much more positive light.

Some see it as giving people more options to choose from and improving life for everyone.

For example, we can get the benefits of Japanese technology, Italian food, British music, American films and Swedish interior design wherever we live in the world.

The fact that a Chinese family eats out at an American burger restaurant once a month doesn’t alter the fact that on the other 30 days, they make and eat their traditional food at home.

Although Japanese businessmen dress in British suits, they still do business in a very different way from their Western counterparts.

In this view of cultural globalization, people are viewed as world citizens who knowingly choose from a menu of options when it comes to music, food, clothes and so on.

In other words, we have much more variety to suit our individual needs, thanks to such influences.

It should also be remembered, though, that when it comes to the more deeply rooted aspects of culture, these are less susceptible to change.

We can change the music we listen to, but our deeper profound beliefs about society cannot be altered so readily.

To add another point to the discussion, I believe that the internet and other media that have led to a so-called ‘global culture’ can actually work to the advantage of national and regional cultural groups.

The internet helps spread information about these cultures and contributes towards preserving not only their customs. but also their languages.

For example, many Native American tribes have used social media to re-engage younger tribe members with the skills to learn and use their mother tongues.

In concluding my talk this afternoon, I would like to emphasize the part that education can play in this discussion of the globalization of culture.

If we can all learn to respect other cultures and appreciate their differences rather than fearing them, it is perfectly possible for them to flourish alongside a shared global culture.

Now, does anyone have any questions?