Thursday, September 23, 2010

Week 4: Globalization!

Globalization is a very controversial topic that influences various aspects of life. Starting with what started globalization, when it started, how it influence, how flexible is it, and what factors foster it, and how can it play role productively in the international arena.

Advancement in communication has helped expediting the process of international exchange (globalizing) by overcoming time and space in terms of communication. Since communication is the ship that transmits the exchanged materials, the role of communications is prominent in the process of globalization. I personally believe that globalization as a multiple way of exchange has been taking place through out history. People from different states have always been exchanging trade, knowledge, and even cultural traits that become adopted and incorporate within the culture, but in a very slow pace. For example, borrowed words, and commodities that are imported from far areas in the world become essential aspects that characterize these people. For example, in the Arabian Peninsula the Indonesian and Indian burning scent wooden sticks (oud) has become an intense part of the Arab culture. And this happens in all cultures. In fact, it represents the Arab heritage despite the fact that the wood is imported. Such cultural exchange has been taking place since early ages of human life.

Globalization is no longer a dominance of a state or nation. Nowadays with empowering individual interconnectivity; citizens have become able to create media production through their personal technical capacity. Individuals are now becoming major contributing actors in the process of globalization. Blogs, Youtube, and other outlets enable individuals to express their beliefs, ideas, and culture in an inexpensive way. Individuals are able to mobilize groups and create transnational coalitions that could work effectively. Therefore, the process of globalization has gone beyond states and nations powers.

Globalization has been accused for cultural imperialism that cause loss of cultural specific values and affect identities. However, not everything brought in the process of globalization is simply taken. Audiences are usually selective, and whatever resonate to them becomes effective. Since people have solid cultural ties to their origin, foreign materials would affect them based on their selectivity, thus would have limited impact on their identities. But what might be dangerous is the future generation that is brought up in the middle of globalized era whose background will be transnational. The big challenge for the offspring to identify what is original and what is imported. That’s when globalization endangers local identities.

In fact, layers of cultural effects under the cultural imperialism work differently from place to another. This varies based on the flexibility and nature of people, in addition to the sensitivity of the topic. For example, with the intense emergence of western media products into the Arab and Muslim market, some life style aspects are strongly apparent due to such influence. However, any aspect that might enact religious and profound dogmatic beliefs, or promote for taboo aspects in the culture will either be eliminated media outlets or strongly attacked by conservatives who are the majority in these societies.

With time many nations have become aware of the role of media production in causing the hegemony of the US, and its powerful role in the process of globalization. Therefore, global media production has become a goal to many developed and developing nations such as the Chinese animation, and Indian Bollywood. In fact, the American media production has become a model for many media around the world that created domestic media competition that aims to grow globally. And of course that would not have worked without the existence of satellites and other communicative channels available today.

Finally, despite the shortcomings that might be seen of globalization, I think that it has helped reducing cultural, political, and economic differences and gaps between states, nations and individuals. Being exposed to what is known as global culture, and to other cultures simplifies international interactions at different levels. Understanding cultural differences, and knowing what to expect will minimize conflicts and enables smooth communication between international counterparts at various arenas.

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