Worldwide Global Culture
We are now connected to people around the world more than ever before, money and especially information now flows faster than ever. Goods and services that may have not been available before from different parts of the world are now much more accessible, also with the growth of worldwide travel; it seems that the world is now a much smaller place. This worldwide phenomenon is called ‘globalization'. The statement above states that ‘a single global culture is emerging' to show this point we only have to look around us in our everyday life, for example the food we eat, for example McDonald's® operates over 31,000 restaurants worldwide (Tru21, 2008) compared to only 1,000 restaurants in 1968 (Goodman, B. 2008) even in places where at one time western ideals were not allowed such as China and Russia, you can find a McDonalds®. Also television has now become globalized particularly from the input of the American TV industry, as figures show that' the number of television receivers worldwide is 240 million in 1997 compared to 192million in 1965' (Mackay,2004 p.50). The export of business interests are becoming more evident with the emergence of a global economy as more and more companies no longer run in the ‘national' way but are more influenced by different global cultures.
Further evidence that a single global culture is emerging is the internet, this gives us the opportunity to cross borders and counties with a single mouse click and gives us access to an unlimited amount of information, it emerged in the 60s as a project for the U.S. Department of Defence, and in the 80s linked to academic institutions, however in the 90s it became a global public network reaching widespread access not only to military or academic institutions but to everyday people making access and communication across the globe a much faster and easier way for everyone. For those that do accept the idea of globalization there is a broad opinion that its distinctive concepts can be broke down into four components.
The first being “stretched social relations” (Cochrane & Pain,2004 p.15) it is said that economic, political and cultural processes are stretched so that a decision or event which happens on the other side of the globe can have a major impact on the other side an example of this might be global warming/climate change.
The second opinion is ‘intensification' (Cochrane & Pain, 2004 p.16) communication networks which now span the globe connect people whom were previously distanced from world events into a social space. Physical distance is no longer a barrier to dull sensations of tragic events such as war, terrorism, massacres and famines, so we are no longer kept separated as they are now coming directly into our homes.
The third broad opinion is “increasing interpenetration” (Cochrane & Pain,2004 p.16) this is where distance cultures come face to face with societies at a local level an obvious example is the one I mentioned earlier McDonalds® which is an American culture that has been exported to other countries all over the globe.
Finally there's “global infrastructure” (Cochrane & Pain, 2004 p.17) this is the framework required for informal and formal institutions to operate a globalized network. The United Nations and its other agencies have a place in the social and political sectors, giving help to refugee's education and cultural sites. Also the World Trade Organization is seen to regulate trade in a global level.
The above statement says “a single global culture is emerging” it seems that the evidence does seem to support that part of the statement, it also says it “will benefit mankind”, this is a view taken by “positive globalists” (Cochrane & Pain p.22) who see the changes by globalizing influences to be welcomed. While they do recognise the dangers of globalization pollution they argue that if we took responsibility for our levels of consumption we could improve our position. It seems that the main beneficiaries of globalization are the consumers who now have access to greater competition and cheaper imports. But the question still remains will globalisation benefit mankind, one globalist Thomas Friedman wrote” Globalization is much like fire. Fire itself is neither good nor bad. Used properly, it can cook food, sterilize equipment, form iron, and heat our homes. Used carelessly, fire can destroy lives, towns and forests in an instant” (Friedman) so it seems there are both winners and losers in globalization. Winners of course are those whom benefit most from the impact of a globalizing world, amongst these are consumers and small businesses who can now spread their product over a much larger range, but we also unfortunately have winners who benefit from globalization by illegal means, one of the most noticeable is the illegal trade in narcotics such as heroin and cocaine, this of course makes the dealers and especially the cartels behind the operations very rich as well as very powerful, but this particular global trade has devastating effect for the losers in this particular trade, the users. This effects them in all kinds of ways from mental to acts of violent crimes all because of illicit drugs, but due to globalization this situation is not just in the drug growing countries but now is a ‘global epidemic' that effects a worldwide community. The view that globalization will not “benefit mankind” is one that is held by “pessimistic globalists” (Cochrane & Pain,2004 p.22) they see the world as becoming more uniform and less varied, they stress that political and economic interests especially from western Europe, America and Japan as they can force their views on the world and resist change. They also believe that victims of globalization include certain groups like unskilled workers and even women.
It seems then that globalization will always have it supporters who seem to be oblivious to the damage and destruction that it can cause, and it will always have its opponents, who cannot see the positive effects of globalization in that some people may be able to live a better life.
We cannot deny that there has been an enormous growth in the last twenty years of global circulation, we only have to look at the TV, Cinema and especially the daily newspapers to see that the world is now coming directly to us, the spread of information especially by the internet is a positive feature of globalization as we can learn about places we never knew existed as if we'd been there ourselves. But also the internet has also allowed for some people to abuse the world wide information system for example pedophiles' with the world becoming a smaller place due to globalizing these people have taken advantage of this, so as before globalization has its positive side but this also comes with a price.
To conclude the statement “The development of a single global culture is emerging and will benefit humankind” seems to be the view of one set of opinions (not necessary the right or wrong opinion) just one from many. For globalization to be a positive force, checks and balances are needed, there are some already in place such as anti-trust laws, the Federal Trade Commission and other agencies which are there to keep the US capitalism in check, but similar transparent mechanisms are required to ensure a positive global force. We must also remember that globalization comes with uncertainty and risk laden environments for the people and governments, but as well as the possibility of new dangers and risks, comes the possibility for new opportunities and possibilities for the planet as a whole.
References:
Cochrane, A and Pain, K. 2004 ‘A Globalizing Society?' in Held D. (ed.) A Globalizing World? Culture, Economics, Politics, London, Routledge/The Open University
Mackay, H. 2004 ‘The Globalization of Culture?' in Held D. (ed.) A Globalizing World? Culture, Economics, Politics, London, Routledge/The Open University
Tru21, (2008) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_McDonald's_restaurants_are_there_worldwide (Accessed 27th March 2008).
Goodman, B. (2008) http://www.docstoc.com/docs/419485/McDonalds-A-Brief-History (Accessed on 27th March 2008)
Friedman, T. (1999) The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Anchor books, New York
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