Globalization and Indigenous Culture
Introduction:
Whether it is the rapid proliferation of Starbucks in China, the recent boom in Korean popular music and TV dramas in Taipei, or the recent stock market turmoil in the whole world initiated by US sub-prime crisis, the fabric of everyday life in many countries in the world are comprised of increasingly transnational elements. Intensification of foreign investment, cross-national trade, global corporate alliances and mergers, culture exchanges have forged worldwide links between people, countries, and regions. The popular terms such as “global city”, “global economy”, “cultural diversity” have made their way into the centerpiece of topics of today’s media shows. People from different part of the world begin to answers the same questions, does “globalization” bring the world closer together, or is this a homogenizing cultural imperialism, eliminating the indigenous cultures into thin air? Main: In the first part of this essay, I will focus on defining the accelerating process of Globalsation, in order to assess the problem deeper in the second part. Globalization is a complex process because it involves rapid social change that is occurring simultaneously across a number of dimensions, in the world economy, in politics, in communications, in the physical environment and in culture – and each of these transformations interacts with the others. Globalization is nothing new, it happened in our human history before. The world before 16th century is largely a separated one, in terms of the lack of interdependence of each of the nation. However with the Dual Revolution, human beings begin to harness the power of science and the transportation technology had greatly advanced. The consequent colonization is the first massive form of globalization in our human history. Now, almost 400 years later, the connectivity is increasing at an incredible pace. Mobile phones, emails, internet, satellite, they all have penetrated into our everyday lives. Imagine
Whether it is the rapid proliferation of Starbucks in China, the recent boom in Korean popular music and TV dramas in Taipei, or the recent stock market turmoil in the whole world initiated by US sub-prime crisis, the fabric of everyday life in many countries in the world are comprised of increasingly transnational elements. Intensification of foreign investment, cross-national trade, global corporate alliances and mergers, culture exchanges have forged worldwide links between people, countries, and regions. The popular terms such as “global city”, “global economy”, “cultural diversity” have made their way into the centerpiece of topics of today’s media shows. People from different part of the world begin to answers the same questions, does “globalization” bring the world closer together, or is this a homogenizing cultural imperialism, eliminating the indigenous cultures into thin air? Main: In the first part of this essay, I will focus on defining the accelerating process of Globalsation, in order to assess the problem deeper in the second part. Globalization is a complex process because it involves rapid social change that is occurring simultaneously across a number of dimensions, in the world economy, in politics, in communications, in the physical environment and in culture – and each of these transformations interacts with the others. Globalization is nothing new, it happened in our human history before. The world before 16th century is largely a separated one, in terms of the lack of interdependence of each of the nation. However with the Dual Revolution, human beings begin to harness the power of science and the transportation technology had greatly advanced. The consequent colonization is the first massive form of globalization in our human history. Now, almost 400 years later, the connectivity is increasing at an incredible pace. Mobile phones, emails, internet, satellite, they all have penetrated into our everyday lives. Imagine
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