In the article "The Case for Contamination" author Kwame Anthony Appiah reflects on globalization, more so than on religion. He recalls the blowing of the horn at the palace, announcing the arrival of the king of Asante that Wednesday festival day in Kumasi, the town in Ghana where he is from. A ceremony rooted in years of old traditions but still present to its modern time, where prior to the kings arrival one could witness business men on their cell phones and conversations about contemporary issues. Traditional ceremonies like these are often seen as an interruption to the modern world and a threat to its uniformity.…
Kwame Anthony Appiah, author of "The case for contamination" focuses on three main interrelated issues throw out his essay. Globalization, cultural diversity, and ethical consideration. Religion plays two major roles within this issues, claims made by people in favor of globalization and those against it. Religion can be used positively to protect culture in the idea of globalization, in the same way it can be a double-edge sword when relating to the role it plays in the issues at hand. Religion is a great way for individuals to keep in touch with their traditions as the process of globalization gets larger. Sipho is…
In “The Case for Contamination” the author Kwame Appiah analyzes and points out the many ways in which the world is becoming globalized. He uses many extensive examples to show that the world is getting ‘contaminated’. By ‘contamination’ he means that the mixture of all the innovative values and traditions are damaging and eventually destroying what our ancestors have left us. In his analysis, he describes the gradual transformation of many cultures and different religions to support his points but in his personal opinion he is very open-minded and is not greatly influenced by his religion. His tone is informative and gives the reader the freedom to decide between authenticity or traditions and globalization or modernization. While Kwame Appiah’s analysis uses globalization as the main theme, he implicitly conveys the ideas of freedom of choice, power of leadership and the ultimate message to respect other religions.…
In The Case for Contamination, written by Princeton University philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, an argument is made in favor of increased interaction and integration of cultures worldwide. Appiah has roots in both Ghana and Great Britain, and while he understands the opposition towards globalization, he emphasizes how the sharing of culture and spread of industrial benefits does not have to be seen as a threat to smaller communities with traditional backgrounds. Appiah writes, “Yes, globalization can produce homogeneity. But globalization is also a threat to homogeneity.”1 The important take-away is that society does not need to interpret globalization as inherently threatening to culture or diversity, but as a means to grow these aspects…
My take on Appiah's opinion of Globalization is that he believes it to be inevitable. Expanding on that idea, its something that has been going on for all time and everything we know to be traditional customs or practices of culture, at one time or another were innovations themselves. That innovation caught fire and popularity in that culture and was thus proliferated by man and this is true across the globe. That innovation inevitably subverted an existing mode of thinking, technology, or tradition. But, reflecting on that is there anything, which is really original and free from Appiah's "contamination"? How are we to champion human innovation whilst trying to maintain and preserve cultural heritage and where do we draw the line? Also, who…
Kwame Anthony Appiah, one of the world’s most preeminent philosophers, asserts that cultural and language barriers and conflict of values are excuses that force people to forget the powerful ties that connect people all across the world. Appiah demands us to recognize that – all human beings are citizens of the world – cosmopolitan, and more similar than their differences may make them seem. According to Appiah, the fate of humanity depends on people’s willingness to become global citizens and to reach across national and cultural boundaries, to find a commonplace of human morality. Appiah believes in a universal responsibility, an ideal that everyone is responsible for his or her neighbors – both foreign and domestic. He stresses the importance…
Globalization is the process by which different societies and cultures integrate through a worldwide network of political ideas through transportation, communication, and trade. Generally, globalization has affected many nations in various ways; economically, politically, and socially. It is a term that refers to the fast integration and interdependence of various nations, which shapes the world affairs on a global level. Simply put; globalization is the world coming together. In this essay I will discuss multiple perspectives on globalization through the analysis of these three sources.…
Globalization has become a highly debated concept around the world. Globalization can be simply understood as “a process of global economical, political and cultural integration” (thefreedictionary.com). Today the world has become global and integral and all of its major parts are completely interconnected like in a tiny village. Globalization is an everyday process that brings a cultural unification and changes people’s psychology. Globalization is happening almost everywhere in the world and having various impacts on people. It is a process that is bringing the world smaller and smaller and also imposing a change on people’s cultural level. People’s identity is changing because of globalization. Globalization has made the world we are living today more complex and culturally pluralized. Many people migrate to new places and are forced to adopt a new culture. However, their traditions might not fade away because they will always be part of their identity.…
The writer Kwame Anthony Appiah in the article "The Case for Contamination" focuses out and breaks down various ways that lead the world towards globalization. The author makes utilization of various boundless cases to show the thought of "contamination" and the way it influences the world. In this article, he utilized the term contamination as a mix of all the imaginative customs and qualities that over the long haul obliterate and harm the legacy and society of the predecessors. In this article, the writer delineates the consistent change that has occurred in diverse religions and numerous societies to give proof to his focuses; in any case, Appiah perspective is entirely liberal, and additionally is not profoundly impacted by…
Critics of globalization have been concerned that the spread of a global consumerism would wipe out local cultures and homogenize the entire world, but Foer returned convinced that globalization has not and will not soon wipe away local institutions and cultures. On the contrary, he suspects the opposite has happened: In response to the threat of global integration, local entities have launched counterattacks that are successful but "not always in such a good way." Globalization means different things to different people. To those who favor it, it represents fewer reasons for armed conflicts, more opportunities for escaping the confines of tradition and narrow-mindedness, a higher standard of living, and more access to the good things of life; in short, capitalism and democracy. To those who mistrust it or hate it, it means the submersion of national sovereignty, the extinction of regional cultures, the enrichment of multinational corporations and the bankruptcy of corner stores, the undermining of religion, and the corruption of morality; in short, capitalism and democracy.…
Globalization: The Good, The Bad, and the Uncertain. (2012, February 01). The Globalist. Retrieved Tuesday October 9, 2012, from http://www.theglobalist.com/…
Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan once said that the world is becoming more and more like a “global village,” each nation part of an increasingly interconnected society that stretches across national boundaries (6). Although he was talking about the role of new media in this change, he also was probably talking about the growing economic links that come with globalization. Globalization is a process that offers both the opportunity for a better world and the risk of destroying local communities, regional cultures, and entire natural environments. Over the last century, globalization has become a major issue in politics, environmental studies, and economics, touching every corner of earth as corporations spread. But Globalization is a broad term that does not necessarily mean one single thing. It usually describes the increasing interconnectedness of economies, political institutions, and individuals as the result of communication, transportation, and goods provided by multinational corporations. As Justin Ervin and Zachary Smith define it, “Globalization can now be seen as a process that ‘shrinks’ the world as human interaction ‘thickens’” (4). The effects of globalization are neither good nor bad; there are costs and benefits as with most things in life. What is certain is that no nation on earth has not yet felt the effects of globalization.…
Globalization has been a controversial topic for decades followed by the industrialization. The debate of whether it is positive or negative for the human race has caused much divergence, consequently leading to vast conflicts between different cultures, nations, and peoples. Although globalization brought convenience to the lives of a few on a daily basis in the industrialized countries, it also brought about world power monopolies controlling the trade system, exploitation of workers in developing countries, and victimizing the societies that are unable to self sustain.…
Globalization describe by Richard Wilk is the world wide impact of industrialization and its socioeconomic, political, and cultural consequences on the world, which include migration of labor, increaing spread of industrial technology. Technology is moving at a rapid pace, that when a indivdual purchases a computer of the shelf, the technology is already obsolete. With the advancement of technology, it is causing countries to become modernizied. Such as inda, which was at one point a third world, but is now becoming mecha, for new businesses. But with monderization, comes dependency, such as with the invetion of the car, we have become depenent on oil, such so that we no longer get the majority of our oil from america, but from other countries. Companys the exxion, pay a certain amount of money for this oil, and will sell it to the consumer for 3 or 5 times the amount they paid, knowing the that consumer will pay the price set by the company, thus exploiting the consumer. Companys our now exploiting other countries, like china, they will out source products to be built in china, and charge the chinese worker a wage of lets say 50 cents an hour, instead or the americans work $9.25 an hour to make the same product. With the rapid expansion of globalization, has change a lot of countries, it has in some cases, destroyed cultures, mainly for the countires resources. With epansion can come cultural change, someimes it is forced, case in point the mbuti tribe. The Mbuti, had been in contact with ousiders for centuries, but chose to retain their tradional way of life. During the colonial peroid, government officials tried to resettle the mbuti. The resettling was a disaster. It isnt the first time a government has tried to move a society of peole, one such case is the native american of north america. The united states put the native amerians on reservation, one such tribe would be the navajo indians.…
In our modern society we are all “victims” of globalization. The drastic changes introduced into our society have sparked a new generation of new traditions and customs. In Kwame Anthony Appiah’s article “The Case for Contamination” he states how globalization is becoming a rapid out come of our ever so fast growing population. We are beginning to integrate international ideals into our own and as a result, diversity and tolerance to new norms are becoming more evident.…