In class today we began discussing the implications for globalization on our future careers, particularly for those who seek a career with the Foreign Service or who seek to influence local populations by global means. What I took out of the discussion was the need to be aware of the way that globalization has changed international interactions, its complexity, and how it applies to global diversity. Globalization has created new challenges.
As I have previously expressed in my posts, I don’t see the nation state as dissolving. I don’t see globalization as a force that will completely unravel the nation-filled world that we live in today. I do however, see the world as shifting. There are new players such as international and national corporations, NGOs, and the individual, among others, that now have an increasingly larger influence and say in governance.
Sinclair, in his article Globalization, Supranational Institutions, and Media, explains this phenomenon in terms of levels of cultural identity. This is something that aligns itself smoothly with my own personal beliefs since I tend to view the world from a more cultural perspective (versus an economic or political one, as other globalization scholars do). He explains how the individuals and the world face different levels of cultural identity. These include a local level, a micro-regional level, a regional level, a macro-regional level, and an international level. Globalization, in his mind, simply adds a new greater level/ lens through which we view and interact with the world. I think that this is very important because this idea doesn’t approach globalization as an occurrence that will overwrite the world as we know it, but simply as an addition that will add a new level of complexity and understanding.
I think that, taking this idea, it is easier to approach the question posed in class about the implications for globalization on our future careers. Personally, I think that globalization, in adding a new level of understanding, provides us with a greater knowledge of existing differences amongst cultures. It gives us an understanding that there is in fact another approach to life, (something that someone living in a remote village with no access to the outside would may not even consider), and then gives us the abilities to go and find out what those distinctions are and furthermore the ability to apply them. There are of course cultural and personal differences we find in our daily lives on the smaller local and regional scales, and the international level of cultural identity introduces us to more nations and groups, but globalization, in my opinion, takes all of these ideas and overlaps them in various ways. With globalization we see what happens when, for instance, an American movie is created to appeal to global audiences and is played in the East. We see how this compares to the Eastern country’s preference versus their own country-made movies.
I really believe that globalization, as controversial as it might be, has allowed people to form a more open mind and an innate better understanding of the world’s diversity. People don’t really have a choice to ignore it if they want to be successful on a global scale. I think if anything, it creates more potential for international interactions, campaigns, and progress.
Hilary, first of all I have to say that you did a phenomenal job writing this post and I could not agree more with you.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely with you when it come to the fact that culture do play an important role in our international system. Although I would say that the nation-state has got a new role and by that I think that many are confused of the cultural role. I would say that the nation-state is only the structure that contains the laws and regulations and the framework and what we find within the nation-state is the nation. (We talked about this before so I would not discuss it further).
I would also agree with the fact that we are able to identify not only the differences but also the similarities between these cultures and that brings us to the question of who is setting the international standards for our media, production and so on. I would say that it is more our common understanding of the different cultures that is being embraced by the hollywood productions that makes people around the would able to appreciate it.
I have to say that I do not think that it is a controversial thing to say that we are getting a better understanding of the diversity of the world. It makes me happy that there are other people out there in the world that do have hope for the future, only with that notion we are able to make change.
There are no such thing as small change!!! :)
I agree with Hilary's statement that learning about globalization adds a new level of understanding and provides us with a foundation to analyze differences among cultures and nations, especially as we focus our career aspirations on international communication. Globalization goes with the territory.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as we are inspired to promote cultural awareness and be sensitive to traditional identities, it’s clear that we are among the minority. It seems that in this ever evolving system of interconnectivity, people are fighting to maintain their cultural identity and eschewing attitudes and beliefs of other people.
We don’t even have to leave the United States to see how people are resisting the force of globalization and increased cultural understanding. Americans have vast resources and the ability to access information, images, photos, podcasts, etc. instantly, yet there is still a pervasive sense of fear and distrust of people from different cultures. This is most evident in the recent demonstrations around the “ground zero mosque.” People said that they were afraid that Sharia law is an imminent threat to our democratic government.
If we look at the other of this issue, the similar attitudes of globalization are identified in extremist groups such as the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Through access to Western media, terrorist organizations use the “Americanized” values as motivation to target people from Western cultures.
Ideally, globalization should act as a system for perpetuating cultural awareness and increased respect for other nations. Unfortunately, we still continue to deal with the polarizing effects of globalization.
It certainly makes our future as global communicators all the more critical.