I’ve always envisaged globalisation
as this romantic story where all cultures and countries come together embracing
differences and becoming one global village. But the more I look at it, I see a
culture being continuously dominated by western views and values. Huge corporations
seem to be dominating the world on a global scale whether it’s McDonalds, Nike,
Apple, Fox, Hollywood, Ford etc. The world is growingly adapting to what the
west sees as normal and there’s no question as to why the west has embraced
globalization so much.
This unifying process
is largely to do with the introduction of new technologies in the field of
communications. These technologies include the television set, the introduction
of web 2.0 and the mobile phone. “One of the salient features of globalization
in the modern world is that it takes place increasingly through media and communications”
(Rantanen 2005, p8). We live in an age where a message can reach just about
anyone, anywhere, at any time. This isn’t just the big new sectors who have
this reach but also the individuals. As long as I have the contact details of
the person I’m after, which isn’t that difficult to get nowadays with the world
wide web, I can make almost instant contact using either my mobile phone or my
laptop. This has completely changed the way that we interact with others and
has very much shrunk the world as we no longer have to wait for travel or for
mail to reach someone in order to make contact.
Reference:
Rantanen, T 2005, The
media and globalization, Sage, London, pp. 1-18.
This is a very interesting and insightful post Andrew. I like how you included a good portion of your perspective on the matter as I find that a lot of blogs often reiterate the readings as opposed to generating their own opinion. It is definitely palpable how globalisation is often made out to be something it’s not and how it is somewhat subjugated in western society. I would’ve liked to have seen some visuals to break down the writing but an overall great post. I look forward to your future articles.
ReplyDeleteWell done on your in depth view of globalisation, I agree with the point that globalisation has just made the World more Westernised and that our views dominate other cultural views. It is amazing how easy it is to get in contact with someone from the other side of the World at a click of our mouse in our own homes either on our mobiles or on our laptops. It really has become a small World in terms of communication.
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