In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen
Father, we thank you for Your grace, love and mercy that has
been extended to us one more time. We thank you for
protecting us and keeping us in our right minds, especially
throughout this pandemic.
Lord, we thank you for granting us this opportunity to come
together in this fashion to increase our knowledge. Lord, You
said that if anyone lacks wisdom, they should ask You and
You will give liberally without reservation. We pray today that
you grant us wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
Increase our capacity, Lord, as we learn. Give us
understanding, Oh God, that we will be able to grasp
whatever is being taught. May what we receive today be
beneficial to our growth and development.
We ask that you bless this session in every way. Take full
control, Oh God, and may everything go according to Your
will and purpose in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!
Cultural
dimension
Cultural dimension
• Cultural globalization refers to the intensification and expansion
of cultural flows across the globe
• ‘Culture’ is a very broad concept; it is frequently used to describe
the whole of human experience
• ‘Cultural’ is concerned with the symbolic construction,
articulation, and dissemination of meaning
• Given that language, music, and images constitute the major forms
of symbolic expression, they assume special significance in the
sphere of culture
Cultural dimension
• Cultural practices lie at the very heart of
contemporary globalization
•Cultural practices have escaped the prison of
fixed localities such as town and nation,
eventually acquiring new meanings in
interaction with dominant global themes
Cultural dimension
•THREE IMPORTANT THEMES:
[Link] between sameness and difference in the
emerging global culture
[Link] role of transnational media corporations
in disseminating popular culture
3. globalization of languages
GLOBAL CULTURE:
sameness or difference
• Does globalization make people around the world more alike or more
different?
PESSIMISTIC GLOBALIZERS OPTIMISTIC GLOBALIZERS
-we are not moving towards a cultural Cultural globalization generates more
rainbow that reflects the diversity of the sameness, but they consider this outcome to
be a good thing
world’s existing populations
American social theorist Francis Fukuyama
-we are witnessing the rise of an explicitly welcomes the global spread of Anglo-
increasingly homogenized popular American values and lifestyles, equating the
culture underwritten by a Western Americanization of the world with the
‘culture industry’ expansion of democracy and free markets
GLOBAL CULTURE:
sameness or difference
PESSIMISTIC GLOBALIZERS OPTIMISTIC GLOBALIZERS
‘Americanization of the world’
- diffusion of Anglo-American values and consumer
Staunch cosmopolitans celebrate
goods the Internet and the latest digital
American sociologist George Ritzer coined the term devices as the harbinger of a
‘McDonaldization’ to describe the wide-ranging homogenized ‘technoculture’.
sociocultural processes by which the principles of the
fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and
more sectors of American society
Free-market enthusiasts who
The McDonaldization of the world amounts to the embrace the values of global
imposition of uniform standards that eclipse human
creativity and dehumanize social relations consumer capitalism.
GLOBAL CULTURE:
sameness or difference
PESSIMISTIC GLOBALIZERS OPTIMISTIC GLOBALIZERS
American political theorist Benjamin Barber, in Sociologist Roland Robertson, for example,
his popular book Consumed (2007), warns his contends that global cultural flows often
readers against an ‘ethos of infantilization’ that reinvigorate local cultural niches.
sustains global capitalism, turning adults into
children through dumbed-down advertising
Robertson speaks of glocalization—the complex
and consumer goods while also targeting
globalization dynamic involving the interaction of
children as consumers. the global and local.
This ethos is premised on the recognition that EXAMPLE: hybridization that is most visible in
there is not an endless market for consumerist fashion, music, dance, film, food, sports, and
goods language
GLOBAL CULTURE:
sameness or difference
• The contemporary experience of living and acting across cultural borders means
both the loss of traditional meanings and the creation of new symbolic
expressions
• In certain contexts, these flows might change traditional manifestations of
national identity in the direction of a popular culture characterized by sameness
• In others, they might foster new expressions of cultural particularism
• In still others, they might encourage forms of cultural hybridity
Role of the media
• Global cultural flows of our time are generated and directed by global
media empires that rely on powerful communication technologies to
spread their message.
• The rise of the global imaginary is inextricably connected to the rise of
the global media.
• There is the emergence of a global commercial media market amounts
to the creation of a global oligopoly similar to that of the oil and
automotive industries in the early part of the 20th century.
Role of the media
• The commercial values disseminated by transnational media enterprises not only
secure the undisputed cultural hegemony of popular culture, but also lead to the
“depoliticization” of social reality and the weakening of civic bonds.
• EXAMPLE”
• the transformation of news broadcasts and educational programmes into shallow
entertainment shows—many of them ironically advertised as ‘reality shows’
• Media firms are increasingly tempted to pursue higher profits by ignoring
journalism’s much vaunted separation of newsroom practices and business
decisions
Globalization of
languages
•One direct method of measuring and evaluating cultural
changes brought about by globalization is to study the
shifting global patterns of language use.
•The globalization of languages can be viewed as a
process by which some languages are increasingly used
in international communication while others lose their
prominence and even disappear for lack of speakers.
Globalization of
languages
• Researchers at the Globalization Research Center at the University of Hawai’i
have identified five key variables that influence the globalization of languages:
1. Number of languages: The declining number of languages in different parts of
the world points to the strengthening of homogenizing cultural forces.
2. Movements of people: People carry their languages with them when they
migrate and travel. Migration patterns affect the spread of languages.
3. Foreign language learning and tourism: Foreign language learning and tourism
facilitate the spread of languages beyond national or cultural boundaries.
Globalization of
languages
• Researchers at the Globalization Research Center at the University of Hawai’i
have identified five key variables that influence the globalization of languages:
4. Internet languages: The Internet has become a global medium for instant
communication and quick access to information. Language use on the Internet is a
key factor in the analysis of the dominance and variety of languages in
international communication.
5. International scientific publications: International scientific publications contain
the languages of global intellectual discourse, thus critically impacting intellectual
communities involved in the production, reproduction, and circulation of
knowledge around the world.
Globalization of
languages
• Given these highly complex interactions, research in this area
frequently yields contradictory conclusions.
• Unable to reach a general agreement, experts in the field have
developed several different hypotheses:
• One model posits a clear correlation between the growing
global significance of a few languages—particularly English,
Chinese, and Spanish—and the declining number of other
languages around the world.
Globalization of
languages
•Another model suggests that the globalization of
language does not necessarily mean that our
descendants are destined to utilize only a few tongues.
•Still another thesis emphasizes the power of the
Anglo-American culture industry to make English—or
what some commentators call ‘Globish’—the global
lingua franca of the 21st century.