Global Village

Feb 19, 2010 Editorial

While we in Guyana have been literally fighting each other “to the death” over which group’s culture is or is not becoming ascendant in our society, there have been developments in the world around us that may make our internecine bickering not merely moot but irrelevant. Through the global media and communication technologies, virtually everyone on earth is exposed to “foreign” ideas and practices. Some argue that the scale of global communication and migration has begun to break down national identities. Have you not noticed us celebrating “Thanksgiving” and “Halloween” in Guyana recently?
The emergence of NGOs and global social movements as important political actors provide further evidence for a new culture of global civil society. For many, cultural globalisation means Westernisation or Americanisation. An important distinction concerning today’s cultural globalisation is that it is largely driven by corporations, rather than countries. As such, one of the central concerns is the spread of consumer culture, as all and everything is commodified. For many critics, non-Western culture and practices are at risk of being overwhelmed by homogenizing “McDonaldization”.
Sceptics contend that the erosion of culture has been overstated. They point to evidence that local culture remains strong. Cultural interactions have taken place for centuries, so to argue non-Western cultures are somehow pristine is naive. In a normative sense, the cultural degradation argument dismisses the ability of non-Western people to control their destiny and incorporate those attributes they may find useful. No culture is ever totally wiped out: aspects survive in the wake of even the most energetic onslaught in the interstices of the meeting.
What is more, some argue that national identities are founded on real differences that have continued salience and so will not be discarded willy-nilly. Sceptics point to the growth of ethnic and nationalist movements in the post-Cold War world as evidence that these sources of identity remain strong. Unlike what may be commonly believed, intense interaction may make people more cognizant of difference and lead to conflict.
Information technology, which we are all so gung-ho about, may in fact intensify traditional identities. Cultural globalisation, in the end, involves processes of unequal power, which brings traditions and identities into question. Where ethnic and religious groups feel threatened by globalisation, there is the potential for conflict.
This discontent has gained renewed attention as some see globalisation and modernity as a motivation for September 11. Since then, there has been increasing attention to Islamic “fundamentalism”. For some, encouraged by Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilisation”, the conflict is a long historical one between Muslim and Christian civilizations. As such, cultural differences are deemed to be highly resistant to change and increased interaction will produce conflict. Others see a more complex phenomenon. In the last twenty-five years, “fundamentalist” movements have emerged within virtually all of the world’s major religions indicating a broader unease with the forces of globalisation and modernity.
Migration is a significant aspect of globalisation that has not only economic but also social and cultural effects. While migration is not unique to the present age, communication and transportation technologies allow migrants a greater opportunity to maintain links with their homelands. More porous borders raise questions about notions of citizenship and identity. While challenges to national identity may come from supranational entities such as the European Union, globalisation at the same time may facilitate the triggering of more local, particularistic identities. Muslims in the EU are a significant minority that is questioning its identity.
There is some disagreement on where all of this is going and whither globalisation. There was some discussion after 9/11 whether the need for increased security would bring an end to the era of globalisation. In many there has been an obvious impact. Overall, however, the flow of goods, people, and messages of peace and war continue unabated but for the recession. Globalisation is not going away; we are becoming a global village. The challenge for all of us, then, is to direct these forces in peaceful and beneficial ways. We will have to inculcate cultural practices in each group that insist in respect for our diversity.

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