The Influence of Globalization on Culture

Résumé ou Introduction

In recent decades, many regions of the world have seen a marked increase in economic development due to the process of globalization as states have opened their borders to international markets, allowing for multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations, and foreign state actors to have an increasingly powerful influence over traditionally domestic matters. With this development and the advance of technology, media and communication have had the ability to reach regions of the world, which may have never been exposed to other cultures in the past. Undoubtedly, this has had an impact on the culture and societal norms of countless cultures as dominant world cultures expand their realm of influence through such media as TV programs and the internet. This report will examine to what extent dominant world cultures’ impacts are on what will be termed ‘traditional cultures’ – a unique culture, which up until recently has been relatively unaware of and influenced by other outside cultures. Furthermore, it will examine whether this trend of globalization will advance the creation of a singular global culture.

The debate of whether the erosion between traditional culture and the strengthening of a global culture is of particular concern as within recent history many groups, who are often termed minorities to the more dominant cultures, are concerned with the loss of their individuality, way of life, and even their national sovereignty. To pro or hyper-globalists, this loss of sovereignty is viewed as progress as the process of cultural homogenization will inevitably be responsible for the decay of conflict among differing cultural groups. However, to the ‘minorities’ or traditional cultures opposed to this form of cultural transformation, this theory poses a threat to their unique values and it is not likely that traditional cultures will likely submit to the notion that a growing global culture is an unavoidable fact.