photo sourced: http://www.absolutely-intercultural.com/?m=200810
I recently had a conversation via whatsapp
with my cousin in Africa about the effects that globalisation has on different
cultures around the world. Giddens
defines globalisation ‘as the intensification of worldwide social relations,
which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by
events occurring many miles away and vice versa’ (Rantanen 2005, p6)
According to my cousin, globalisation has
culturally affected her enormously starting from the language she has been
taught to speak (English) to the food she eats.
Being an African I would agree with her as during our conversation we
both agreed that initially, certain foods such as rice or potatoes aren’t the
staple foods of our home country (Zambia) but due to globalisation, these
products have been extended from one culture to another hence becoming a normal
thing most families eat around the country.
During our conversation, my cousin
explained that the cultural flow of globalisation started to affect her as soon
as she started going to school.
According to her, the education system from foundation up until year 12
was based on the western culture. She explained
that her parents took her to an international school, which was all based on
the British and American culture. These
types of schools are vastly growing around the country, which make kids
starting school think that is how things have been all along. My cousin mentioned that she knew that the
way she dressed and spoke was western influenced because the behaviours she
noticed in kids that went to non multi cultural schools was different from her
behaviour. Srivastava mentions that
cultural flows of globalisation ‘refer to the objects, skills, beliefs and
practices that travel around the world’ (2010, p4) I could relate to what my
cousin mentioned because this was certainly the feeling I had as the school I
went to in my own country had Indians as the majority of the school population. Due to the religious background of most students,
which was Muslim, the school followed the Muslim public holiday calendar
despite the country being a Christian nation. SHOCKING ISN’T IT?? Everyone I tell seems to get surprised by
that.
References:
Rantanan, T 2005, ‘Theorizing media and
globolisation’, Media and globolisation 2005, SAGE Publications, London, pp. 6
Srivastava, S 2010, 'Globolisation and the Media study guide', Deakin University, Geelong VIC, pp.4
Hi Chi Chi,
ReplyDeleteYour blog was very interesting to me as I can relate to the experience that your cousin has had. Your blog is written very well, and it is very easy to read. Since i grew up overseas, the presence of the Western culture was immediate. Like your cousin, I attended numerous international schools where British and American cultures were consistently identified.
Keep up the amazing work, and I am looking forward to reading more of your blogs!
xxx
hey Chi Chi
ReplyDeleteYour blog definitely dealt with the impact of globalisation as a collective and personal scale. I really appreciated how you were able to include your own personal accounts of the effects of globalisation, and gave insight on how it has drastically effected your home town, Zambia. Even though globalisation can have positive outcomes for most countries, i do believe that others to tend to lose focus on the true and natural customs of their county or society due to the impact globalisation has had. An example can be the consumerist. It has taught us that having the best things means you are evolving, and adapting to the reign of globalisation. I also found it quite surprising that you mentioned zambia being a christian country, but however follow islamic holidays. All in all, i found your post incredibly insightful and it is a first class example of how much globalisation has effected countries world wide.