“Cultural Coherence & Diversity: The
Geography of Tradition & Change”
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Question 1 – The authors are referring to the
rapid spread of Western culture due to global
communication systems. Some parts of the
world willingly accept this diffusion of
Western culture, but others resist & resent it.
CULTURAL IMPERIALISM: the active
promotion of one cultural system over
another (historically associated with
Imperialism; now caused by globalization).
(glossary p. 637)
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Factionalism – a group of people inside a larger
group working in a common cause against the
main group. (Example: Tea Party Republicans;
Conservative Democrats).
Separatism – a group of people inside a larger
group who actively advocates & desires to
become a separate entity (can be political,
religious, ETHNIC etc).
SEPARATISM ALWAYS RESULTS FROM
FACTIONALISM BUT NOT ALL FACTIONALIST
GROUPS ARE SEPARATISTS!!!!!!!
Questions 2 & 3
Scottish independence
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FOLK – rural, largely self-sufficient, homogeneous,
conservative/traditional (Ex: Amish)
ETHNIC – controlled by clear lines of authority
through family, clan, tribe or church (EX: the Hutu &
Tutsi tribes in Rwanda, Africa).
POPULAR – urban-based, heterogeneous, rapidly
changing. (Ex: hip hop culture in USA)
WORLD – empowered by GLOBALIZATION – this refers
to the idea that because we’re much more connected
globally we will start to develop similar universal
cultural traits & practices (EX: all major world cities
have similar landscapes of offices, hotels,
restaurants, entertainment choices, etc).
HW Q #5
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3 examples of cultural Imperialism:
McDonald’s/Starbucks/ found in major cities
world-wide;
English is the dominant language of the
Internet;
Western films & pop stars sell out venues on
world-wide tours
HW Q#6
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CULTURAL NATIONALISM – the process of
protecting & defending a cultural system
against diluting or offensive cultural
expressions while also actively promoting
national & local cultural values.
Cultural Nationalism is a REACTION against
cultural Imperialism because cultural
Imperialism attempts to do the OPPOSITE of
what cultural nationalism seeks to achieve.
HW Q#7
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CULTURAL SYNCRETISM aka “hybridization”
occurs when contact/connections between
cultures cause a blending of aspects from both
cultures that forms a new culture that is unique.
EXAMPLE: due to the British colonial period in
India, English is commonly spoken. However,
India’s use of English (often called “Indlish”) has
aspects of both formal English & Hindi & contains
many words that are unique to that culture.
HW Q# 8
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PROSELYTIZING is done in an attempt to
convert a person from one religion to another
UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS are those that
usually have an active missionary program
and that appeal to a large group of people
regardless of local culture and conditions.
Christianity and Islam are both examples of
UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS.
Hw q# 9
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ETHNIC RELIGIONS are those that are closely
identified with a specific ethnic or tribal group.
Normally ethnic religions do not seek new converts.
(Judaism and Shinto are good examples of ethnic
religions).
Proselytizing would play a major role in
UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS but would not be a factor
in ETHNIC RELIGIONS.
MONOTHEISTIC religions believe in 1 God
(Christianity, Judaism, Islam); POLYTHEISTIC religions
believe in more than one god. (HINDUISM is a good
example of a Polytheistic religion)
HW Q# 9 & 10
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SECULAR means “not sacred or religious” and
signifies a “worldly” perspective absent
significant religious influence. The trend in some
world regions is to move away from regular
participation and engagement with traditional
organized religion is often referred to
secularization. Some world regions are more
secular than others…that is…the influence of
religion is not nearly as significant (culturally,
politically, etc) in those regions.
HW Q#11
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YOUR ASSIGNMENT WAS…
FIRST… To define each term (always in sentence
form).
Each pair of terms below is related in some way.
So your SECOND task was to explain the
relationship between the terms. (Example:
Cause/effect; the terms may be opposites, etc.)
Your answer should demonstrate both your
understanding of the meaning of each individual
term as well as their relationship to each other.
Here are some sample answers…
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TERMS: Colonialism (Imperialism) and
globalization.
DEFINITIONS: Colonialism/Imperialism is the control by
one country of the politics, economy and/or culture of
another country. Globalization is the increasing
interconnectedness of people, places & things due to
the world wide convergence of economics, politics &
culture.
RELATIONSHIP: These terms are similar in that they
both represent methods by which cultural change
can happen. While colonialism/imperialism is a
more deliberate/intentional method of control &
dominance; globalization may be more subtle,
however it has also led to a dominance of Western
culture around the world.