What is Cultural Diffusion?
Cultural diffusion is when something from one area or culture spreads to another area or culture
regardless of its location or climate zone. As more cultures come into contact with each other, more
ideas and products spread and are shared. Diffusion has always happened on some level but today,
cultural diffusion happens easier and more frequently because of improved transportation,
technology, and education. Because all three of those things are on the rise, cultures diffuse more
and more each day.
We know that all societies have four traits in common Shared Language, Political Organization,
Economic Organization and Food Security. Cultural diffusion allows these traits to be shared
between very different societies so that places that are very far apart might have similar foods,
economies, languages, or governments. Looking at today's society, we can find examples of cultural
diffusion that will fit into each of these classifications.
Food Security
This is a MacDonald's restaurant in Saudi Arabia.
MacDonald's is an American restaurant that has
expanded to have locations all over the world. There
are similar examples of this cultural diffusion in
America, where it is easy to find ethnic restaurants
that serve foreign food. Because of cultural diffusion,
we can eat many different kinds of food. Countries can
have a high level of food security because of food they
grow, food that is brought in from other countries, or
a combination of the two. Countries that are unable to
produce enough food can still have food security
because of cultural diffusion. We can see this in
America, where people now grow wheat, corn and
rice, even though they originally came from Asia and South America.
Political Organization
This picture is of several world leaders gathered
together. World leaders meet to share political
ideas, make decisions that affect the world, and
create plans to resolve conflicts or problems.
Because of better technology and transportation
in recent decades, world leaders can now meet
more often. Technology and transportation are
major parts of cultural diffusion, because they
allow ideas, information, and products to travel
faster. Many societies look at places with good political organization and copy it. They hope that
their society becomes more organized and efficient. This helps keep people productive and safe. A
good example of this is how many societies have stopped using kings, and instead use democracy
as their political organization. This keeps the people happy.
Shared Language
Literacy, the ability to read and write, is rising in developing countries. Because of cultural diffusion,
the education systems and resources of developed countries are starting to transfer to developing
countries. Textbooks, novels, and other resources can be shared, resulting in higher literacy rates
and an increase in shared language. This graph shows the rising literacy rates of Pakistan over the
last several decades. Books from
English speaking countries can be
shared with Pakistan because
schools in Pakistan instruct in both
English and the native language
Urdu. Without cultural diffusion, it is
unlikely that we would see this
same rise in literacy. Because of the
spread of English through
education, more people can
communicate with each other than
ever before. Some societies have
decided to use another cultures’
language to give them an
advantage. If they speak the “right
language” they might get more
trade partners, or can use another
cultures’ books to learn new ideas.
Economic
Because of Cultural Diffusion, we can exchange goods between many different societies, rather than
just within our own society. This also means that we can have a greater variety of products. This
map of international trading blocs shows how economics are affected by cultural diffusion. Different
countries have control over different resources that are necessary for making products we use every
day. Improved transportation means that products can be manufactured (made) in many faraway
countries. For instance, the shoes you are wearing were probably not manufactured in the United
States. Each portion of your shoe probably came from a different country that controlled that
resource. The fabric or leather comes from one place while the rubber sole comes from someplace
else. Because it is now common to use products that were manufactured all over the world,
economics are very heavily
affected by cultural diffusion.
Countries must work together and
negotiate to share resources
controlled by individual countries.
This helps trading. If a society can
trade for the food or technology
that does not naturally occur in
their geographic location, they can
more easily access their wants and
their needs.