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Cultural Integration
This unit is an introduction to Cultural Geography a sub-field of
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY.
Cultural geography is the study of cultures, cultural products and norms, and how they are different or the same on the surface of the Earth.
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Humans are social beings, which mean that they live together in groups and interact with each other.
 As a result of living with other people, individuals learn certain patterns of behaviour such as language, customs, social habits,
 music, dance and religion. They also learn what food, clothing and shelter are acceptable to the group.
Language, religion, social habits, values and attitudes are generally passed on by family, peers, and other important institutions within a society. It is often called SOCIALISATION or
ENCULTURATION .
 It is through the socialising processes of the family and the wider community that the individual adopts the culture of the society in which they live.

1.1 Elements of culture
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There are many elements of culture, called CULTURAL TRAITS that distinguish one group from another on the face of the earth.
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Obvious cultural traits include similarities in speech, religion, racial background and belief systems.
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Subtle elements of culture include ideas about marriage, the structure of the family, the value of work and the role of technology in society.
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Geographers are interested in culture as CULTURAL TRAITS vary on the Earths surface.
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The following Aboriginal Language Map shows how different
Aboriginal groups had distinct cultural traits that varied across
Australia
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The elements that come together that make up a culture may be divided into three broad categories of cultural traits o artefacts, o sociofacts, o mentefacts.

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Artefacts are the physical and material objects of a culture.
Artefacts include housing, clothing, agricultural tools, industrial tools and communication technologies.
Sociofacts are the social elements of a culture. They are the expected and accepted patterns of behaviour and the means by which an individual relates to other people in society. Sociofacts of a culture include the accepted family structure and ways of raising children, and the educational, military, economic and political systems of the society.
Mentifacts are the mind elements of a culture. They include the ideas, beliefs and knowledge of the culture and the ways in which these are expressed through language, religion, art, music and traditions. Mentifacts are the central and most lasting elements of a culture, and therefore the things that a society holds most dear.
Territorial Segregation

One of the clearest ways that a culture identifies itself is through
territorial segregation- that is culture was separated by land .
Take for instance Ewan McGreggor and Charley Boorman’s travel across Europe and Asia where they see very different cultural traits when entering a new country, an example of
Territorial Segregation.
 This is why Geographers are interested in Culture, it appears to have a relationship to a particular space on the Earths Surface.

1.2.1 Cultural Hearths
HEARTH is a term used to describe centres of innovation and invention from which key cultural traits and elements originate. They then spread to surrounding regions and beyond.
1.2.2 Cultural diffusion
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Cultural Diffusion is the process by which an idea or innovation is transmitted from one individual or group to another across space.
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Early societies developed different dialects, religions, social beliefs and customs, often in complete isolation from other people.
Distance was an effective barrier that allowed each society to develop its own unique culture. Cultures were very strong and rarely came into contact with others because of territorial segregation.

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There are TWO ways Cultural Diffusion Occurs
1) RELOCATION DIFFUSION -
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Relocation diffusion occurs when people migrate to a new area and take their culture with them. For example, English immigrants to the Australian colonies brought along crops and farming techniques, building styles, or concepts of government very different to the Aboriginal inhabitants.
2) EXPANSION DIFFUSION .
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Expansion diffusion involves the spread of a culture from one place to others. In the process the thing diffused also remains — and is frequently intensified
—in the origin area.
Islam, for example, expanded from its Arabian Peninsula origin locale across much of Asia and North Africa. At the same time it strengthened its hold over its Near Eastern birthplace by displacing all the pagan religions in the area.

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Cultural diffusion today is far more extensive and commonplace than it has ever been in history, especially in the form of globalisation a form of EXPANSION DIFFUSION .
Individuals can now communicate just as easily with those across their street and across the other side of the world and adopt new cultural traits.
Human resistance has turned to human desire to experience other cultures. New technologies including satellite television, mobile phones and Internet computers provide all with equal access to other cultures
Territorial segregation through Mountain and ocean barriers are easily, quickly and cheaply crossed.

1.2.3 Culture adoption (acculturation)
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This is the adoption of a culture . Culture adoption
( ACCULTURATION ) occurs when immigrants introduce their own culture (relocation diffusion) which, over many years, is successfully `adopted' by the original inhabitants, eventually becoming an integral part of life in that area.
The process of migration is the main cause of culture adoption.
Culture adoption/acculturation also takes place by the
` DEMONSTRATION EFFECT ' where people of one culture see particular aspects of another culture that they like, and then adopt it as their own. For instance, many people within Australia have adopted cultural traits from the USA and UK in fashion, music, attitude and food.
The team from Fat Pizza highlight many aspects of Cultural adoption through the demonstration effect.

 Watch the video clip (use headphones if you have them) and observe the various aspects of these crazy folks and see if you can recognise the cultural traits that they have adopted from various other cultures from around the world.

1.2.4 Cultural adaptation

This is when a culture adopts a culture but changes or adapts it
 for its own purposes.
As a result of widespread cultural diffusion, many cultural
 practices and values are absorbed and changed, or adapted, to suit other cultures.
For example, when the English first settled Australia a cultural artefact they brought here was a particular style of country housing that evolved in England. This particular housing was called Georgian Architecture. This suited the English climate and many of the Early Australian colonial towns had this style of housing.
1
Georgian Style Housing Diffused From England
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However, this cultural artefact was soon adapted in Australia as it did not deal with the heat well. Over time they added a veranda right around the Georgian architecture and developed a uniquely Australian cultural artefact called the Colonial
Cottage.

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2 Colonial Cottage- an adaptation of the Georgian Architecture
 This is just one example of cultural adaptation. It demonstrates how a society can change cultural practices and traditions and
 then call them their own.
The extensive mixing of cultures today means that most societies are now, or soon will be, multicultural. The diffusion, adoption and adaptation process where many different cultures merge into one culture is generally referred to as cultural integration.

1.3 Mass consumer culture

The importance a society places on buying goods, and the extent to which the ownership of material goods is valued, is called
CONSUMER CULTURE and is said to be the culture of the modern west.

Consumer culture is certainly central to everyday life in western countries such as Australia, as it relates to and allows individuals to express the core values Australians hold of o choice, o freedom o and individualism.
 Consumption also enables individuals to reinforce and participate in other aspects of the culture, such as the cultural practices of: o giving gifts, o shopping, o eating takeaway foods.
 Consumer culture is the main way that Western culture is diffused throughout the world.
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What are the features of Mass Consumer Culture? o it originates from modern, developed Western cultures, mainly the USA o it is about the flow of money and the fact that the masses have unlimited desires or wants, creating huge consumer power and demand. o it is based on the idea that people think consumption and the possession of material wealth is important in life, and

it supports the rights of individual to have freedom and choice o it accepts that businesses exist to make a profit and to increase their share of the market o it does not restrict who can consume and what can be consumed o it does not allow workers (the masses) to produce their own goods - they must earn an income in order to purchase the goods that they want in the marketplace o it gives individuals, regardless of their social status, the ability to possess power and express that power in the marketplace.

1.3.1 Mass consumer culture and fashion

Fashion is defined as techniques of dress of a culture at a particular time. It is the second most obvious cultural trait of culture, next to language.
 It is possible to identify different cultures by their clothing without even listening to their language or seeing their skin colour.
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Clothing clearly identifies members of a cultural group and provides a strong bond between individuals in the group.
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Fashion indicates many aspects of culture including conduct, power, status, social standing, consumption, success, acceptability and reputation.

Fashion Culture

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Western fashion in particular is strongly associated with mass consumer culture, capitalism and politics.
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During the 20th century, the circulation of fashion magazines has increased and Western fashions have reached further and further into the world.
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New techniques of selling, advertising, promotion and mass production have increased the product range and helped develop new markets for western fashion in all parts of the world.
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Western fashion is now worn by people worldwide.

Africa
Asia
Australia
North
America
South
America

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Western fashion is seen as the fashion of business and success and a sign of wealth and importance.
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Fashion trends are an important key to the modern consumer's sense of identity and an indicator of the spread of mass consumer culture.
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Shopping for fashion items is a popular pastime worldwide, offering people access to a public space, a chance for social interaction and a full day's entertainment in pleasant, airconditioned surroundings.
 Ready-to-wear designs have brought quality fashion within the reach of the everyday consumer.
 There may be some parts of the world not yet fully `attuned' to global fashion styles but it is probably only a matter of time before the process is complete.

1.3.2 Mass consumer culture and brand images
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Symbols are and important artefact in all cultures to reflect the
 mentifacts and sociofacts of that culture.
For instance the Christian Cross, and the Islamic Crescent Moon almost instantly let people know the religion of an area or a person.
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In the modern consumer culture, symbols play an important role, but it is in the form of brand images.
A brand image is a symbol associated with a particular consumer product easily identified by people.
Fast food, along with coca cola, basketball shoes, colour televisions, DVDs, computer games, jeans and t-shirts, MP3 players and mobile telephones are the symbols of popular western consumer culture today.
Artefacts such as these become even more important to the culture when they have a brand name.
For instance, Nike, Nintendo and Levis are seen as much more important symbols of consumer culture than just any brand of basketball shoes, computer games or jeans.
Also, there is a world-wide trend towards an increasing demand for brands that come from the USA.
The USA’s major export item today is popular culture.

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US movies, music, television programs and home videos are largely responsible for over $10 billion of trade.
Just consider most of the films and music you watch and listen to. Are they mostly American?
Task 1- Complete the Brand Sheet.

Write down the names of the product and company for each brand image that you recognise.
Task 2-
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Go to the following web address and click on Best Global

Brands. http://www.interbrand.com/
Fill in the ranks for the different years.
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Aggregate the ranks. That is add the ranks for each brand up.
Give a new aggregated rank. That is, the brand with the lowest aggregate score is now ranked 1 st and so on.

Brand Images

Brand Country of Origin
Ranks
2008 2007 2006 2005
United States
United States
Germany
United States
Germany
United States
United States
France
United States
United States
United States
United States
Finland
Japan
United States
United States
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
United States
United States
United States
Japan
17
18
19
20
Republic of Korea 21
Sweden 22
23 United States
United States 24
Japan
United States
25
26
2004
Add up all the ranks
Aggregated Rank

Brand Country of Origin
Ranks
2008 2007 2006 2005
Add up all the ranks
Aggregated Rank
2004
Sweden
Japan
United States
United States
United States
Japan
Switzerland
United States
United Kingdom 27
Switzerland 28
29 United States
United States 30
31 Germany
United States
United States
United States
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
Netherlands
Canada
Italy
United States
43
44
45
46
United States
Germany
47
48
United States 49
United States 50
1) What are the 10 most popular brands after you aggregate the ranks from the past 5 years?
2) What percentage of the top 50 brands from the past years originate from the USA?

McDonalds the brand
 One of the most influential brand images of 20th-century exported from the USA is McDonald's.
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McDonald's has extended its influence into a significant portion of the world, and this is likely to continue for some time.
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They have also been seen more broadly as a symbol of capitalism or globalization, since they are one of the more prominent American corporations that have become global in their reach (along with Coca-Cola and Nike).
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McDonald's has a distinctive brand image (referred to as the
'Golden Arches') that is immediately recognised in all corners of the world.
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There are claims that the McDonalds arches
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 are more recognisable than the Christian
Cross around the world.
McDonald's has influenced popular culture and changed the lifestyle of millions of people on all continents.
When plans were announced to demolish the first McDonald's restaurant built, Ray Kroc, the developer of McDonald's, received letters of protest from all over the world saying that `to destroy this major artefact of contemporary culture would destroy part of the faith that people of the world have put in your company'. McDonald's has now turned this first restaurant into a museum.
Read the Case Study on McDonalds and answer the questions in your books.

Superbrands case studies: McDonald's
McDonald's is the world's largest and fastest-growing food service
Canada, Japan, Australia and
Germany by the time the Golden
Arches made their debut appearance in the UK in 1974 in Woolwich, organisation, with more than 26,000 restaurants in 119 countries serving food and drink to nearly 43million customers daily in 2001. In the UK alone, McDonald's operates over south east London. By 1988, worldwide sales had topped $16 billion US and today McDonald's is represented on all five continents from Beijing to the Arctic Circle.
1,060 restaurants that generate a combined annual turnover of more than £1bn ($1.99 billion AUS). This success has not gone without recognition.
Product
In 1996, McDonald's was rated the world's greatest brand in a publication by Interbrand . The indepth study looked at the strength and potential of many worldwide brands, but concluded that "Nothing compares with McDonald's for the power of a branding idea, the skill of its execution, and the longevity and width of its appeal." The study also
McDonald's has evolved into an international, multibillion-dollar quick service restaurant industry.
Hamburgers and fries remain the mainstay of its business but central to the brand's success has been a menu that constantly evolves and expands to meet the needs of changing consumer lifestyles and eating habits.
A prime example of this is the Filetpointed out that despite having its roots in the US, McDonald's has become an accepted citizen of the world. Certainly this acceptance has
O-Fish which was conceived by Lou
Groen, a Cincinnati-based franchisee whose restaurant operated in a predominantly Catholic area. After been felt in the UK.
History noticing that trade was slow on
Fridays, Groen concluded that this was because Friday is a day of abstention from red meat for many
Catholics and he set out to develop a fish-based product to meet the needs of the local community. The Filet-O-
Fish was launched in 1963 and has since become a mainstay on many
McDonald's international menus.
The McDonald's story began in 1954 in San Bernadino, California, where a salesman called Ray Kroc was supplying milkshake multi-mixers to a drive-in restaurant run by two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald.
After calculating that the restaurant -- which served 15 cent hamburgers with fries and a shake every fifteen seconds -- must be selling over 2,000 milkshakes a month, Kroc saw the massive potential of the brothers' thriving business and decided to get involved. On 15 April 1955 Kroc became the McDonald brothers' first franchisee when he opened his own
McDonald's restaurant in Des
Plaines, a suburb just north of
Chicago.
In 1968, another franchisee -- Jim
Deligatti from Pittsburgh -- was responsible for the creation of the
Big Mac, which is the best known and most successful McDonald's menu item ever. Nine years later,
Deligatti developed the McDonald's breakfast menu -- a move that would change the breakfast habits of millions of Americans in the years that followed.
Rapid growth followed: McDonald's served more than 100 million hamburgers within its first three years of trading and in 1959, the
100th McDonald's restaurant was opened. In 1961, Kroc paid $2.7 million US to buy out the McDonald brothers' interest and in 1963 the billionth McDonald's hamburger was served live on prime-time television.
The brand proved equally popular outside the US. McDonald's had successfully established markets in
This spirit of innovation has played an important part in the growth of the company which continuously seeks to improve the consumer perceived quality and convenience of the
McDonald's experience. A major breakthrough came in 1975 with an idea that sprang from the need to solve a local sales problem: when servicemen from a nearby Army base in Sierra Vista, Arizona, were forbidden to leave their cars in military fatigues, the first drive-thru restaurant was opened. The concept was an immediate success, and today, drive-thru accounts for more than half of McDonald's business in many of its international markets.
Recent developments
Two of the most successful innovations from McDonald's have been its Extra Value Meals and its
Happy Meals.
Extra Value Meals offer customers a hamburger, drink and fries sold together at a fixed money-saving price. The meal offering combines variety in the choice of food as it incorporates current promotions, ease of purchase and above all excellent value for money.
Similarly, McDonald's Happy Meal boxes offer parents a simple and appealing package, with a smaller portioned meal served in a fun box with a toy. The unique alliance that
McDonald's has with Disney means it is able to combine the popularity of its food with all the magic of Disney.
It is innovations like these that have been instrumental in building the
McDonald's family business and establishing the brand's ownership of value within the quick service restaurant sector.
In 1999, the 1000th UK McDonald's opened in the Dome at Greenwich.
As the Official Community Sponsor of the New Millennium Experience,
McDonald's investment created the
'Our Town Story' programme, which invited children from every local education authority (approximately
21,000) to tell their story in the form of a show performed live at the
Dome in the specially designed Our
Town Story theatre.
Promotion
McDonald's has always recognised the key role of marketing in the brand-building process. Advertising is certainly not the only cause of
McDonald's success but the two are inseparable. As Ray Kroc put it:
"There's something just as basic to our success as the hamburger. That something is marketing McDonald's style. It's bigger than any person or product bearing the McDonald's name." To this day, a fixed proportion of restaurant sales is reinvested into advertising and sales

promotion in every market in which
McDonald's operates.
In the UK, high profile brand advertising has been instrumental in building a powerful emotional relationship between McDonald's and its customers. The fundamental warmth and humanity it has demonstrated in its communication remains unmatched by its competitors.
One of the strongest relationships that McDonald's has managed to build in the UK has been through football, the nation's favourite sport.
Through a combination of the highprofile sponsorship of professional events and also the work it has done on a grassroots level, McDonald's has linked the brand with sport in a way none of its competitors can rival.
McDonald's uses its association with such prestigious global events to reinforce its international brand stature, whilst its television advertising in the UK uses national heroes such as Alan Shearer, to endorse its association with the game on a local level.
McDonald's continuously displays a rare ability to act like a retailer while thinking like a brand; delivering sales for the immediate present, while building and protecting its long-term brand reputation.
In 1999, McDonald's successfully demonstrated its ability to do this by offering a series of themed new menu items, based on foods from around the world, such as Italian, Indian and
Chinese. Each promotion was supported with heavyweight abovethe-line advertising that communicated the theme of each promotion with a McDonald's twist, presenting the products from a very
British perspective.
The Curry and Spice promotion parodied the old Pearl and Dean cinema commercials for local curry houses, and the Chinese promotion parodied the dubbed Kung Fu films of the 1970s, with classic speeded up fight scenes. The commercials served to strengthen the position of
McDonald's as part of the fabric of
British culture. ensures incremental sales for
McDonald's. In addition to national advertising and promotional campaigns, McDonald's is strongly committed to local restaurant marketing. This commitment is an enduring testimony to Ray Kroc, who subscribed passionately to the belief that McDonald's should contribute to the communities which it serves.
Local activity takes many different forms, ranging from free coffee mornings for senior citizens to fundraising work with local schools, youth groups and hospitals.
Questions
Answer in your book
1) How many McDonalds restaurants were there globally in
2001 and in how many countries?
2) What did Interbrand award
McDonalds in 1996 and why?
3) When and where did McDonalds originate?
4) What did the McDonalds brothers do to impress Ray Kroc?
Brand values
5) Outline the features that show
McDonalds rapid growth in its early days.
Ray Kroc developed his brand vision for McDonald's around a simple but effective consumer-driven premise: quality, service, cleanliness and value
(QSC&V). These values remain the cornerstone of the brand and as a result, McDonald's has become known as a trustworthy brand that places the customer at the centre of its world.
6)
7)
8)
What did world wide sales reach in 1988?
What is claimed to be central to
McDonalds success?
How and why did the Filet-O-
Fish originate?
The key to the company's success has been its capacity to touch universal consumer needs with such consistency that the essence of the brand has always been relevant to the local culture.
9) How did McDonalds improve its growth through making the
McDonalds experience more
“convenient”?
10) What were TWO innovations that made the McDonalds brand synonymous with family business and quick service?
Things you didn't know

Worldwide, McDonald's is the largest franchised food service organisation.
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At the start of the new millennium
McDonald's opened its 1000th restaurant in the UK.
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Every day McDonald's provides food and beverages to nearly 43 million people per day worldwide.
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Around the world McDonald's food is available in locations such as a Swiss aeroplane, a ski-thru in
Sweden and in Liverpool's Anfield football ground.
© 2002 Superbrands Ltd
11) What has been important in the
“brand-building” process?
12) How has McDonalds built a strong relationship between its brand and its customers?
13) What has been key to McDonalds success?
14) How many people does
McDonalds provide food and beverage for on a daily basis world wide
Source: Brand Republic (2002) Super
Brands Case Study: McDonalds , Viewd 9 th
August 2009
<http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/148
903/Superbrands-case-studies-
McDonalds/>
15) Why do you think McDonalds is being adopted by many different cultures globally?
In 2000 McDonald's launched the
McFlurry in the UK (whipped dairy ice cream with a choice of Cadbury's
Dairy Milk, Crunchie or Smarties pieces mixed in). This type of innovation in its regular menu

1.34 Mass Consumer Culture and Music.

The diffusion of western culture is best seen through the adoption of western music in particular Rock’n’Roll.
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Rock’n’Roll’s cultural hearth is in the USA and it fast spread to the rest of the world through the demonstration effect by American soldiers (G.Is).
 After World War 2, the world went into a Cold War and as result
American military bases were spread throughout Europe, Asia,
Sth America and the Pacific. Many American soldiers went abroad.
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During the same period a new style of music emerged amongst the young. It was termed Rock’n’Roll or as we now call it Rock music.
 American soldiers brought this new music with them, together with the fashion associated with Rock; Levi Jeans and T Shirts.
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Many young people around the globe adopted this new culture from the west and adapted it to their situation. For instance, in the
UK many of the young liked Rock’n’Roll and mimicked it, but soon changed it to create their own version of it. This is best exemplified by The Beatles, Rolling Stones and others of the
British Invasion.
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Music to this day is heavily influenced by the west and many popular music artists come from the west chiefly the US. New styles keep emerging like Hip Hop and Rap, both of which had the cultural hearth in the USA.
 Local folk music is slowly being replaced by the western sound.
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Compare the traditional Mongolian Throat Singing with a
Mongolian Band that adopted western style music Yhat Kha .

2.0 The factors affecting cultural integration: Globalisation,
Technology and TNCs
2.1 Globalisation
 Globalisation has been the main factor that affected the diffusion of western consumer culture to the rest of the world.
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Economic, political and cultural activities across the world have become interconnected and individuals and nations find themselves influenced from a distance.
GLOBALISATION can simply be defined as
“The process of going to a more interconnected world particularly by making world economy dominated by western capitalist models”
.
Globalisation results in more and more people being drawn into a single world, and as such we often associate globalisation with
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 the idea of a ` GLOBAL VILLAGE ' .
Mass consumer culture is an aspect of globalisation as it is being adopted and adapted by many cultures.
The spread of mass consumerism also brings modern Western capitalist culture with it, and this, more than consumerism, is having a profound effect on individual cultures.
There are probably only a handful of cultures in the world today that have not been influenced by the consumer culture, and most expect it will only be a matter of time before the influence is complete.
Some geographers view the trend towards globalisation with concern, while others see it as a part of the normal change and growth that cultures experience.

TNCs
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Trans National Corporations are large corporations that trade internationally and have been a significant force in the globalisation process.
Where once a business was only conducted on local scale, it is now conducted globally by large corporations.
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Large TNCs with their brand images have been instrumental in the diffusion of western consumer culture around the world.
Just look at the different brands from the brand image section.
Technology
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The diffusion of western consumer culture and its rapid adoption has significantly been influenced by technology.
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Originally transport technology allowed for people to move globally more rapidly, firstly through developments in shipping, then rail and eventually air transport.
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In more recent times, the diffusion of culture can be instant due to the development of telecommunication technologies such as magazines, radio, television and film.
 The Internet now is allowing for the instant diffusion of culture at a persons leisure.
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These mediums have allowed for peoples around the world to see and adopt western consumer culture without meeting someone first hand.

3.0 The effects of cultural integration
3.1 Threats to Cultural Diversity and Homogenised Landscapes.
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The spread of mass consumer culture and the broader forces of economic, political and social globalisation have resulted in rapid changes in most societies around the world.
 One of the major criticisms is that the rapid diffusion and adoption of mass consumer culture will lead to a decline in
CULTURAL DIVERSITY .
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Cultural traits that once were used to differentiate a culture and provided cultural unity are fast disappearing.
 Cultural Integration poses a threat to the diversity (wide range) of cultures across the world as it is now difficult to identify aspects of `traditional' culture in many societies.
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This is why the changes brought about by cultural integration are of concern to geographers.
 We now see global trends interacting so closely with local customs that it is difficult to distinguish what is `foreign' and what is 'local'.

This trend brings about HOMOGENISED LANDSCAPES in
 different countries that actually look and feel the same.
Homogenised is a term that means
“the same”
. Most geographers would agree that there is certainly a global trend

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 towards restaurants, businesses, clothing styles, music, religion and sport are appearing to be the same in many parts of the world. Take for example the Soccer World Cup, a sport diffused from England to the rest of the world.
It is possible that existing local cultures will eventually be replaced with a westernised, homogenised, global popular culture that will look the same everywhere regardless of cultural or ethnic background.
Worldwide trends can create the impression of cultural homogenisation as already the same food is being eaten in
London, New York, Toronto and Sydney by people wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music.
One clear example of Homogenised Landscapes is the centre of consumer culture; the Shopping Mall/Centre.
Globally, markets and bizarres that seemed exotic when travellers entered a country will slowly be replaced with consumption spaces that look the same such as the shopping mall/centre.

Homogensied Landscapes- The Shopping Mall/ Centre
Greece Israel
USA Japan
Dubai Brazil

3.2 Dominance, Dependence and Sovereignty
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The effects of globalisation mean there are now global customers who want global services provided by global suppliers. Globalisation has changed the balance of economic dominance and dependence across the world and is threatening the sovereignty of many poorer nations.

Dominance and Dependence
– World System Theory

World system theory helps describe and explain the impacts of dominance and dependence because of globalisation and cultural integration.

The theory argues that: o The modern world system is a world economy, which has been brought about by globalisation. o Under this world system two or more regions become interdependent on each other economically. o The interdependence is not an equal one as one region often becomes the core (dominance) while others become the periphery (dependence). o This divide between core and periphery is based on a “ DIVISION
OF LABOUR
” - that is a divide between the type of work that is predominant in each region. o In the core (dominant) areas they control the money (capital) and as such their labour is primarily based on sophisticated jobs such as banking, finance, accounting and other high end jobs.(Tertiary
Sector) o In contrast at the periphery (dependence) the labour is Labour intensive, that is factory work. (Primary and Secondary Sector) o What has emerged is that those with the capital dominate over those with the labour.
 Consequently, the integration of the western consumer lifestyle has come at a cost in the periphery areas.

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Among the most important structures of the current world-system is a power hierarchy between core and periphery , in which powerful and wealthy "core" societies dominate and exploit weak and poor peripheral societies.
 UNEQUAL EXCHANGE occurs as the consumer resources are not evenly distributed.
 To put it simply, the core regions exploit the periphery regions and dictate the terms of the exchange.
 This is one of the major reasons behind the cultural integration of
Western Consumer Culture as it is the culture of the core or dominant areas.
 Consequently, since core countries dominate economically over periphery countries, questions arise over a periphery countr y’s
SOVERIGNTY
 SOVERIGNTY is right of a nation state to determine its own laws and how it governs its people without interference from other nations.

Economic and cultural dominance means that core countries can significantly influence a more vulnerable periphery nation and have devastating consequences on the local traditional culture.
 For example, a Core Country will want to set up a factory in a region with low labour costs and little regulation. The periphery region is in a vulnerable position and a local community with strong cultural traditions can be removed as the rich company can move in to set up business in their region. The government is

usually powerless as it requires the core regions business for it to economically develop.