Culture and Communication in
the Age of Globalization
Introduction to Culture and
Communication Studies
Culture and Communication
in the Age of Globalization
• What is globalization?
Economic globalization
Political globalization
Cultural globalization
Technological globalization
• The state of culture and communication in
the age of globalization
Culture and Communication
in the Age of Globalization
• Globalization – a phenomenon involving the
integration of economies, governmental
policies, values, technologies and cultures
• Trans-national integrations over centuries:
large empire and religious movements agents of earlier forms of globalization
The Roman Empire, ca. AD 117
Geographically continuous
The British Empire 1912
Geographically discontinuous and extensive
The Japanese Empire, 1942
Geographically continuous and limited
Christendom: Islamic Nations
East-Asia Company Trading Areas
Economic, Exploitative and Unilateral
Globalization
• How is the recent globalization different from
the earlier forms of globalization?
• An exponential (quicker, more drastic, more
ubiquitous) progress of the integration
process.
• Revolutionary advancement in transportation
and telecommunication
• The electronic age will turn all humanity into
a ‘global tribe,’ in a ‘global village’.
Marshall McLuhan, 1962
Economic Globalization
Research
&
Development
Raw
material
Processing
parts
production
Assembly
Marketing
• Each stage goes to the most advantageous
location regardless of the nationality of corporate
• Economic welfare of individuals controlled by
market forces and international organizations
such as WTO, World Bank and IMF
Economic Globarization
• Production carried out where labour cost is
lower, no or little work regulation exists and
good financial arrangement comes
• Exploitation in wages and working condition
• Widening gap between the rich and the poor
The top 1 % owes the 40 % of the world wealth
The bottom 50 % owes only 1 % of the total wealth
The international debt of the developing countries:
$ 618 billion in 1980 and $ 3,300 billion in 2007
The US cost of the Iraqi War (2003-08) was $3,300
billion
Similar products for similar prices sold all over
the world
A Nepalese boy wearing a Hard Rock Café T-shirt,
Hong Kong T-shirt and a Gap cap, while a Togo
woman listening to music by a Sony Walkman
Globalization of Governmental Policies
• Laissez-faire – policy of minimum governmental
intervention in the economic affairs of
individuals and society.
• Uncertain origin – Louis XIV’s finance controller,
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, asked industrialists what
the government could do to help their business.
He was told, ‘Leave us alone.’
• Classic economist – Adam Smith
• Invisible hand of the market – a metaphor to
describe the self-regulating behaviour of the
marketplace.  Market Fundamentalism
Globalization of Governmental Policies
Laissez-faire in classic
economy
De-nationalization
Deregulation
Austerity
Market-Opening
Globalization of Governmental Policies
• Thatcherism in economic policies
• Monetarism: the government controls money
supply to combat inflation
• Supply-side economics in which government
intervenes market only to create a free market
through privatizing state industries, deregulation
and liberalization of the market
Globalization of Governmental Policies
• Reaganomics – (1) Reduction in government
spending and money supply, (2) reduction in
taxes, (3) reduction in government regulation,
(4) reduction in government regulation
• All achieved by the reduction on government
spending
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Globalization of Governmental Policies
The economic policies of the UK and US
governments globalized – global policies
Endlessly increase liberalization of the economy
and decreasing barriers
Trade liberalization (removal of tariffs)
Liberalization of ‘capital accounts’ – allow people
to invest overseas and foreign funds to be
invested at home
Privatization of state enterprises
Deregulation
Neoliberalism; Trade Agreements: FTT, TPP
Globalization of Governmental Policies
• Negative outcomes of
globalization
• Laissez-faire creates great
economic and financial
instability
• High unemployment in
developed nations
• Economic exploitation of
workforce in develop and
developing nations
Globalization of Governmental Policies
• Greater inequality
• Increasing poverty and alienation
• Rapid and extensive deterioration of
environment
• Unending consumerism
Globalization of Values
• Some values originally developed in the West
are globalized
• Liberal democracy; social justice; basic human
rights; world peace; sustainable energy and
development
• Qualifications for becoming a member nation in
the European Union – 1) democracy 2) market
economy 3) basic human rights
Globalization of Values
• After the end of the Cold
War, the Western liberal
democracy became the only
ideology and universal form
of government
• Francis Fukuyama, The End
of History (1992)
• These values are globalized
but not universalized
Globalization of Values
• As response to and critique
of Fukuyama’s The End of
History, Huntington claims
that cultural and religious
identities and values,
instead of political
ideologies will be the
primary source of conflicts.
Samuel Huntington, The
Clash of Civilizations (1996)
Globalization of Culture
• English as a “world language” or the lingua franca
of the modern world
• The language the most often taught as a foreign
language
• Official language for aeronautical and maritime
communications; one of the official languages of
UN and the IOC
Globalization of Culture
• 95 % of science journal articles written in English
• In 2011 28 % of all books published and 30% of
web content (50 % in 2000)
• 360 million native speakers
• 38% of Europeans think they can speak English
• Language imperialism?
Globalization of Culture
• American domination of
popular culture
• Americanization
- Popular and rock music
- Television dramas and
programmes
- Movies
- Fast food
- Other cultural products
such as Disney Land and its
characters
Globalization of Culture
• Global culture penetrates
• A Japanese youth simulates to be a rapper.
• A Coca-Cola stall in a shopping mall of Shanghai
Globalization of Culture
• Occasionally global cultural form come from
outside USA
• Unexpected hit of Gangnam Style and long
popularity of Lupin III
Globalization of Culture
• Football and the world cup is the most globalized
form of culture, at least, among men.
• There were few who fail to recognize Pele and
Beckham
• The 2010 World Cup was shown in every single
country and 46.4 % (3.2 billion people) watched
Globalization and Culture
• Through the integration of economies,
governmental policies, values and cultures, has
globalization made the world homogenous?
• Are we ‘global tribes’ in a global village?
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Tokyo is integrated into global markets, but none
of them makes it Western, American or British
• Tokyo is not homogenous： 160k Chinese; 100k
Korean; 28k Philippine; 16k American; 8k Indian;
8K Nepal; 7k Thai; 5k British; 4.5k Burmese
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Major native dialects: British Isles dialects;
those of North American and Australasia
• Numerous forms of English language
• Pidgin – Franglais, Spanglish, Chinglish, Engrish,
Higlish, Kongrish, Manglish,
Singlish, Tinglish
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Even under cultural integration and globalization,
local, traditional cultures still survive – cultural
differences
• T-shirt is a global fashion item, but America’s local
tradition, prom taxedo
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Traditional and local cultural forms are more
resilient, if no longer genuine or authentic and
confined to specific occasions.
• Kilts were worn in special occasions in Scotland
• Hakama on college graduation in Japan
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• A pretty headdress is still worn by a Zao
woman in Vietnam, while in the city children
were a baseball cap
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• For French people, cinema is their indispensable
national culture. Films are made with subsidies
and quotas for American films were frequently
introduced to protect the French film market.
• Constant battle between the French government
and WTO for protectionism and liberalism
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Is globalized culture a threat to local cultural
differences? Is its spread a cultural imperialism?
• Herbert Schiller claimed: ‘the imagery and
cultural perspectives of the ruling sector in the
center that shape and structure consciousness
throughout the system at large.’
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Other researchers found that it is not the case.
• If there is a local product, people prefer it to
America products (1st finding)
• Dallas was one of the most popular TV shows in the
1980s, in Japan hardly anybody was interested in
that and Oshin was one of the most popular shows.
• The last episode of Dallas was watched by 72 %
of Americans
• Average viewing rate of Oshin 52.6% and the
highest 62.9 (12 Nov. 1983)
• People tend to prefer to the TV programming
that is close to their own culture.
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• 2nd finding – People’s response to American TV
programmes depend on their cultural context
• Many Muslims find the ways women behave in
American soap operas unacceptable and many
Dutch viewers were not impressed with
conspicuous spending in Dallas
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Since 2007 more Japanese than Western films
have been shown (417-404) in the Japanese
cinemas and since 2008 have earned more
profits.
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• What is happening in the age of cultural
globalization?
• Not cultural homogenization and uniformization,
but cultural diversification, hybridization, and
intermingling
• ‘Mongrelization’ Salman Rushdie: Loss of purity
• Contamination vs. Purity
• Is ‘contamination’ a negative term and ‘purity’ a
positive term?
• Our cultural history is history of ‘contamination’
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Alexander’s empire molded states as well as
sculptures of Egypt and North India
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• The Bantu migrations populated half the
African continent
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• The Islamic states stretch from Morocco to
Indonesia; Christianity reached Africa, Europe, and
Asia
• Buddhism migrated from India into much of East
and Southeast Asia; Jews, Indians and Chinese
have long lived in vast diasporas.
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• The traders of the Silk Road changed the style
of elite dress in Italy
• A form of cultural hybridization and
‘globalization’
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• By the 17th century, oriental
porcelain had become important
commodity in Europe. Most
provided by the Dutch East India
Company, porcelain from China
and Japan represented wealth
and status.
• Locals attempted to produce
procelain
• Maissen imitation of Kakiemon
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• The bagpipes started out in Egypt and came to
Scotland with the Roman infantry
• Hybridization and ‘contamination’ is not
modern but in the age of globalization they are
more extensive and pervasive
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Cultural purity is an oxymoron
• Everyone is already live a hybrid and
‘contaminated’ life, enriched by literature, art,
and film that come from many places and
contains influences from many more.
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• Those who believe in cultural purity and homogeneity finds ‘other’ cultures in their community
threatening.
• Antiforeignism and exclusivism
Culture and Communication
in the age of Globalization
• True cosmopolitans or global citizens think
human variety matters
• “People are entitled to the options they need to
shape their lives in partnership with others”
• John Stuart Mill on diversity: though he talks
about diversity in a society, his argument also
serves for diversity across the globe.
• To respect diversity – to respect others and to
be respected by others
• Importance of communication