GLOBALISATION

and CULTURE
Lecture 4
Lecturer: Nguyen Ha Minh
01 Culture

TODAY’S PLAN
02 Cultural Globalisation:
Source of impact

03 Cultural dynamic in a globalised world

04 Global and Local interaction

05 Clash of Civilization (Self-

study)
 Youth
Consumer shock

Hiphop
CULTURE loss

Pop Vietnamese dynamic

 Definition

“Culture, or civilization. . . is that

complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, law, morals,
custom, and any other capabilities
and habits acquired by man as a
member of society.”
- Edward Tylor, 1871
Definition

• Culture is “the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual

and emotional features of society or a social group… It
encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways
of living together, value systems, traditions, and beliefs”
(UNESCO)

• “Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he

himself has spun.” (Clifford Geertz)
Definition

● “The cultural refers to the symbolic construction, articulation, and

dissemination of meaning…given that language, music and images
constitute a major forms of symbolic expression, they assume
special significance in the sphere of culture” (Manfred Steger).

● Culture involves production, including the creation of things, and

constraints, in which it “establishes a set of limits within which
social behavior must be contained, a repertoire of models to
which individuals must conform.”
 Definition

Culture is a set of beliefs, values, and practices that are learned through
processes of enculturation and socialization.

● Enculturation: is the process of acquiring one’s culture, ordinarily as a

child, in interaction with other members of one’s society/Process
through which one becomes a member of a culture demonstrating an
understanding of its rules, norms, and expectation.
● Socialization: Process through which one learns the accepted rules of
behavior for a culture or society.
The Cultural
Globalization
The Cultural Globalization

Western
International
Popular
flows
culture

Multi-level
MNCs international
cooperation
Culture
The Cultural Globalisation

▪ Transnational Corporations:
MNCs • Global strategy on local markets
• Establish new consuming habits
• Spread the Western popular culture
• Create the globally unified working environment
Culture
The Cultural Globalization (2)
The Cultural Globalization (1)
The Cultural Globalisation

Western ▪ Language: English

Popular ▪ Arts: Hollywood movies, Netflix, Pop music,
Culture multilingual transcripts of literature, etc.
▪ Lifestyles: fashion trends, similarities in social
practices: eating, drinking, socializing, etc.
Culture ▪ Viral mechanism promotes the popularity of
a few distinctive cultural traits via social
networks.
 The Cultural Globalisation

International ▪ The development of ICTs enhances the

flows flow of international information and
communication.
▪ The ease of long-distance, high-speed
travel intensifies the flow of people.
Culture ▪ The spread of global brands embeds
standards of values in different cultures.
 The Cultural Globalization
Multi-level ▪ Global integration requires a level of sameness in
international
cooperation multicultural dialogues.
▪ Interconnected markets and open societies magnify
the spectrum of cultural exchanges.
▪ Risk-and-profit sharing mechanism accelerate the
Culture cross-cultural communication.
The Cultural Globalization (4)
Cultural dynamic

● Dynamic: action, practice, movement, growth, and generation.

● Cultural dynamics: the formation, maintenance and transformation
of culture over time.
● Culture never stands still, but continuously moves and develops
Diffusion

● The spreading of a cultural trait from one society to another, may not involve
contact
● Diffusion is a selective, not automatic process. A society accepting a foreign
cultural trait is likely to adapt it in a way that effectively harmonizes it with the
society’s own traditions.
● There are three basic patterns of diffusion.
 3 Types Of Diffusion

● Diffusion by direct contact in which elements of a culture are first

taken up by neighboring societies and then gradually spread farther and
farther afield
● Diffusion by intermediate contact, in which third parties , frequently
traders, carry a cultural trait from the originating society to another group
● Stimulus diffusion in which knowledge of a trait belonging to another
culture stimulates the invention or development of a local equivalent
Acculturation

● Acculturation – cultural diffusion where a subordinate culture adopts

many of the cultural traits of the more powerful culture due to
continuous contact
● Example: Native Americans replacing or modifying certain societal or
cultural elements such as dress, language, or religion upon contact with
Europeans
 Cultural imperialism

● Active promotion of one’s cultural system

over another
● A form of domination that involves
privileging one culture (usually that of a
large, powerful nation) over less powerful
ones or imposing/ injecting the cultural
practices of a dominant culture into other
cultures, often culminating in the adoption
of the cultural practices of the imperial
power.
Cultural Imperialism

○ Media and Communication

○ Economic Influence
○ Language and Education

○ Global Brands and Corporations

Cultural homogenization

Globalisation is simply Americanisation?

● The elimination of individual cultural differences to form one uniform

global culture
● the reduction in cultural diversity through the popularization and
diffusion of a wide array of cultural symbols—not only physical objects
but customs, ideas and values
● the process by which local cultures are transformed or absorbed by a
dominant outside culture
Cultural nationalism (ethno-nationalism)

● The process of protecting and defending a certain cultural

system against dilution or offensive cultural expression while at
the same time actively promoting the indigenous culture
● Example: Advertising in France
Cultural hybridization

● Cultural hybridization is the blending of elements from different

cultures.
● Foreign cultural imports are assigned fresh meanings within the
receiving culture
● It occurs when people mix traditional arts, mass communication, and
popular culture in new way, enabling people to express personal and
cultural identities that are different from existing ones.
● Locals are influenced by global culture, but also re-interpret it and
adapt it to their lives
Cultural Hybridization

● Example:

o Creole languages, a new language developed from simplifying and

blending different languages that come into contact within particular
population, at a specific point in time. For example, Louisiana Creole
which is a combination of African, French, and English languages.

o Global restaurant chains like Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald’s

(KFC), modifying their menus to suit the tastes or mores of different
cultures.

o Martial arts films in the United States that adapt traditional Asian
cultural elements to fit the tastes of the viewing public.
 Global and local interaction

● Global goes local: global product is localized to adapt with local culture
● Local goes global: local culture is welcomed at global level
● Local transforms local: Local businesses use the knowledge of their own
culture to compete with global companies
Global and local interaction

“from the rest of the

world to the rest of
the world”

“Starbuck’s customers, whether in Zurich or Beirut, are drinking an American

version of an Italian evolution of a beverage invented by Arabs brewed from a
bean discovered by Africans.” – Jackson Kuhl
Global or Local?

→ In some contexts, local cultures may largely be replaced by Western cultural

products, practices, and values.
→ In other cases, global pressures may lead to a resurgence of attention to and
celebration of local cultures.
→ In still others, cultural exchanges result in new forms of cultural hybridity
 McDonald’s

1. Standardization
2. Initially presented itself
as uncompromising
American food
3. Standard of cleanliness
4. Customer discipline
5. Idea of a regular meal
McDonald’s 4 processes of rational organization

McDonald’s (G. Ritzer’s McDonaldization)

● Efficiency – the fastest way to get from being hungry to being full. Efficiency in
McDonaldization means that every aspect of the organization is geared toward
the minimization of time.
● Calculability – objective should be quantifiable (e.g., sales) rather than subjective
(e.g. taste). McDonaldization developed the notion that quantity equals quality,
and that a large amount of product delivered to the customer in a short amount
of time is the same as a high quality product.
● Predictability – standardized and uniform services. "Predictability" means that no
matter where a person goes, they will receive the same service and receive the
same product every time when interacting with the McDonaldized organization.
● Control – standardized and uniform employees, replacement of human by non-
human technologies
 McDonald’s approach in Hong Kong

(1) Basic menu, emphasize its foreign instead of competing with local;
competitive price
(2) Initially marketed as “snack”, serve burger for breakfast, fast food
restaurants
(3) Consumer discipline (innovation)
(4) Cleanliness (innovation)
(5) Target children’s birthday (innovation)
→ Brought a whole new experience, create new culture while adapt with
local culture
Glocal?

● Cultural imperialism?
● McDonald’s changed consumer behaviors, yet …
● HK people embraced American fast food without losing cultural traditions
● HK consumers also transformed their neighborhood McDonald’s into local
institutions
Glocal?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCG7ScRP1ws
Clash of Civilizations

● “In this new (post Cold war) world the most pervasive, important and
dangerous conflicts will not be between social classes, rich and poor, or other
economically defined groups, but between peoples belonging to different
cultural entities. Tribal wars and ethnic conflicts will occur within civilizations.
And the most dangerous cultural conflicts are those along the fault lines
between civilizations.”
A civilization?

● Defined by common ancestry, values, language, and/or religion

● Civilizational cultures are defined by: common objective elements
(language, history, religion, customs, institutions) & by subjective self-
identification (‘us’ and ‘them’).
● Major civilizations
○ Sinic/Chinese, Japanese, Hindu, Western, Slavic-Orthodox, Islam
○ Latin America and Africa candidates for civilization
Huntington’s thesis
Global politics is multi-polar and multi-civilizational:
NOT ‘Westernization’ of non-Western states.

“Conflict between groups in different civilizations will be more

frequent, more sustained and more violent than conflicts
between groups in the same civilization.” (1993, 48)
“Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world
affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur
between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash
of civilizations will dominate global politics.”
Huntington’s thesis

● Huntington’s worldview does not allow for productive forms of cultural

hybridity nor the idea that cultural exchange can facilitate better
relations among states.
● For Huntington, the more different civilizations interact with one
another, the more they will clash
● The more that countries trade and interact, the more likely they are to
go to war? (opinion?)
● For the author, nongovernmental organizations have been a key force in the
emergence of the global climate change movement. How does she make the
case for this view?
● Which issues are seen as uncontroversial within the movement?
● Which issues engender dissensus and conflict? What might be done to
overcome the fragmentation and lack of consensus among civil society
organizations?
Discussion
Discussion
Discussion

“Trong các món Tết, bánh chưng ít cơ hội tự giải phóng nhất. Người anh em song sinh
của nó, bánh giầy, đã từ lâu được giải linh, bỏ gánh nặng biểu tượng trời tròn sau lưng
mà vui sống kiếp nhẹ tênh món ăn vặt hàng ngày đầu ngõ. Tôi đã thử giải phóng bánh
chưng bằng cách giải cấu trúc, giải huyền thoại, xếp đặt lại, gửi một lời ngưỡng mộ
đến tâm hồn ẩm thực Ý-Nhật và cảm ơn công nghệ nấu sous vide”
 Tutorial questions

1. The impact of global brands on local economies and cultural practices.

2. What is cultural homogenization, and how does it relate to globalization?
3. How does the phenomenon of glocalization reflect the dynamics of
globalization and culture?
4. Debate the extent to which globalization leads to cultural homogenization,
erasing unique cultural identities, versus fostering cultural diversity through
increased exposure and interaction.
Reading

● How does the experience of McDonald’s customers in Hong Kong

resemble and differ from that of their counterparts in the West?
● How does Watson use his case study to argue that “the
transnational is the local”?
● What assumptions about cultural globalization does he challenge?