Globalization: Understanding Integration, Culture, and Change Globalization is now one of the most controversial and dom

Globalization: Understanding Integration, Culture, and Change

Globalization is now one of the most controversial and dominant powers that is defining the contemporary society. Globalization, the National Geographic article by Erla Zwingle, gives a detailed discourse of this phenomenon by shedding light on the economic, cultural and daily life impacts of this process on the planet. Since the merging of economies up to the localization of international products like Sesame Street and McDonalds, the article highlights that globalization is not about domination by the Americans, but rather about interaction, adjustment and reciprocation. This paper will define the meaning of globalization, summarize the main arguments of the sections of the article and speculate the effects of globalization using practical cases.

What is Globalization?

Globalization is said to be the process of growing interconnectness of individuals, cultures and economies of the world. It entails not just the increase of international trade and investment but also the movement of ideas, information, and cultural practices over the borders. The article clarifies the idea that globalization is not merely the spread of American goods like Coca-Cola or McDonalds; it is a process that has many dimensions and the local cultures absorb, redefine and even modify external forces. As an example, the emergence of the so-called bhangra pop in India can be defined as an indication that global and local influences unite to make something distinctly new.

Central Points of the Article

The article has been divided into various sections with each section emphasizing a different vision of globalization.

In the first part section I, globalization has been explained both economically and culturally. Economically, it records the spectacular increase in international trade and investment by revealing how the world economy has been closely integrated since the eighties. In cultural terms, it defines globalization in terms of proliferation of communication and media technologies that bind divergent societies together. Most notably, the section points out that globalization is not a cultural erasure, instead, cultures choose what they incorporate and change the influences to suit their local identity.

Section II presents a case of Sesame Street in China that illustrates how global products can become localized to capture local traditions and local needs. Zhima Jie was not an American export that was forced on Chinese children but it was redesigned with Chinese characters, Chinese festivals and Chinese cultural values. It even serves the local social problems like the problem of raising Little Emperors in single-child families. That is how globalization turns out to be a one-sided process; it provides the possibility of cultural bargaining and mixing of the traditions with the modern forms.

Section III shifts focus to McDonald’s as a symbol of globalization. In spite of its frequent criticism as a symbol of American culture hegemony or McWorld, the article demonstrates how the McDonalds localizes its menus and operations. India, as an example, does not sell beef or pork and McDonalds caters to the vegetarian market with the McAloo Tikki burger. It incorporates locally desirable flavours in other countries. The chain also implements a better standard of hygiene and customer services that have had positive impact on the culture of dining in most countries. Instead of homogenizing, instead of homogenizing culture, McDonald shows how international corporations can become multilocal.

The anthropological opinion of culture as not fixed but always changing round off IV. Globalization, thus, does not eliminate local traditions but transforms them in the ways that indicate the current social transformations.

My Thoughts on Globalization

Having read this article I now have more knowledge on the concept of globalization than I previously had based on the limited perspective of globalization as being the mere American cultural dominance. Although it is true that global brands are usually a creation of the United States, what impressed me most was the way in which societies are shaping these influences. An example is the localized Sesame Street that runs in China, which confirms that globalization is not cultural imperialism but culture adaptation. The show is a combination of Western and Chinese approaches to education as it demonstrates a healthy interaction and does not replace the values.

Ritzer, G. (2019). The McDonaldization of society (9th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Zwingle, E. (2002). Globalization. National Geographic. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com