Does Globalisation Pose a Threat to Cultural Identity? A study on international sovereignty and cultural preservation in the 21st century.
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Constanza Del Posso
Source: billofrightsinstitute
After the Cold War, the defeat of the Soviet Union inspired great international collaboration, allowing for a rise in trade and economic integration between nations. Not too long after, in the nineties, the internet took the world by storm, and globalisation as we know it became an unstoppable and undeniable phenomenon. A great mark of union between the divided sides of the world was the fall of the Berlin Wall, signifying a new era for global political and ideological cooperation. The formation of the European Union, consequently, unified a continent and inspired a shift in the level of western globalisation – but at what cost? European unification supported economic growth in already-potentialised nations, but in turn, the influence of those very nations is what has been, for the past decades, slowly eating away at cultural diversity around the world. The exchange of cultural values and traditions around the world, while promoting a greater acceptance of diverging com- munities, inherently and undoubtedly benefits more privileged, economically prominent, politically and socially powerful, and developed nations. Globalisation ‘lends itself to cultural homogenization that is the world becoming culturally similar’ (Kennedy, Back et al). While typically associated with international trade and technological advancement, the consequence that stems from a change in the global understanding of privacy and cultural individualism tend to be swept under the rug. When discussing religion, culture, and similar topics, Western influences as a consequence of globalisation are undeniable – a sort of ‘modern colonialist’ attempt to culturally gentrify the global community. Different cultures are seen as beautiful so long as they are watered down into easy, chewable pieces for western groups to appreciate, and the overbearing presence of privileged communities in the business, politics, technology and social media fields is, in contrast, not watered down at all for the rest of the world.
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Does Globalisation Pose a Threat to Cultural Identity?
Source: Thegrandattrafalgarsquare
Economic and cultural experts have studied globalisation for months, stating how the extreme diver- sity of beliefs and practices around the world urges us to manifest greater interactions between cul- tures. The capitalist development of globalisation is a market that grows from competition between the world’s great potencies, and on the other hand, from the exploitation of marginalised cultures and the anthropological empoverishment of global cultural diversity (Paiva et al). Globalisation has become an ‘exclusionist and uncontrollable machine,’ benefitting the powerful and exploiting and colonising the ‘weak.’ In Brazil, globalisation has been generalising consumer tastes and habits, spreading capitalism, and transforming culture into a Western, capitalist mass – leading to a loss in cultural identity that particularly affects Brazil’s indigenous peoples. Brazilian scholars connect glo- balisation to a process of cultural and linguistic ‘extinction’ in the twenty-first century, stating that languages stemming from differences in political geography, cultural influence, metropolitan access and more are now completely devalued and in danger of extermination (Gonçalves et al). Brazilian culture is inherently plural, a melting bowl that has never settled upon national homogeneity. And when the disappearance of national customs and languages notably particularly affects indigenous communities less altered by western globalisation, the issue becomes rooted in historical European colonialism and supremacy.
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Constanza Del Posso
Source: Thegrandattrafalgarsquare
Taking a bit of a different analytical route, native Icelandic languages are in great danger of disap- pearing, as Anglo-Saxon culture has seeped into Icelandic populations over recent decades (Cox). Linguists believe that small nations and indigenous communities that have little access to or influence on this seeming worldwide journey to homogenism will soon disappear, and these peoples’ governors fear for their culture. Jón Gnarr, mayor of Reykjavik, openly states his conformation to this consequence of globalisation:
‘I think Icelandic is not going to last... Probably in this century we will adopt English as our language. I think it’s unavoidable.’
English has become a global language – and governments fear for this extinction of cultural linguistic diversity. But what are governments doing about this? Are policies regarding globalisation and the protection of cultural diversity condemning and trying to revert the effects of it, or do they encourage it?
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Does Globalisation Pose a Threat to Cultural Identity?
One of the leading diplomatic efforts to abate the negative effects of globalisation is the increase in state capitalism in emerging markets for developing nations. When considering corrpution and autocratic governments, leaders in developing nations other than China, such as Russia, India, and Brazil, are aware of the importance of the market to economic growth and cultural preservation – and in order to not lose autocratic power, they implement policies through which these very govern- ments can dominate public-sector corporations and politically loyal businesses. Ian Bremmer, from the Harvard Business Review, writes:
‘Whereas the free market system’s motive of maximizing profits and growth is economic, state capitalism’s goal is political: to control economic development and thereby maxi- mize the incumbent regime’s chances of survival. It isn’t a coherent philosophy but a set of techniques peculiar to each country.’
Geopolitically strategic government and technological competition have become synonymous with economic growth in western culture, while a developing country’s means of survival both economically and culturally might influence leaders to take on a more autocratic regime to keep the growth of their national businesses on the rise. While we consider cultural identity, preser- vation, linguistics, and religious diversity, the international spread of the economy and techno- logical industries, as well as simple cultural integration, reads as a threat to underrepresented and developing nations. But if the cost of cultural sovereignty is a domineering State that fear the international market, we must ask ourselves if the policy-makers and leaders we vote into power are truly the most informed people to protect a nation’s independence, economy, culture, and global potency.
