2. globalisation & culture (m)

Question 1

what is the global village?

Answer 1

-speed of tech change is now so great that the world is rapidly becoming what Mcluhan (1962) referred to as a global village- electronic media collapse space & time barriers
-ppl can interact with each other simultaneously from around the world, ‘shrinks’ the world
-more ppl now exposed to same info and messages through media, which cut across all national frontiers

Question 2

what did cochrane and pain (2000) say?

Answer 2

-“drugs, sex, crime etc how travel all over the globe. crossing national boundaries and connecting the world in an unpredictable way”.
-a02= madeline mcann’s case, covid

Question 3

how is globalisation one of the most significant changes that has taken place over the last 30 years?

Answer 3

-events in one part of the world increasingly affect other parts (cuban missile crisis, covid)
-activities in one nation have a growing impact on other nations (euros, concerts)
-global interactions become more and more frequent (goods, fashion, beliefs, etc)

Question 4

how has twitter impacted globalisation?

Answer 4

-form of ‘global media’
-it can report and disseminate info quickly and to a wide geographical area
-eye witnesses contribute to global events with videos and pictures
-journalists now use twitter to inform them of what’s going on

Question 5

what role does the media play?

Answer 5

-technology=mass communication & digitalisation has transformed time and space. info in many forms can be transmitted instantly 24 hours per day
-transnational corporations= globalisation of media outlets & products has been assisted by the economic growth of media TNCs and cyberoperations such as apple & microsoft.

Question 6

what is folk culture?

Answer 6

-refers to every day practices of ordinary local ppl, often rooted in long standing traditions dating back to pre-industrial area.
-e.g morris dancing in england, amish culture
-usually rooted in one specific place & unique to that place, about lived experience & usually locally based

Question 7

what is high culture?

Answer 7

-sophisticated, set apart from every day, aimed at upper classes, viewed as having good taste
-e.g. fine art, ballet dance
-cultural persists of the elites, often expensive

Question 8

what is popular culture?

Answer 8

-habits, tastes, hobbies & interests of masses
-called mass culture and low culture, highly commercialised, designed to be sold on global mass market
-e.g. pop music, tv programs

Question 9

what are some positive evaluations of popular culture?

Answer 9

-livinstone (1988) found that writers and producers of tv soap operas saw them as educating the public about important social issues
-livingstone argues if it wasn’t for the publicity of these soap stories, these issues may never have been discussed so publicly

Question 10

what are some negative evaluations of popular culture?

Answer 10

-often attacked for diverting ppl away from more useful activities, for driving down cultural standards & for having harmful effects on mass audiences
-marxists argue that mass culture is simply mass-produced manufactured products imposed on the masses by global media businesses for financial profit

Question 11

how has globalisation affected cultures?

Answer 11

-due to tech and globalisation, a large section of the worlds population engaged with much of the same popular culture
-this has led to cultural homogenisation- ppls consumption habits in the field of popular culture, wherever they are in the world, have become very similar
-strinati (1995) argues elements of high culture have now become part of popular culture, and parts of popular culture have been incorporated into high culture

Question 12

what is a global popular culture?

Answer 12

-flew (2002) suggests that the evolution of new media technologies, such as satellite tv and the internet, has played an important role in the development of a global popular culture
-kellner (1995) argues the media has the power to globally produce images of lifestyles that increasingly become part of everyday life and through which ppl form their identities
-this global culture is primarily american in origin

Question 13

what are some positives of american popular culture?

Answer 13

-showing images from a democratic country
-technologically advanced
-quite educated
-ethnically diverse media

Question 14

what are some negatives of american popular culture?

Answer 14

-imposes western culture on non-western cultures
-undermines other cultures
-promoting unhealthy diet
-relative deprivation
-marxists-capitalist
-feminist-patriarchy

Question 15

what is the pluralist view- globalisation & culture?

Answer 15

-argue there is no such thing as mass culture. the media, and the global reach of media, gives consumers across the world a wide diversity of cultural choices
-compaine (2005) argues global competition is expanding sources of info and entertainment, rather than restricting them or dumbing them down
-inc choice promoted different cultural styles around the world in which a range of local and westernised global cultural influences are combined into new hybrid cultures

Question 16

what is the critical view?

Answer 16

-the globalisation of popular culture is of great advantage to the media owners who gain colloidal profits from exporting and advertising their products across the globe
-thussu (2007) argues the globalisation of tv and audiences & advertising has led to tv news across the world becoming tabloidised or more like entertainment- ‘global infotainment’
-he argues infotainment diverts ppls attention away from more serious issues like wars & the destruction of native cultures.
-therefore, this supports the marxist view that global mass culture lulls consumers into an uncritical, undemanding passivity, making them less likely to challenge the dominant ideas

Question 17

what is the post-modernist position?

Answer 17

-media has played a big role in how societies have changed from modern societies based on industrial manufacturing to post-modern societies based on consumption & the dissemination of information & culture
-post modern societies are media saturated. the media is more influential in shaping identities than class, gender, family, etc

Question 18

what is media saturation?

Answer 18

-ppl today are disillusioned with grand political, philosophical and scientific theories or meta-narratives about the way society should work
-media saturated societies produces more media literate audiences
-bc of the vol of media output, audience is aware there’s no single absolute truth
-knowledge underpinned by diversity, plurality & difference
-a02= with media being so media saturated we get inc. more concerned with media products

Question 19

what is local culture?

Answer 19

-globalisation allowed for individuals to become part of global culture
-local culture can adapt these products to ensure they make sense in local community
-creates hybridised media
-local cultures aren’t swallowed up by global culture, instead use media in their own way
-cohen & kennedy- ppl don’t generally abandon their own local culture just bc of mass culture. they appropriate elements of global culture and mix & match them with elements of local culture

Question 20

what is popular protest?

Answer 20

-murthy (2013) social media sites help inc political awareness like issues of human rights, repression. can help coordinate mass politician response to these issues.
-spencer- thomas (2008) mass anti-gov demonstrations in burma in 1988 failed to receive much media attention bc the military regime banned overseas journalists from the country

Question 21

what is participatory culture?

Answer 21

-jenkins (2008)- global culture has become more democratic as users and audiences are enabled to “produce culture themselves & not just listen or watch w/o actively making it”
-argues this culture creates new forms of community bc those involved feel connected to one another
-shirky (2011)- sites like facebook have resulted in the “wiring of humanity” and free time

Question 22

what is mass media & identity?

Answer 22

-media has changed & shaped consumption patterns, diversity of choice which consumers are now aware of
-strinati (1995)- in post modern world, distinction between high & popular culture has become blurred. inc consumer choice.
-new media allows more choice in terms of personal identity and lifestyles

Question 23

what are some evaluation points for the postmodernist approach?

Answer 23

-exaggerated role popular culture plays in our identity- many ppl still see family, class, ethnicity, etc as more influential in their lives and identities
-ignores the inequality of the new media divide- not all ppl globally have access to tech which allows them to benefit from globalisation
-there’s some negative & exploitative consequences of globalisation ignored by post-modernists