7.2 Globalisation and identity

Question 1

The impact of globalisation on identity

Partly because of globalisation, nearly all of the world’s nation states are to some extent…?

Answer 1

Multi-ethnic.

Question 2

The impact of globalisation on identity

What is most people’s sense of identity heavily based on?

Answer 2

Local places.

People often identify with a nation state or an ethnic group.

Question 3

Anderson (2013) - The impact of globalisation on identity

What does Anderson call national/ethnic communities?

Answer 3

Imagined communities.

Question 4

Anderson (2013) - The impact of globalisation on identity

Imagined community

Answer 4

People believing they share an identity with many people that they may never meet or know.

Question 5

Anderson (2013) - The impact of globalisation on identity

What has globalisation led to some people feel about their identity/communities?

Answer 5

Globalisation has led to some people feeling that their identities and communities are under threat and that aspects of their culture are disappearing.

Question 6

Anderson (2013) - The impact of globalisation on identity

What can people feeling like their identity/culture is under threat lead to?

Answer 6

A strengthening of nationalism, e.g. Trumpt and his ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan.

Question 7

Ethnic revitalisation - The impact of globalisation on identity

Ethnicity

Answer 7

Socially constructed and usually based on ideas about language, religion, customs and shared stories/images that give rise to a feeling of belonging to a community.

Question 8

Ethnic revitalisation - The impact of globalisation on identity

What has globalisation meant for ethnic differences?

Answer 8

Ethnic differences have been exaggerated as a reaction to globalisation.

Question 9

Ethnic revitalisation - The impact of globalisation on identity

Ethnic revitalisation

Answer 9

An exaggeration of ethnic differences as a reaction to globalisation.

Question 10

Ethnic revitalisation - The impact of globalisation on identity

What can the exaggeration of ethnic differences mean?

Answer 10

People feel threatened and a need to defend their identity, this can lead to suspicion and aggression against other groups.

Question 11

Cultural defence - The impact of globalisation on identity

Cultural defence

Answer 11

Refers to a situation in which culture acts as the focus for defence of a group’s identity when it is seen as under threat.

An ethnic group may assert and aspect of their culture, such as religion or language.

Question 12

Cultural defence - The impact of globalisation on identity

Example of cultural defence

Answer 12

Muslims, particularly younger people, may identify more closely with Islam in response to growing hostility.

Question 13

Hybrid identities - The impact of globalisation on identity

Hybrid identities

Answer 13

Where aspects of two or more cultures are combined.

Question 14

Hybrid identities - The impact of globalisation on identity

Brasian identities

Answer 14

What Johal (1998) called young people of South Asian background in the UK whose parents were immigrants and often blend Asian and British culture together.

Question 15

Cultural divergence versus cultural convergence/homogenisation

Cultural divergence

Answer 15

Process by which different cultures or cultural groups become more distinct from one another over time.

Question 16

Cultural divergence versus cultural convergence/homogenisation

What has cultural divergence led to?

Answer 16

The existence of considerable differences between cultures in different parts of the world.

Question 17

Cultural divergence versus cultural convergence/homogenisation

What divergences are there in between cultures?

Answer 17

Languages, religions, patterns of kinship/marriage etc.

Question 18

Cultural divergence versus cultural convergence/homogenisation

What have some people argued globalisation will lead to in terms of culture?

Answer 18

A reversal of cultural divergence, with increasing cultural convergence, as cultures increasingly come to resemble each other.

Question 19

Cultural divergence versus cultural convergence/homogenisation

For Chanda (2002), globalisation is the process by which…?

Answer 19

Human populations, which at one point were all in Eastern Africa but then migrated and scattered around the world, are reunited.

Question 20

Cultural divergence versus cultural convergence/homogenisation

How do hyper-globalists interpret cultural convergence?

Answer 20

They see it as a positive process, by which people around the world become able to participate in a global culture.

Aspects of this include language, clothing and sports, but also, for example, values such as human rights and freedoms of speech and expression.

Question 21

Cultural divergence versus cultural convergence/homogenisation

How do sceptics interpret cultural convergence?

Answer 21

They see it as the spread of Western/primarily American culture, which conveys potentially harmful values and practices, such as excessive consumption.

This cultural imperialism is seen as devaluing and destroying local and traditional cultures.

Question 22

Cultural divergence versus cultural convergence/homogenisation

How do transformationalists interpret cultural convergence?

Answer 22

The global flow of ideas and cultural practices goes in many directions and creates hybrid cultures rather than homogenised.

Question 23

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

Westernisation

Answer 23

The spread globally of Western ideology.

Question 24

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

Aspects of Westernisation

Answer 24

Individualism, democracy, science/technology, human rights and support for a ‘free market’ economy.

Question 25

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

What has Westernisation been fuelled by?

Answer 25

Colonisation and globalisation.

Question 26

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

Coco-colonisation

Answer 26

Involves the idea that the global reach of TNCs such as Coca-Cola creates a global consumer culture in which standard commodities are promoted by global marketing campaigns to create similar lifestyles.

A form of cultural dominance, in which one culture is effectively colonised by the cultural products/lifestyle of another.

Question 27

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

What is another name for coca-colonisation?

Answer 27

Americanisation.

Question 28

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

McDonaldisation

Answer 28

Similar to coca-colonisation, this is referring to the idea that contemporary corporate cultural products are standardised, homogenised and formulaic.

Question 29

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

Homogenisation occurs because global cultural products are designed…?

Answer 29

• Efficiently - using a limited range of themes to appeal to the widest no. of consumers.
• Rationally - where all aspects of the production and consumption process are measured and evaluated to produce standard products in standard settings.
• Predictably - in the sense that global cultural products are designed to be undemanding and unthreatening.

Question 30

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

Ritzer argues that societies are being remade to have what characteristics of fast food restaurants?

Answer 30

• Increasingly, workers do not need skills - work is routine, repetitive, categorised and requires few skills.
• Workers are disposable and can be replaced by machines/robots.
• Consumers are being pushed into doing some of the work themselves (clean tables, self-service machines etc.)

Question 31

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

How does the homogenisation of global products reduce risk in 2 ways?

Answer 31

1. Through standardised experiences - each time a product is consumed, the individual knows exactly what to expect.
2. Where billions of people are making the same consumption choice, consumers are reassured that they have made the ‘right’ choice.

Question 32

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

What does Bryman suggest about diversity and homogenisation?

Answer 32

Diversity and homogenisation co-exist in the same cultural space.

Question 33

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

Disneyisation

Answer 33

Cultural life is increasingly expressed through manufactured experiences, similar to Disney World.

Cultural life involves things such as:

• Theming - the creation of themed consumption experiences where people buy into a general standardised lifestyle.
• De-differentiation - where consumers are offered a range of related products that provide a seamless lifestyle experience, e.g. films also have video game versions, as well as themed lunch boxes or pencil cases.
• Merchandising - by consuming cultural products, people take ‘themed lifestyles’ into their homes and social groups.

Question 34

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

How are people increasingly seeing themselves? What is the contradiction?

Answer 34

People see themselves as diverse individuals living out their chosen identities, whilst simultaneously making very similar consumption choices from a relatively narrow range of homogenised products.

Question 35

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

How is the contradiction between individual choice and cultural homogenisation resolved?

Answer 35

In late postmodernity, by the ability of TNCs to create consumer identities and brand loyalties that both homogenise cultural behaviours between/within societies, whilst also creating the impression of tailored choices.

Question 36

The role of Western ideology in shaping identity and Westernisation

Limitations to Westernisation

Answer 36

• TNCs like McDonalds still have to adapt to local cultures/tastes.
• Wealthy consumers often want something not produced by a TNC, e.g. Etsy.
• Despite consumer the same products, people will not inevitable become identical consumers.