Survey of Contemporary Global

Cultural Issues
 Abstract

Globalization has become a global phenomenon in recent years. Advocates of anti-

globalization view globalization as homogenization. Today globalization is constant
and even irreversible. Globalization has an impact on changing cultural patterns as
well. Furthermore, there is a mutual penetration and exchange of various art trends.
Globalization refers to the acceleration of nations' integration into the global system.
It helps to strengthen cultural ties between peoples and promotes human migration.
Young people no longer take an interest to own culture. Furthermore, less emphasis is
placed on the development of the country's art in its own distinct manner. In this
regard, it is important to investigate the processes of globalization and culture
interaction.
Introduction
Culture consists of explicit and implicit patterns of and for behavior acquired and
transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups,
including their embodiment in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of
traditional ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems can be viewed as
products of action on the one hand, and conditioning elements of future action on the
other.
Globalization refers to the increasing interdependence of the world's economies,
cultures, and populations as a result of cross-border trade in goods and services,
technology, and flows of investment, people, and information. Globalization is
currently facilitating the exchange of cultural values. The term "cultural globalization"
was added to the scientific explanation.
Cultural issues are problems that occur when culture conflicts with systems, goals or
other cultures. The globalization of culture might be one of the cultural issues the
world is facing today.

Globalization and Culture

Cultural globalization refers to the interpenetration of cultures, which results in
nations adopting the principles, beliefs, and costumes of other nations, thereby losing
their unique culture to a unique, globalized supra-culture.
This process is characterized by widespread consumption of cultures spread by the
Internet, popular culture media, and international travel. This has added to the
processes of commodity exchange and colonization, both of which have a long history
of carrying cultural meaning around the world. Individuals can participate in extended
social relationships that cross national and regional borders thanks to cultural
exchange. The formation and growth of such social relations is not only observed on a
material level. Cultural globalization entails the development of shared norms and
knowledge that people use to define their individual and collective cultural identities.
It promotes greater interconnectedness among various populations and cultures.
The popular perception of globalization is that it is a top-down process in which a
single global system is established and imprinted on all parts of the globe.
Globalization, in this view, is linked to homogenization because cultural diversity is
lost in a world where we all watch the same television shows, buy the same
commodities, eat the same food, cheer for the same sports stars, and so on.
Cultural homogenization is a characteristic of cultural globalization that refers to the
reduction of cultural diversity through the popularization and dissemination of a wide
range of cultural symbols, including not only physical objects but also customs, ideas,
and values. McDonaldization, coca-colonization, Americanization, or Westernization
are all terms for the process of cultural homogenization that occurs as a result of the
dominance of Western, capitalist culture, and it has been criticized as a form of
cultural imperialism and neo-colonialism.
In some ways, globalization has shaped more complex patterns of social and cultural
diversity in both developing and developed countries. Through a process of
indigenization, western consumer goods and images have been absorbed into more
traditional cultural practices in developing countries.
Indigenization is the process of making something more native; it involves adapting a
service, idea, or other item to fit into a local culture, particularly through the inclusion
of more indigenous people in government administration, employment, and other
areas. Anthropologists use the term to describe what happens when locals embrace
something from the outside and make it their own (e.g. Africanization,
Americanization).

A Cultural Example of Globalization

Cultural globalization has undoubtedly occurred alongside economic and financial
globalization. Indeed, the expansion of economic and financial exchanges has been
accompanied by an expansion of human exchanges such as migration, expatriation,
and travel. These human exchanges have aided in the growth of cultural exchanges.
This means that various customs and habits shared by local communities have been
shared by communities that (used to) have different procedures and even beliefs.
Commodity trading, such as coffee or avocados, is a good example of cultural
globalization. Coffee is said to have originated in Ethiopia and is widely consumed in
the Arab regions. Nonetheless, it is now known as a globally consumed commodity as
a result of commercial trades after the 11th century. Avocados, for example, are
primarily grown in the tropical climates of Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and
Peru. Guacamole or avocado toasts were originally produced in small quantities to
supply local populations, but today they are common in meals all over the world.
At the same time, books, movies, and music are now instantaneously available all
around the world thanks to the development of the digital world and the power of the
internet. These are perhaps the greatest contributors to the speed at which cultural
exchanges and globalization are happening. Other examples of globalization include
Black Friday in the United States, the Brazilian Carnival, and the Indian Holi Festival.
They were all created in accordance with their respective countries' local traditions
and beliefs, but as the world became more familiar with them, they became
commonplace in other countries as well.

Cultural Imperialism
Cultural imperialism, also known as cultural colonialism, refers to imperialism's
cultural aspects. The term "imperialism" refers to the establishment and maintenance
of unequal relationships between civilizations, with a stronger civilization being
favored. As a result, cultural imperialism is defined as the practice of promoting and
imposing a culture (usually that of a politically powerful country) on a weaker
society. This may take the form of cultural hegemony of industrialized or politically
and economically influential countries influencing general cultural values and
standardizing (globalizing) civilizations elsewhere.
It is cultural in the sense that the imposing community's customs, traditions, religion,
language, social and moral norms, and other aspects are distinct from, albeit closely
related to, the economic and political systems that shape the other community. It is a
form of imperialism in which the imposing community imposes its way of life on the
non-dominant population by transforming or replacing aspects of the non-dominant
community's culture.
Western nations dominate the media around the world which in return has a powerful
effect on Third World Cultures by imposing n them Western views and therefore
destroying their native cultures. Although cultural imperialism existed long before the
United States became a global power, it is now commonly used to describe the United
States' role as a global cultural superpower.
McDonaldization
McDonaldization is a by-product of "Americanization" or "Westernization," which is
part of the larger globalization phenomenon. The terms are used to describe the
United States' global influence as well as the American obsession with rationalization
in all aspects of life. Thanks to satellite television and the internet, American ideas
and values have reached almost every household on the planet. American-owned
brands dominate the international market, particularly in the fast food sector, with
McDonald's, KFC, and Starbucks locations in nearly every country.
One sign of cultural imperialism is the massive expansion of such standardized
systems on a global scale. However, in many ways, the mere presence of standard
American chains in other countries is not the most important indicator of
McDonaldization's spread; rather, it is the presence of indigenous clones of those
McDonaldized enterprises. After all, the presence of American imports could simply
be the result of a trivial invasion of unconnected and inconsequential elements that do
not represent a fundamental shift in culture. However, the emergence of native
versions reflects a deeper shift in those societies, a true McDonaldization.

Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations

Culture and nationalism have historically been strongly intertwined. Understanding
this allows leaders to use cultural similarities to reduce tensions and, conversely, use
cultural differences and hatreds to promote conflict. And, given that all societies,
directly or indirectly, promote their values as positive and desirable while devaluing
those of other societies, ethnocentrism as a behavior is likely to emerge. That is, each
society may regard itself as the center of the world and perceive and interpret other
societies through its own unique frame of reference, always judging them to be
inferior. The more culturally distinct the other society is perceived to be, the inferior it
is frequently deemed to be, and thus suitable for negative treatment.
In line with this logic, S.P. Huntington, a well-known political scientist, has
developed the 'clash-of-civilizations thesis,' which explains contemporary global
conflicts in terms of cultural differences. The Clash of Civilizations is a theory that
asserts that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of
conflict in the post-Cold War world. Huntington argued that future wars would be
fought between cultures rather than countries.
Huntington divided the world into the "major civilizations" in his thesis as such:
 Western civilization :- the United States and Canada, Western and Central
Europe, Australia, Oceania, and the majority of the Philippines. Western
Civilization was traditionally associated with Western Christian (Catholic-
Protestant) countries and culture. According to Huntington, whether Latin
 America and the former Soviet Union member states are included or are their
own separate civilizations will be an important future consideration for those
regions.
 Latin American civilization:- South America (excluding Guyana, Suriname
and French Guiana), Central America, Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican
Republic. Many people in South America and Mexico regard themselves as
full members of Western civilization.
 Slavic-Orthodox civilization:- Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Romania,
great parts of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia
 Muslim civilization:- the Greater Middle East (excluding Armenia, Cyprus,
Ethiopia, Georgia, Israel, Malta and South Sudan), northern West Africa,
Albania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei,
Comoros, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives and southern Philippines.
 Hindu
 Confucian
 Japanese
 African
Ethiopia and Haiti are classified as "Lone" countries because they do not belong to
one of the "major" civilizations. According to Huntington, Israel could be considered
a unique state with its own civilization, but it is also extremely similar to the West.
Huntington also believes that the Anglophone Caribbean, or former British colonies in
the Caribbean, is a distinct entity in its own right.

Conclusion
Cultural globalization makes a society more efficient while also limiting how it can
function. Globalization is frequently viewed as homogenizing the world, resulting in
the diffusion of beliefs that are eventually infused and accepted across time and space.
Instead, globalization is about understanding and accepting that communities are not
all the same, and that these differences are what define the modern world. If diversity
is valued in this new era, it can lead to a global community that is united in its
diversity. Although the cultures are no longer local in the traditional sense, they
remain distinct and plural. This will result in a different kind of globalization, one that
is not homogenizing.
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