SOCSCI032

Contemporary World
▪“To close the eyes, to cover the ears,
and open the purse.”
 “THERE CAN BE NO
GLOBALIZATION WITHOUT
MEDIA.”
 QUESTIONS TO PONDER….
➢Could early humans migrate and populate the earth from the so-
called cradle of humanity-African region, without some sort of
“communication”?
➢Could simple rudimentary settlements evolved into powerful
invading empires without coordination and planning through
“communication”?
➢Could antiquated harsh and barbaric methodologies evolved into
humanitarian systems without messages being conveyed as to bring
forth the lessons of history so mistakes in the past can be avoided, in a
very realistic-convincing fashion through media channels of
“communications”?
➢Could global trade, global political participation, global cultural
assimilation, and global socialization even occur in the absence of
media?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

❖Analyze how various media drive various forms of global

integration
❖ explain the dynamic between local and global cultural
production
❖Evaluate the impact of globalization on languages,
cultures and national identities
WORDS TO GO BY
❖Communication ❖Digital

❖Global media cultures ❖Electronic

❖Media
❖Global media
❖Press
❖Global village
❖Broadcast media
❖Imagined community
❖Print media
❖Digital divide
❖Performing arts media
❖Script
COMMUNICATION
▪The importing or exchange of information by
speaking , writing, or using some other
medium; the successful conveying or sharing
of ideas and feelings.
GLOBAL MEDIA CULTURES
▪ refers to the current Western capitalist society that emerged
and developed from the 20th century, under the influence of
mass media.The term alludes to the overall impact and
intellectual guidance exerted by the media (primarily TV,
but also the press, radio and cinema), not only on public
opinion but also on tastes and values.
GLOBAL MEDIA
It refers to a corporations or entities globally
engaged in media production and/or
distribution.
GLOBAL VILLAGE
It refers to an international community formed
by constant interaction between citizens of
various country and bound by shared cultural
experiences, transcending geographical
distance and actual physical contact.
IMAGINED COMMUNITY
It refers to a community formed by like-minded
individuals bound by common interests,
shared aspirations, collective identity and the
like.
DIGITAL DIVIDE
It is a gap in technological skills between those
who have ready access to computers and other
digital devices, and the internet, and those
who do not.
DIGITAL
Relating to, using, or storing data or information
in the form of digital signals; involving or
relating to the use of computer technology.
ELECTRONIC
Having or operating with components such as
microchips and transistors that control and
direct electric currents.
MEDIA
The main means of mass communication
(broadcasting, publishing, and the internet)
regarded collectively.
PRESS
Newspapers or journalists viewed collectively.
BROADCAST MEDIA
Media channels which transmit information
basically through radio or television and
recently, internet through social networking
sites and other search engines and web
explorers.
PRINT MEDIA
Means of mass communication in the form of
printed publications, such as newspapers and
magazines.
PERFORMING ARTS MEDIA
Media channels that convey a message/s
through creative activity that are performed in
front of an audience, such as music, dance and
drama.
SCRIPT
Handwriting as distinct from print, written
characters, writing using a particular alphabet;
an autimated series of instructions carried out
in a specific order.
GLOBAL VILLAGE
According to Marshall McLuhan
The global village according to him, predicted the global village, one
world interconnected by an electronic nervous system, making it part of our
popular culture before it actually happened.

According to Jack Lule

Globalization and media are combining to create a divided world of
gated communities and ghettos, borders and boundaries, suffering and
surfeit, beauty and decay, surveillance and violence invoking the biblical town
punished for its vanity by seeing its citizens scattered, its language
confounded, and its destiny shaped by strife.
LANGUAGE AND METAPHOR
Globalization can be seen as 6 metaphors:

• Globalization as our era: it is an outcome that has been achieved in our

time
• Globalization as an unstoppable force: inevitable
• Globalization as a rising tide: globalization is a natural development that
will elevate and enrich all
• Globalization as benefactor: the benefits it brings - bringing positive
change - distribute benefits
• Globalization as networked world: barriers of the world have come down
• Globalization as empire: economic and military expansion
When did globalization
k

begin?
According to:
• 1st - Arjun Appadurai says it began in the late 1900’s because of the
advances in media, such as television, computers and cellphones,
combined with changes in migration patterns (people moving around
the world)
• 2nd - Robert Marks says globalization started in 1571 in Manila
because Spain’s colonization of the Philippines in that year was the
final link in a truly global trade route
• 3rd - Other says globalization began since the beginning of humanity
• 4th - Author states “There are no right answers that exists as to
when globalization began”
THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN GLOBALIZATION: A HISTORY

The media is media technologies that are intended to reach a large

audience by mass communication. Today the media play a key role in
enhancing globalization. And the media also play important role in
facilitating culture exchange flows of information between countries. The
media spreads through international news broadcasts, new technologies,
television programming, film and music
➢Technology and social change
➢Digital Media
➢No globalization without media
HISTORY OF MEDIA
AMERICA plays a prominent role in the global scene in media industries.
Established a decisive and fundamental leadership in the cultural sphere.
GLOBAL MEDIA has immense power in terms of how it covers events
outside the developed world.
GLOBAL NEWS AGENCIES and MAJOR BROADCASTING
ORGANIZATION responsible for the selection and packaging of news from
the third world.
Third World issues sustains the unequal relations of power that exist
between the West and the Third World.

A handful of firms dominate the globalized part of media system. The

six largest are:
AOL, Time Warner (U.S), Disney (U.S), Vivendi-Universal (French),
Bertelsmann(German), Viacom (U.S), and Rupert Murdoch’s News
Corporation (Australian).
 FROM CULTURAL IMPERIALISM TO GLOBAL CAPITALISM AND
MEDIA IMPERIALISM
1. Major forces leading to cultural globalization are economic
and organizational.
Cultural Globalization requires an organizational infrastructure.

▪ One form of globalization occurs as a result of the activities in

advanced countries of news and entertainment media that
produce films, television programs, and popular, popular
music and distribute them to countries all over the world.
 FROM CULTURAL IMPERIALISM TO GLOBAL CAPITALISM AND
MEDIA IMPERIALISM
2. Dominance of a particular country in the global
media marketplace is more a function of
economic than cultural factors.

➢A small number of media conglomerates, based

in a few Western countries, dominate the
production and global distribution of film,
television, popular music, and book publishing.
 THEORETICAL MODELS OF CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION/CULTURAL
IMPERIALISM THEORY
1. This theory argues that the global economic
system is dominated by a core of advance
countries while third world countries remain at
the periphery of the system with little control over
their economic and political development.
 THEORETICAL MODELS OF CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION/CULTURAL
IMPERIALISM THEORY
2. Multinational or Trans-national Corporations are key
actors in this system, producing goods, controlling
markets, and disseminating products using similar
techniques.
3. Imperialism with the concept of “globalization”
suggests “interconnection and interdependency of all
global areas” happening “in a far less purposeful way.”
 THEORETICAL MODELS OF CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION/CULTURAL
IMPERIALISM THEORY
4. Cultural Imperialism re-conceptualized as media
imperialism despites its weakness it remains a useful
perspective because it can be used to analyze the extent
to which some national actors have more impact than
others on global culture and therefore are shaping and
reshaping cultural values, identities, and perceptions.
 THEORETICAL MODELS OF CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION/CULTURAL
IMPERIALISM THEORY
5. In this model, cultural globalization corresponds to a network,
which no clearly defined center or periphery. Globalization as
an aggregation of cultural flows or networks is a less coherent
and unitary process than cultural imperialism and one in which
cultural influences move in many different directions.

“The Americanization process becomes far more formidable

when the fundamental concepts of a society’s national identity
are remodeled in the American image”. - A comment from a
Australian Scholar.
 WHAT IS CULTURAL IMPERIALISM?
1. Defined as a kind of cultural domination by powerful nations
over weaker nations.
2. It is viewed as purposeful and intentional because it
corresponds to the political interests of the United States and
other powerful capitalist societies.
3. The effects of this type of cultural domination, reflecting the
attitudes and values of western, particularly American capitalist
societies, are viewed as extremely pervasive and as leading to
the homogenization of global culture.
4. Attempt to promote a Western lifestyle and possibly
Americanize the world.
 BASICS OF CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION
1. Diffusion of ideas and cultures amongst all of the civilizations
of the world.
2. Trend that will eventually make all of human experience and
customs the same since all cultures are coming together into
one
3. Occurs in everyday life, through wireless communication,
electronic commerce, popular culture and international trade
4. Attempt to promote a Western lifestyle and possibly
Americanize the world.
 CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
1. New technology and forms of communication around
the world help to integrate different cultures into
each other
2. Transportation technologies and services along with
mass migration and individual travel contribute to
this form of globalization allowing for cross-cultural
exchanges
3. Infrastructures and institutionalization embedded
change (e.g. teaching languages such as English
across the world through educational systems and
training of teachers)
 BENEFITS THAT ALLOW FOR PROFITS TO COMPANIES AND
NATIONS

1. Offers opportunities for development and

advancement in economics, technology, and
information and usually impacts developed countries
2. Creates a more homogeneous world
3. Generates interdependent companies amongst
companies
BENEFITS THAT ALLOW FOR PROFITS TO COMPANIES AND
NATIONS

1. Offers opportunities for development and

advancement in economics, technology, and
information and usually impacts developed
countries
2. Creates a more homogeneous world
3. Generates interdependent companies amongst
companies
CONCLUSION
There is no telling what’s next for media
and globalization but one thing is certain,
it will stay as long as humanity exist. It’s
only technology itself that can predict the
future of social media in particular but as
long as man communicates, media
reverberates. Like the echo in the silence
of the forest, media will always be a
“smashing’ relevance in the annals of
human history.
CONCLUSION
In the Philippine context, no less than the
supreme law of the land is ever cognizant
and gives due credit to the role of media in
nation-building in its Article 2 Section 24
declaration of state principles and policies
provision which stipulate that,…….
▪“the state recognizes the vital role of
communication and information in nation-
building.”
▪This clearly implies the value and crucial role of
communication and information in the development
and progress of the Philippines which is not
possible without our inter-mingling with other
states of the world
What is the link
between a golden
temple in India and a
huge red rock in
central Australia?
▪ to all these questions
involves one word….

▪ a phenomenon common
to all people in all times.
RELIGION
 According to the dictionary, religion involves
"belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or
powers regarded as creator and governor of the
universe."
It is "a personal or institutionalized system
grounded in such belief and worship."
 SENSE OF THE SACRED IN
LIFE
Religion is as old as humankind.
Since the beginning, human beings have looked to
powers outside of
themselves for protection and reassurance.
These beliefs predate the written word, so we must look to
archaeological finds for evidence of these ancient religious
beliefs. Of course, we cannot know exactly what these
beliefs were, but we can theorize.
EXAMPLES:
Neanderthal Man (60,000 BC)
• Burial sites with animal antlers on the body and flower
fragments next to the corpse.
Cro-Magnon Man (35,000-10,000 BC)
• Buried with food, shells, necklaces of deer teeth, fine skin
clothes, and good tools.
• Dead also covered in red earth to look like newborns. Good
indication that they believed in rebirth after death – an
afterlife.
• Other religions - such as
Hinduism, Judaism,
Buddhism, Christianity,
and Islam, started
thousands of years ago
and continue to be
vibrant and relevant in
our world today.
 WHAT CHARACTERIZES A RELIGION?
Most scholars agree that every religion has the same three basic
elements:

wisdom or creed,

worship or cult, and

works or code.
 WISDOM/CREED
Refers to the theological beliefs and scriptures or
holy writings of a religion.
A creed is a set of truths that MUST
be accepted and agreed to by those who wish to
belong to the religion, those who choose to be a
follower or disciple. Briefly, a creed is a
"summary" of the principle beliefs of a religion.
 WORSHIP/CULT
Refers to the way of
worshipping, to the rituals
that are practiced by
followers of the religion.
This is often a difficult
element to describe,
because it involves so
many diverse elements.
 WORKS/CODE

Refers to the ethical values and the system of moral

practice directly resulting from an adherence to the
beliefs. It is a set of moral principles and guidelines that
must be respected and followed by those who would be
identified as members of the religion.
 WORKS/CODE (Con’t)

A code, when used in a religious sense, is simply a

summary of the principles and guidelines by which
people choose which actions are good, and which to be
avoided.
 These three elements (Wisdom/Worship/Works)
fulfill the three parts of the human soul: thought,
feelings and action; mind, sensibilities and will; the
intellectual, the aesthetic and the moral.
Western Beliefs EASTERN BELIEFS
The place of origin of the world religions fall into two geographical
areas, the Middle East (Western Faiths) and the Far East.

• Judaism Buddhism
Hinduism
• Christianity Confucianism
• Islam Taoism Shintoism
 WESTERN BELIEFS
• Share a similar view of the world and concept because they both sprang
from Judaism (Islam & Christianity)

• MONOTHEISTIC- believe in one GOD

• Humans must enter into an interpersonal relationship with God

• Morality is based on learning the will of God, understanding and living

it out individually and as a community

• Time is viewed as linear, from beginning to end

• The Bible (Christianity), Torah (Judaism) or Koran (Islam) are the

central books studied and lived by.
 EASTERN BELIEFS
• Polytheism - belief in more than one god
• Main concern is to live a good, happier, better life right here and now

• Creation contains God within it. All elements of creation from plants to animals have an
animated spirit

• Meditation- is central to these faiths

• Life is balanced
• Holy books are not central to the belief and practice

• Time is viewed in cycles.

• There is a belief in reincarnation or rebirth
• Things can be made better or worse through karma
 IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING
RELIGION
•1. Understand differences and see similarities between
nations and cultures both political and philosophical
•2. Appreciate our own beliefs by seeing them alongside
those of others
•3. Work for Ecumenism through a meaningful exchange of
ideas between religious groups
Similarities of Religion

•Belief in a power greater than humans

 SIMILARITIES OF RELIGION

•Belief in a power greater than

humans
•Holy Places eg. Mecca, Jerusalem,
SIMILARITIES OF RELIGION

•Belief in a power greater than humans

•Holy Places eg. Mecca, Jerusalem,
•Set of religious symbols by which the
religion is identified
SIMILARITIES OF RELIGION
• Belief in a power greater than humans
• Holy Places eg. Mecca, Jerusalem,
• Set of religious symbols by which the
religion is identified
• Having a liturgy or observance of Holy
Days
SIMILARITIES OF RELIGION
• Belief in a power greater than humans
• Holy Places eg. Mecca, Jerusalem,
• Set of religious symbols by which the religion is
identified
• Having a liturgy or observance of Holy Days
Similarities of Religion

• Having sacred or Holy Writings, list of rules

SIMILARITIES OF RELIGION

• Having sacred or Holy Writings, list of rules

• Number of important people, founders,
prophets, missionaries, historical people
SIMILARITIES OF RELIGION
• Having sacred or Holy Writings, list of rules
• Number of important people, founders,
prophets, missionaries, historical people
• Place of worship
 SIMILARITIES OF RELIGION
• Having sacred or Holy Writings, list of rules
• Number of important people, founders, prophets,
missionaries, historical people
• Place of worship
• Belief in a Golden Rule
RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES

• Their idea of sin or evil

•
RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES

• Their idea of sin or evil

• Their idea of salvation

•
RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES

• Their idea of sin or evil

•Their idea of salvation

•The idea of priesthood
•
RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES
▪ Their idea of sin or evil

▪ Their idea of salvation

▪ The idea of priesthood

▪ Their idea of a personal God

- some believe that their god can personally communicate with each human- can be contacted, persuaded,
involved. Others that their God is unreachable -- people are on their own to find their own answers. Others that
their God is beyond the limits of experience or knowledge
HOW DOES GLOBALIZATION AFFECTS RELIGIOUS
PRACTICES AND BELIEFS?

• Rising religious fundamentalism as people feel culturally threatened by

an influx of ‘strange’ cultural factors resulting from the increasingly
multicultural societies triggered by globalization.
• Conversely, the movement of people and information across national
borders increases the rate of social and cultural liberalization resulting
in potential loosening of traditional religious strictures.
HOW DOES GLOBALIZATION AFFECTS RELIGIOUS
PRACTICES AND BELIEFS?

• The rise of nationalism as a counter pressure to globalization may put pressure on

ethnic/religious diversity in some countries. Particularly, countries that do not have
long histories of multiculturalism or where there has been historical conflict between
ethnic/religious groups that had been suppressed due to the rise of globalization.
• The ease of information flow also allows the rapid movement of religious proselytizing
across the world. So, the converts to regionally non-traditional religions i.e Mormonism
and Fundamentalist Christianity in Latin America, have increased dramatically.
 HOW DOWS RELIGION SPREAD MORE
EFFICIENTLY?
• Magazines
• Media
• Social media
• Cell phones apps
• Celebrities following and advertising them
IS RELIGION THE MAIN CAUSE OF CONFLICT TODAY?

Religion is not the main cause

of conflicts today.

Surveying the state of 35

armed conflicts from 2013,
religious elements did not
play a role in 14, or 40
percent.

Religion was only one of

three or more reasons for
67 per cent of the conflicts
where religion featured as
a factor to the conflict.
DOES THE PROPORTION OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF
OR ATHEISM IN A COUNTRY DETERMINE ITS PEACE?

There is no clear statistical relationship between either

the presence or the absence of religious belief and
conflict. Even at the extremes, the least peaceful
countries are not necessarily the most religious and
vice-versa.
IS RELIGION KEY TO UNDERSTANDING
WHAT DRIVES PEACE?
➢There are many other socio-economic
characteristics that have more significant
explanatory power in understanding why
conflict and peace occurs than religion
does. There are however some religious
factors that are significantly related to
peace.
 IS RELIGION KEY TO UNDERSTANDING
WHAT DRIVES PEACE?

➢Multivariate regression analysis reveals that there is

a consistent relationship between factors such as
corruption, political terror, gender and economic
inequality and political instability which determine
poor peace scores as measured by the Global Peace
Index (GPI). The research clearly indicates that these
factors are globally more significant determinants in
driving violence and conflict in society than the
presence of religious belief.
 IS RELIGION KEY TO UNDERSTANDING
WHAT DRIVES PEACE?
• Nevertheless, there are two religious characteristics which
are associated with peace; restrictions on religious
behaviour as well as hostilities towards religion. Countries
without a dominant religious group are, on average, more
peaceful and have less restrictions or social hostilities
around religion than countries with a dominant religious
group. However, government type has much greater
explanatory power than religion in understanding differing
levels of peace.
➢While a lot of analysis may focus on the
negative role of religion it is important to
acknowledge the potential positive role of
religion in peace-building through inter-faith
dialogue and other religiously-motivated
movements.
❖Religion can be the motivator or catalyst for
bringing about peace through ending conflict as well
as helping to build strong social cohesion.
Furthermore, religion can act as a form of social
cohesion and, like membership of other groups,
greater involvement in society can strengthen the
bonds between citizens strengthening the bonds of
peace.