Chapter III : A World Regions

Lesson 1. Global Divides: The North and the South

Lesson 2. Asian Regionalism

a. Regionalization vs. Globalization

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:
1.1. Define the term ”Global South”
1.2Explain Asian Regionalism
__________________________________________________________________________

Lesson 1. Global Divides: The North and The South

The Global South refers to the less –developed countries of the world. The term “ Global
South” emerged in the 1950s .And also it is an emerging term used by the World Bank and
other organizations, identifying countries with one side of the underlying global North-South
divide, the other side being the countries of the Global North.
The Global South is made up of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Pacific
Islands and the developing countries in Asia, including the Middle East, it is home to the BRIC
countries; Brazil, India, and China which along with Indonesia and Mexico are the largest
Southern states in terms of land area and population.
The North-South divide is a socio-economic and political division of Earth popularized in the
late 20th century and early 21st century. Generally, definitions of Global north include the
United states , Canada, almost all the European countries, Israel, Cyprus, Japan, Singapore,
South korea, Australia and New Zealand.

.
Legend:
Blue Color represent the North
Red Color represent the South

Suggested link :
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Global-North-South-Divide-P3U2XJ2L3RZ…
ASIAN Regionalism

In the recent history of Asia it also underscores the diversity of the region. Most importantly,
Asia was colonized by a variety of major powers, including Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands,
France, Britain, the United States and Japan. Each colonizer left behind specific social, political
and economic legacies. Even those countries that were not formally colonized, such as Japan
and Thailand, were heavily influenced by a unique mix of Western ideas and practices. The
multiplicity of colonial experiences only served to emphasize the differences among the
countries and societies of Asia. More recently, the Cold War also divided the Asian region.

The goal of regionalism goal became encapsulated in the concept of an East Asian
community. Although removing economic barriers was the principal thrust of most
agreements to promote regionalism, a ‘community’ connotes shared values and joint
responses to security threats.

ASEAN was the first major regional player to emerge and has been at the centre of regional
developments including APEC, ARF, ASEAN Plus Three and the East Asian Summit as East
Asian regionalism has evolved over time

Thus, ASEAN’s pivotal regional role has also been accepted by China and Japan in good part
because they need the ASEAN members as followers if they ever want to be considered global
leaders. This relationship has in turn given ASEAN considerable leeway in terms of the
activities of its member governments in region-building endeavours. As the result of Asian
regionalism it does not only make Asian economies grown richer but also they become closer
together .Asian regionalism is the product of economic interaction, not political planning. As a
result of successful, outward oriented growth strategies.

Chapter QUIZ:
Quiz 1
I. Enumeration
1.Make a list of at least 10 countries who are members of the APEC.
2.What are the benefits of one’s country as member of the APEC?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

II. Multiple Choice

1.Global South refers to the less –developed countries of the world. The term “ Global South”
emerged in the ______.
a.1904
b. 1820
c.1950
d. 1990
2. North-South divide is a socio-economic and _______ division of Earth popularized in the late
20th century and early 21st century.
a. religion
b. cultural
c. social
d. political
3. ASEAN’s pivotal regional role has also been accepted by China and Japan in good part
because they need the ASEAN members as followers if they ever want to be considered global
_____.
a. international
b. local
c. global
d. national

4.Among the given countries which is not included in Global North .

a. United states ,
b.Canada,
c.Cyprus,
d.Greece

5. To promote regionalism, a ‘____________ connotes shared values and joint responses to

security threats.

a. Nation
b. Regions
c. Community
d. States
 CHAPTER V: A World of Ideas
Lesson 1 . Global Media Culture
a.Evolution of Media and Globalization
Lesson 2 . The Globalization of Religion
a.Effects of Globalization to Religion

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:

1.1Explain the evolution of media
1.2Examine how globalization affects religious practices and beliefs

NEW GLOBAL MEDIA

The rise of the “new” global media (e.g. Apple’s iTunes,

Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft), with great power to
impose their systems on large portions of the world
(McChesney 1999: 11 – 15). While the major players change over
time, especially through mergers of various types, the global
media (this applies to traditional media such as newspapers, TV,
and movies, as well as to the newly emerging media on, or
related to, the Internet) are increasingly dominated by a
relatively small number of huge corporations.
In almost all sectors the goal is to produce a relatively
noncompetitive global environment in order to maximize
profits. This process is fairly well advanced in the “old media”
and it is ongoing in the case of the “new media.” There,
competition continues, but largely because the process is so
new and the dust has yet to settle. Thus, for example, Facebook
and MySpace succeeded in vanquishing a number of early
competitors (e.g. Friendster) for the position of dominant social
- networking site, but they continue to compete with each
other, with the possibility of new competitors arising in this
relatively new arena.
 Furthermore, giants in the industry such as Newscorp, Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo are
either seeking to create their own versions of successful new media, especially on the Internet,
or they are seeking to buy into, or gain control over, already successful websites (Microsoft
purchased a small share of Facebook in late 2007 and has been seeking, unsuccessfully so far,
to gain control of Yahoo), as well as those that show signs of being successful

Thus, the impact of the global media order is complex as reception of these cultural products is
never uniform. The world is complex and we have only begun to theorize about it. Media flows
and contra-flows create part of the wider struggle over information flows which define power
relations in the global information economy.

Cultural Imperialism

The idea of cultural imperialism (Tomlinson, forthcoming a) indicates that one or more cultures
are imposing themselves, more or less consciously, on other cultures thereby destroying local
culture, in whole, or more likely in part. There are many examples of cultural imperialism in the
world today, with local cultural practices being threatened, or even being destroyed, by the
flow of culture from other parts of the world, especially from the North to the South.

Cultural imperialism occurs when the traditions and way of life of a group of people, whether
an ethnic minority or an entire nation, are displaced by those of another. This may be a
conscious process, in which a dominant group intentionally suppresses another culture by
suppressing its language, music, religion, symbols, or other practices. More often, however, it
results from global market capitalism’s drive to increase profits through rationality,
homogeneity, and parsimony.(Ritzer, 2011)

What is Cultural Imperialism?

Based on theory of cultural imperialism the less economically prominent cultures essentially
import examples of culture from wealthier countries mainly from Western countries, which
have the economic means necessary to produce a majority of the world's cultural media
mostly via the global transmission of media. As one society exerts cultural influence over
another, the latter society adopts its customs, philosophies, worldviews and general ways of
life. Under the imposition of another culture, the “lesser” culture is thought to lose some of its
own cultural identity in the process.

An examples of American cultural imperialism include brand name products, mass-produced

food and, perhaps of primary importance, video media. While this have some positive effects
showing women's rights or racial equality, potentially exerting a negative effect on the viewer's
perception of his own country or other non-American cultures.

Herbert Schiller's book “Communication and Cultural Domination” first coined the phrase in
1976, the concept of cultural imperialism is often used to refer to the idea of America exerting
cultural influence over the rest of the world, with a particularly powerful imposition on Third
World countries.

Critiques of Cultural Imperialism

The concept assumes that human beings lack of free will, describing them as mindlessly
assimilating what they absorb through media without retaining their own personal frame of
reference. Other critics note that while economic aspects of cultural imperialism can be
concretely measured, the cultural component is subjective and difficult or impossible to
quantify.

Suggested link:

https://www.theclassroom.com/meaning-cultural-imperialism-7841.html

Quiz 15: Write your answer based on your daily experience

1.How global media affects your daily life?

2.Which is more beneficial to you ,the community without technology or community with
technology? Briefly explain your answer.

QUIZ 16 : Complete Sentences

1.Media flows and contra-flows create part of the wider struggle over information flows which
define _______ in the global information economy.

2Control over the new Internet media is far from clear or resolved, it seems clear that in the
long run they, too, will succumb and the world of Internet media will become increasingly
__________.

3. Under the imposition of another culture, the _______ culture is thought to lose some of its
own cultural identity in the process.

4. Economic aspects of cultural imperialism can be concretely measured, the _______ is

subjective and difficult or impossible to quantify.

Lesson 2 . The Globalization of Religion

a. Effects of Globalization to Religion

In the past two decades, secularization has been accelerated and accentuated by globalization.
The United States has promoted globalization and the American Creed of individualism.
Expressive individualism—with its contempt for and protest against all hierarchies,
communities, traditions, and customs—represents the logical conclusion and the ultimate
extreme of the secularization of the Protestant religion. Yet the American Creed has generated
resentment and resistance in societies whose religious traditions are different from the
Christianity of the West.

EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION TO RELIGION

The Effects of Religion:

From the ancient times, religion has been prominent among the people of this planet.
Different groups and communities of people come together to form and follow a certain
religion. This is theirs by birth. Religion is something a human looks for when he is down.
Religion is a belief that people follow in order to make societies. They believe in their religion
because it gives them power and peace. However, in the present time, the word religion is
highly overrated. More than this practice provides peace and contentment to the people of the
societies, it has been becoming a cause of conflict among many.

Religions are present in the forms such as Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and
Sikhism. People of this earth come under these religions and tend to follow the norms and
beliefs of them during their complete life course. However, people have been into these beliefs
blindly from so long that sometimes it becomes a major reason of conflict and riots. On the
name of religion, many defaulters take advantage of the situations which are socially
unacceptable, leading to conflicts and wars.

Religion can be both have a positive and negative effects to the people:

The positive effects of Religion have been mentioned as follows.

a.Peace of Mind:
We have often heard that a religious person is a peaceful one. When a person follows the path
of religion, he realizes that there is the presence of a supreme power which is above what
human has and has built till now

b.Promotes helps through social work:

Most of the religious committees have groups and organizations that focus on helping the
unprivileged and the poor by carrying out social service. They do it with the aim of serving the
society and making it better.

c.Teaches overall compassion:

Compassion is something truly required in a person if he or she is to be something good to the
society. Religion has a great role to play in that. Most religious people own this sense of
compassion. This is visible in their aura when they inspire others and teach them the good
values of their religion.

d.Wisdom:
Religion is wisdom. They holy religious books have a great deal from which humans can learn
and benefit themselves and the human society as well. Since all of the religions aim at working
towards the betterment of the society, they impart true wisdom in their follower.

The negative effects of religion have been mentioned as follows:

a. A sense of superiority:
Many times, it happens that the people of a certain religion start believing that the teaching
and morals of their own religion are superior than any other religion. This may be because of a
deep faith in their religion that the others are not able to make any sense to them. This induces
a sense of negativity when it comes to religion and beliefs.

b. Scientific facts are ignored:

Religious people tend to give all the scientific facts and reasons a backseat when they get into
the beliefs of their religion. Actual reasoning and scientific proofs are greatly neglected and
discouraged among people.

c. Hinders with overall progress:

The highly religious lot discourages the power of thinking freely. They are not able to progress
since they tend to stick to their old beliefs when the times are changing. When they see
religion as the only way of life, innovations etc. are never welcomed and hence the lack of
progress of that society.

The five major world religions are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism. More
than 70 percent of the world's population identify with one of these five religions around the
world. All of these religions have their own religious books and believe in life after death.

Christianity is the world's biggest religion, with over 2.1 billion followers worldwide. Christians
follow the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Bible, and Christian holy days include Easter and
Christmas. The religion played an important role in the development of Western civilization,
and the three largest branches are the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and
Protestantism.

a. Islam is the second largest religion, with over 1.5 billion followers. The
Islamic religion is based on the teachings of the prophet of Muhammad
in their holy book the Quran. Followers of Islam are based primarily in
the Asia Pacific region and in the Middle East.
b. Hinduism is considered the oldest religion in the world and is the world's
third largest religion, boasting almost one billion followers. The Vedas,
Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita are its most important religious
scriptures.
c. Buddhism has more than 350 million followers worldwide, and its
followers believe attaining nirvana is the ultimate goal.
d. Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions, and the religion's
texts have influenced Christianity and Islam.

Suggested reading:

https://www.reference.com/world-view/five-major-world-religions-9359711f4b5bc703
retrieved June 16, 2020

These are the five major religion as shown in the graph:

The graph shows the major religion with the numbers of members as of 2017 -2019.
How distinct are these major religions?

In looking at these major belief systems and their views of God, we find tremendous diversity:

 Hindus acknowledge multitudes of gods and goddesses.

 Buddhists say there is no deity.
 New Age Spirituality followers believe they are God.
 Muslims believe in a powerful but unknowable God.
 Christians believe a loving God who created us to know him.

Suggested Link:
https://www.everystudent.com/features/connecting