Globalisation Essay (Draft 1)

In today’s world, the advance in technologies has led to more culture integration across the globe; yet, it has also undeniably resulted in many social issues, one of them being the loss of local culture and local traditions when people over embraced Western cultures. Other than describing why globalisation has led to the loss of local culture, evaluation of two means adopted by different countries to improve this phenomenon will also be discussed.

According to Cait Murphy and Bruce Ross-Larson (2004), more than 85 per cent of worldwide films were produced in the United States. Certainly, globalisation has expanded the circulation of cultures within and beyond nations. However, an excess of McWorld (McWorld does not limits too McDonald, it can also refers to Western cultural codes such as Madonna, Macintosh, Michael Jackson, Mickey Mouse and etc.) has threaten the cultural heritage of various communities around the world.  Moreover, Western nations’ cultural imperialism uses political and economic capabilities to extend their ideologies and shared cultural codes at the disadvantage of other nations’ local culture. (Weckert and Adeney, 1977; cited in Girish Mishra, 2003)

Effort of governments to promote local heritage is one of the existing methods to tackle this loss of native culture due to globalisation. Governments have been introducing programmes at different local communities levels (from school children, to working individuals) to promote local culture. For instance, the Singapore government promotes local and regional histories and culture through organising the I Love Museums Campaign.  However, this effort by the government has its limitations. The power of globalisation is being deemed as difficult to resist, hence the mere efforts of the government to limit Western cultures and promote “localness” is barely enough. The fact that after much attempts by the government to encourage local culture, Singapore is still being widely view as a country with a lack of unique culture and heritage clearly shows that individual’s interest in embracing local culture and not the government’s effort is the main factor that determine whether a nation can withstand the influence of cultural globalisation. A possible way to improve such a phenomenon is to emphasise the need and urgency to embrace and promote local culture to the populace; only then will it be possible for people to place more time, money and effort to conserve their “dying” heritage. Thus, governments should play a part in confronting cultural colonisation, yet it should not be restricted to the governments, individuals should also contribute to the preserving of their local culture.

Another existing mean to ameliorate cultural imperialism and the loss of local culture is the reducing or blocking of external cultures. This mean could be executed by setting a quota to locally produced programmes on mass media to ensure that a minimum number of native programmes are being viewed by the population and to assure the spread of local culture and ideologies. For example, the Hungarian government has insisted a quota of 15 per cent for local programmes on public channel. (Murphy & Bruce Ross-Larson, 2004), Nonetheless, this method is ineffective in today’s societies where internet is highly accessible. Even though the government may limit the number of foreign programmes on public channels, people can still freely view or access foreign movies, programmes and news through the internet. Moreover, aggressive quota-based policies can result in other problems. In the case of Hungary, there are concerns that such restriction to mass media may constrict the people’s rights and freedom to choose. In place of quota-based policies, what could be done is the promoting of locally produced programmes through other channels such as screening of these programmes at museums and other heritage sites, while maintaining a balance of local and foreign programmes on radio, television and newspapers. Hence, countering cultural imperialism does not imply that hostile treatments towards foreign cultures should be adopted; furthermore, when advancing native culture, the balance between these two cultures should be observed.

In conclusion, globalisation has impacted people around the world to discard local cultures and traditions, in place, Western cultures and values are being adopted. This phenomenon has become so problematic that governments around the world are trying to tackle this issue by introducing different policies. This essay discussed two different means that were introduced; after evaluating these means, it is undeniable that these means have their limitations. In addition, this essay has also highlighted the important roles that individuals played in preserving local cultures against cultural globalisation. Thus, to succeed in safeguarding local values shouldn’t individuals put in more efforts?

Reference

Mishra G. (2003). Globalization and Culture. Retrieved from http://www.stateofnature.org/?p=6292

Murphy C. & Ross-Larson B. (2004). Human Development Report 2004, Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World. Chapter 5, pg 86-105. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr04_chapter_5.pdf

Nwegbu M. U., Eze C.C. & Asogwa B. E. (2011) Globalization of Cultural Heritage: Issues, Impacts, and Inevitable Challenges for Nigeria. Retrieved from http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/nwegbu-eze-azogwa.htm