Globalisation Essay (Final Draft)

In today’s world, the advance in technologies has led to an increase in the integration of culture across the globe; yet, it has also resulted in many social issues, one of them being the loss of local culture when people over embraced American cultures. Other than describing why globalisation has led to the loss of local culture, an evaluation of two methods adopted by developed nations to improve this phenomenon will also be discussed.

USA’s advantages in hard power have resulted in an invasion of developed countries’ indigenous heritage by American culture. 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 American cultural codes such as McDonalds, Macintosh, Michael Jackson, and Mickey Mouse post a threat to the indigenous culture of various communities around the world.  Moreover, America’s cultural imperialism uses political, military and economic capabilities to extend their ideologies and cultural codes at the disadvantage of other nations’ local culture. (Weckert and Adeney, 1977; cited in Girish Mishra, 2003)

One of the existing methods to tackle the loss of heritage is the effort of governments to promote local heritage. Governments have been introducing programmes at different levels of local communities (from school to workplaces) 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 governments to limit American culture and promote native heritage is barely enough. After many attempts by the government to encourage local culture, Singapore is still being regarded as a nation with no culture 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. Thus, individuals should participate more enthusiastically in promoting local heritage. One possible way 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 commit more time, money and effort to conserve their “dying” heritage. Governments should play a part in confronting cultural colonisation; however, this effort should not be restricted to the governments, individuals should also contribute to the efforts of preserving of their culture.

The second mean to ameliorate cultural imperialism and the loss of local culture is the opposition of foreign cultures. This strategy 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 concerns that restriction to foreign programmes may constrict people’s rights and freedom to choose. In place of quota-based policies, what could be done is the promoting of indigenous traditions, values and heritage sites in locally produced programmes, while maintaining a balance of local and foreign programmes on radio, television and newspapers. Hence, countering cultural imperialism does not imply the adopting of hostile attitudes towards foreign cultures; furthermore, when preserving native culture, the balance between local and American cultures should be observed.

In conclusion, globalisation has impacted people around the world to discard local cultures and traditions, while American culture and values are being adopted. This phenomenon has become so problematic that governments of developed nations are trying to address this issue by introducing different policies; two of these schemes were being discussed. After evaluating these means, it is undeniable that both strategies have their limitations. In addition, the importance of individuals in resisting cultural globalisation, preserving local cultures and safeguarding native values has been highlighted.

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