Who is right, Globalization sceptics or Globalization radicals - Essay Example

?Globalization Technological innovations have completely shaped all factions of life in the twentieth century. but nowhere is the effect of technological innovation more evident than in the realm of the cultural globalization through the use of global communication and media. Globalization is most commonly defined as the emergence of a country’s political and socioeconomic culture to the point of becoming significant for people in other parts of the world. In this analysis of the global media’s role in cultural globalization, focus will be on the role of the global media since the beginning of the wired electronic stage up until the present day. with the proliferation of digital technologies that allow for instantaneous two-communication on a global scale. Although it is argued that cultures have interacted and therefore cultural globalization has taken place since the beginning of human history, it is the technology of instant communication that truly forged a new frontier for cultural interaction and cultural globalization. The role the global media has had on cultural globalization has steadily increased and in recent years we have seen a paradigm shift in the way global media is managed. This new shift has changed the tradition top-down role of the media, dominated by governments and corporations and placed more power back into the hands of individual citizens allowing for a bottom-up approach to media. This ‘new media’ is given life by the easily-accessible, ubiquitous world of the Internet. As Andrew L. Shapiro (1999) argues that the "emergence of new, digital technologies signals a potentially radical shift of who is in control of information, experience and resources", the natural effect as Internet becomes more user-friendly and more available globally will be apparent in all factions of life. To fully understand the role that global media has had on culture we must first understand how media and communication has evolved. In her book The Media and Globalization, Tehri Rantanen explains the evolution media and communication through her identification of six stages of media and communication throughout human history. According to her, the stages of development are as follows: Oral Communication, Script, Printed, Wired Electronic, Wireless Electronic, and Digital Communications. Globalization truly began with the use of newspapers and pamphlets. Beginning with newspapers and pamphlets drawn up by the printing press and typewriter innovations, the media sent word of new events, new ideas and calls for aid to constituents throughout their respective countries. The next technological innovation was the telegraph, which gave people across large stretches of land the ability to communicate instantly. This brought about a complete transformation in terms of global communication. For the first time communication across distances takes place at an immediate level. Next came the invention of the telephone, which broadened the range of media influence even further than the telegraph. Finally, in the twentieth century, the technology revolution that swept the nation brought phones, cell phones, and internet into the homes of average citizens. The ease of access to the latest means of communication helped to bring more people into the know. With convenience as simple as the click of a button, millions of people had access to the information super-highway known as the Internet. This was the greatest shift of power to the common people and provided the greatest source of bottom-top influence in media coverage. It was Rantanen’s six stages of progress in the area of media and communications that resulted in expansion of ideas and Theories on cultural globalization can be divided into one of three ideologies on the subject. The first ideology subscribes to the view that the world has historically been dominated by many cultures and as history has progressed we have seen the world being dominated by fewer and fewer cultures. This view on cultural globalization is known as cultural homogenization theory. 20th century media has been dominated by American companies. This has resulted in cultures slowly being assimilated into one another, eventually causing the world to become culturally homogenized in nature. According to this ideology, cultural globalization is dominated by western culture. Globalization has tremendously influenced the homogenization of cultures to the point where the indigenous policies and native ways of life are actually threatened. The so-called ‘melting-pot’ of cultures and ideologies is blurring the lines of distinction between various lifestyles. This can be viewed negatively as well as positively – the positive effect being increased tolerance among societies as we learn to adapt to new cultures. The negative effect is the eradication of the multinational layers and diversity that enrich our understanding and give us new ways to broaden our outlooks. Scholars opposed to globalization cite this cultural hybridization as a detriment fostered by technological innovation. The theorists believe that cultures are being dominated by western influence, and that rather than a melting pot of different cultures, the West’s ideologies are imposing a cultural takeover reminiscent of its imperialist nature of the past. In Benjamin Barber’s book Jihad vs. McWorld, he argues that the slow takeover of various cultures by the Western world is a vast conspiracy fueled mostly by the big businesses of corporate America. In Barber’s book, American companies have long been involved in a secret plan to merge all cultures and dominate them with Western ideologies, securing Western interests. They do this via “soft power”, which is defined as the electronic colonialism that enables the Western-dominated media and technology to put forth its propaganda in a subtle fashion via the Internet. In the face of cultural hybridization, some countries have actually taken steps to protect their differences in culture via legal enforcement. One source that best exemplifies this is Canada’s Cultural protectionism laws, which enforces strict policies that the radio and television broadcasts must have Canadian views and ideals for the majority of all opinions represented. These laws were passed to prohibit satellite entities from over taking Canadian culture, and so far the laws have worked well in preserving the national identity and ideology that makes Canada unique. Conversely, the effect of globalization is thought to have had tremendous benefits for different countries across the world. International institutions such as the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are touted as some of the sterling rewards of globalization. These institutions help resolve international conflicts and strife in a way never before seen with previous isolationist thought. The media’s central role in globalization is made evident in the expansion of various forms of communication. This includes social networking, business transactions, banking transactions and innumerable other means of convenience. Regardless of the criticisms the media’s influence in globalization has had, the knowledge and communication ease has helped society tremendously in its conveniences and allowance of independent thoughts to come together in a virtual ‘melting pot’. Mark Poster probably said it best when he said the following: “Regardless of the efforts of the capitalist class( as well those of the nation state), the assemblage  of human and information machine must be accounted for as a phenomenon unprecedented in the array of media technologies, an innovation that is drastically changing the character of culture.” References Aldie, H. Jansen. “Media and Globalization”. 2006. Retrieved on April 3, 2010 from UIowa.edu: uiowa.edu/ifdebook/issues/globalization/readingtable/media.shtml Barber, Benjamin. Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World. 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