Embracing Globalization while Maintaining Identity - Essay Example

Globalization can become a powerful tool in gaining a better understanding and appreciation of different cultures and is also capable of breaking historically-rooted cultural stereotypes, given that it has enabled different people around the world to know more about other cultures and ways of life. Yet, despite the opportunities that globalization has offered for people to understand and appreciate other cultures and other ways of life, it has also fostered adverse reactions among many people. Despite the benefits of globalization, various cultural groups react to it in a negative way because they believe it reduces the importance of their own identities. While globalization is not the answer to all the world’s problems, a negative attitude towards it is one that is capable of breeding suspicion and misunderstanding between different cultures and nations. Also, economically speaking, globalization can be far more complicated than merely showing tolerance and acceptance towards other cultures. This essay will first illustrate some of the negative attitudes toward globalization. Next, globalization as it relates to education in Israel will be discussed. Through these examples one can likely see that many people are afraid that globalization will weaken their particular nation and take away from their common identities. In response to these fears, the paper will suggest that it is indeed possible to maintain one’s identity while at the same time accepting globalization. One instance of a negative view towards globalization is “anti-soccer” Americans as described in the work of Franklin Foer. According to Foer, globalization has actually failed some of its expectations, both economically and culturally, given that a majority of the world’s nations remain poor, and that some cultures actually fear that “globalized culture” will eventually erode their own unique cultural identities (Foer 1-2). In order to illustrate the failures of globalization, particularly in its failure to promote the homogenization of culture (and even attracted the reversion to old cultural identities and hostility to other cultures), Foer uses the ever famous worldwide sport of soccer. Looking at the feud between “pro-soccer” and “anti-soccer” Americans, Foer stated “that hating soccer is more American than apple pie, driving a pickup, or spending Saturday afternoons channel surfing with the remote control…”, and that “people with actual power believe that soccer represents a genuine threat to the American way of life” (Foer 17-18). Foer then discusses how, in 1986, former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jack Kemp took to the floor of the United States Congress to orate against a resolution in support of an American bid to host the World Cup. Kemp intoned, “I think it is important for all those young out there, who someday hope to play real football, where you throw it and kick it and run with it and put it in your hands, a distinction should be made that football is democratic capitalism, whereas soccer is a European socialist [sport]” (Foer 18). In this instance, it can be seen that despite the windows that globalization has opened, particularly in letting other people see the dynamics of other cultures, or even other pastimes for that matter, some cultural groups actually resist even the mere idea of accommodating other cultural ideas, leading to xenophobic or even racist ways of thinking. As the soccer example illustrates, globalization and national solidarity are constantly at odds with one other. A major reason for this, as mentioned, is that many people feel that if their home country gives in to globalization, the country’s identity (and therefore their own identity) will be thrown by the wayside. This is a very understandable fear because no one wants to lose their identity, right? However, in “giving in to globalization” one does not necessarily have to sacrifice one’s own identity. For instance, a person can appreciate the cultural significance of soccer and understand how it is important to other nations and groups as well. Similarly, other countries can respect and appreciate American sports and accept its importance to American culture. The failures of realizing globalization are again reflected in the narrative of Kwame Anthony Appiah in his essay “Moral Disagreement” (Appiah 378-389). In this essay, Appiah argues that different cultures have different ways of life; however, some cultures fail to understand the dynamics of other cultures, leading to the tendency of cultural groups to judge the acts of other cultures as taboo, uncivilized, or barbaric (Appiah 378-389). Take for instance the cultural practice of the Akan group in Africa; specifically on how they organize their families (Appiah 7). According to Appiah, the conception of the family in Akan culture is what anthropologists call matrilineal. A hundred years ago, in most lives, your mother's brother - your senior maternal uncle or wofa would have played the role a father would have been expected to play in English culture. He was responsible, along with the child's mother, for making sure that his sister's children—the word is wofase—were fed, clothed, and educated (8). Other cultural groups may look at these kinds of familial organizations as outdated, irrelevant, and possibly immoral. Of course, one of the main losses here is that a certain cultural group fails to appreciate, understand, and learn from other cultures. One should also keep in mind that in order to accept the Akan culture, for example, one does not have to fully adopt all of their practices and beliefs, but merely value that culture as a part of a global society. By not understanding and appreciating each others cultures, hate and strife between societies can easily occur. In this instance, it may be possible that the continued practice of defining one’s culture through the “us versus them” thinking would only lead to more conflicts. In contrast, many people feel that globalization would lead to more unity of purpose and greatly reduce the possibility of continual wars and bloodshed. In terms of globalization, education is something that is viewed as providing students with the necessary tools to succeed in the global economy. Additionally, as the failures of the 2007 Israeli teacher strike confirm, “Globalization does not necessarily deprive the state of its power and influence in education” (Shenkar 225). This could also be said for other areas where people possess a fear of becoming too “global” and risking their national identities. The Israeli union teachers who went on strike believed that globalization creates a negative by product in that it increases income disparity. They viewed it very much as a threat to the national identity and stability. Although the larger Israeli teacher’s union (the ITO) agreed to some of the government’s proposed changes, the smaller union (the SSTO) felt that putting their jobs at risk and giving principles more control would further suppress teachers (211). The teachers who went on strike saw education as a way to stop growing disparity. They viewed the strike as not just a means of raising their pay, but also “salvaging Israeli society and education” (217). On the other hand, the government felt that, viewed on a global scale, their proposals were both fair and justified. What it basically boiled down to in the end was SSTO’s belief that the government’s education reform proposals still did not give teachers the respect and income they deserved. In defense of saying that teachers were the problem and should be subject to being fired based on poor performance, the teachers responded that better pay for teachers would increase their performance. The teachers pointed out that Singapore is a global leader in education because their teacher’s are highly paid and well respected. Teacher strikes that have occurred in other places are similar to the Israeli strikes and illustrate the fear that some teacher’s unions have that education will become too focused on teaching students to better compete in the global environment instead of actually given them an “education.” This case illustrates the wide variety of problems that ideas of globalization can create. However, as the article explains, the key is to use globalization in a context that can be integrated into a national identity while not completely obliterating that identity (227). In this way globalization can be accepted without fear or anger towards other cultures. Works Cited Appiah, Kwame Anthony. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007. Print. Foer, Franklin. How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print. Shenkar, Miriam & Shenkar, Oded. “Labor Conflict on the National Stage: Metaphoric Lenses in Israel’s Teachers’ Strike.” Comparitive Education Review 55.2 (2010): 210-230. Print. Read More