What is the relation between culture and globalization- Minjee Kim 김민지

1. Culture and globalization are inseparable from one another. Cultural globalization refers to the process through which various cultural elements—such as language, art, values, and lifestyles—cross national borders and influence each other. In earlier times, culture spread mainly through trade and colonial expansion, as goods, food, language, religion, and art traveled alongside commerce and power. With the development of international trade networks, these exchanges became increasingly complex and reciprocal. In the modern era, the advancement of communication technologies and the rise of the internet have drastically accelerated cultural diffusion. Through platforms like YouTube and social media, people can now experience other cultures in real time, allowing different traditions to merge and transform online. The concept of Orientalism explains the unequal perceptions formed when Western societies represent non-Western cultures from their own perspectives. However, globalization is not merely a system of domination. As scholar Ott argues, globalization enables new forms of cultural creation through glocalization, in which global trends are localized and adapted to reflect regional characteristics. Examples such as K-pop and Japanese animation show that cultural flows are no longer one-way—from the West to the rest—but multidirectional and interactive. In this sense, today’s globalization can be understood as an ongoing dialogue where diverse cultures connect, reinterpret, and reshape one another.

2. What I found most interesting about this topic is that globalization does not simply make all cultures the same—it creates new forms of hybrid culture. I used to think globalization only weakened national identities, but I learned that it can also highlight local uniqueness within global contexts. The concept of glocalization was particularly fascinating because it shows how global products or industries adapt to fit local preferences. For example, when a global fast-food brand sells bulgogi burgers in Korea or green tea lattes in Japan, it demonstrates that local culture continues to shape and personalize global trends. Another point that stood out to me was the link between globalization and the growth of global consciousness. Globalization is not just an economic process—it also changes how people think and act as part of a shared world. Issues like climate change or human rights have encouraged people to see themselves as members of one global community. This shows that cultural globalization influences not only entertainment and lifestyles but also human values, empathy, and awareness of global responsibility.

3. Although globalization clearly expands cultural connections, I still wonder whether the process is truly fair and balanced for everyone. Cultural exchange often occurs within unequal power structures. As global media and multinational corporations dominate cultural industries, local cultures are sometimes commercialized or consumed as images, rather than appreciated as genuine expressions. For instance, while K-pop has achieved tremendous international success, some critics argue that its production system and aesthetics are shaped by Western-centered standards, raising concerns about cultural dependence. Another question that remains for me is whether cultural homogenization and diversity can genuinely coexist. Are we really moving toward a world where different cultures are respected and coexist harmoniously, or are we becoming a standardized global society consuming similar content everywhere? In my view, true cultural globalization should not aim to erase differences but to find a balance between connection and distinction—a space where we can remain interconnected while still preserving our unique cultural roots.

4. Tomlinson, J. (1999). Globalization and Culture. Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Additional information and examples were drawn from class materials and lecture discussions on cultural globalization, glocalization, and media influence.

5. I used GPT to assist with translation, language refinement, and sentence polishing while ensuring that all ideas and interpretations reflect my own understanding of the topic. The AI tool was used only to improve clarity and grammar, not to generate original content.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is globalization--Kim younggyun

 1) Summarize From what I understand, globalization is not merely an economic trend. It is a broad concept in which the world becomes increasingly interconnected on cultural, social, political, and even individual levels. Because globalization is such an all-encompassing idea, it is only natural that debates continue over its definition. This is exactly what made studying the concept of globalization difficult for me. That is why, like Robertson and White, I tried to understand globalization mainly through the two dimensions of increasing connectivity and growing consciousness. I find their approach persuasive. When internet, transportation, and trade expand, the connections between countries grow stronger, and naturally, people begin to perceive the world as a “single place.” 2) Interesting point What I found particularly interesting while studying globalization is that it does not simply lead to “one-sided homogenization.” I used to think of globalization only as the expansion of...
Read more

What is globalization? | Yun Shinji

1.   Summary It is difficult to define the concept of ‘globalization’ with a single meaning, as the term is used in various contexts with different implications. Sociologist Roland Robertson describes globalization as “the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole". Robertson and White further elaborate it as two main trends “an increase in global interconnectedness” and "an increase in global consciousness". In this way, globalization is a complex phenomenon in which the world becomes closely connected across borders, and it is used in multiple ways in different contexts. Globalization can be broadly divided into three dimensions cultural, political, and economic. Among them, cultural globalization is the phenomenon we experience most directly in our daily lives. For example, a cultural content that becomes popular can spread worldwide and be shared globally. However, this phenomenon also raises concerns about cultural hom...
Read more

What is the relation between politics and globalization? - Yun Shinji

1) Summary The author views “political globalization” as a multidimensional, accelerated, and interconnected form of organization that transcends national borders across space and time. Rather than seeing globalization as a simple reality, the author understands it as a “relational dynamic” that produces a complex and constantly shifting political landscape. According to the author, political globalization is driven by three key processes. First is global geopolitics. This involves interactions mainly between states, including traditional balances of power, international security, territorial disputes, and other state-centered dynamics. These geopolitical interactions continue to shape how states position themselves in an increasingly interdependent world. Second is the global normative culture, which refers to political values and norms—such as human rights and democracy—that are shared or diffused across the world. These norms influence how states govern internally and how they are e...
Read more