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Sociology 2:
Class 17: Globalization,
Culture, Identity
Copyright © 2008 by Evan Schofer
Do not copy or distribute without permission
Announcements
• Typo in syllabus: Huntington reading
• Page numbers are totally incorrect…
• Correct page numbers: 3-22 (the whole thing)
• No office hours on Thursday May 29, June 5
• Final exam review sheet will be handed out
soon
• Format similar to midterm
• Topics: All course material… with main emphasis on
material covered after the midterm
• Today’s Class: Globalization & Culture
• What is culture, and how does globalization affect it?
• Is culture/identity a source of conflict?
Cultural Globalization
• “Culture” refers to many things:
• 1. Popular culture: movies, music, clothing
• 2. Group culture/identity: Shared beliefs,
traditions, world-views, way of life
• Example: An indigenous that shares a particular
religion, language, cuisine, etc.
• Example: National groups (e.g., the French)
• 3. World Polity Theory: Culture = common
norms, cognitive models, scripts.
Cultural Globalization
• Question: Is there such a Orange County
culture?
• If so, what are some of its distinctive features?
• Food? Language? Accent? Worldview?
Globalization and Culture
• “Revolution is U.S.” Thomas L. Friedman.
• Provides lots of examples of
globalization/Americanization, and the impact
on other societies/cultures
• Not an academic article
• But, illustrates many of the concepts from class: e.g.,
cultural imperialism; reactionary movements, etc.
Globalization and Culture
• One obvious trend:
– Western (often American) culture is increasingly
dominant
• Ex: English is becoming the global language
• And, many local languages are dying out
• Ex: Western music, clothing are popular everywhere
– Other examples from readings? Personal
experiences?
Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
• 1. Modernization theory
– Dominant view in 1950s and 1960s, now criticized
• Observation: People in colonies & non-Western
countries were adopting “modern”/Western views
• Prediction: Traditional “cultures” would die out, as
everyone became “modern” and “rational”
– People thought this was a good thing
• “Primitive” cultures were replaced by “advanced” ones
• Local identities were replaced by modern social &
political identities
• “Superstition” replaced by rationality, science,
“enlightenment”.
Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
• 2. Marxism / World-System Theory
• Argues that power & culture are intertwined
• Marx: Ideas of a society are the ideas of the ruling class
• Western economic domination is accompanied
by cultural domination
• Often called “Cultural Imperialism”
• Westerners can effectively spread their culture via
colonialism (and later via media, advertising)
– Some argue that this helps maintain economic dominance
• Non-Western people may reject their own culture, prefer
to wear Western clothes, listen to Brittany Spears, and
eat at McDonalds.
Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
• 3. World Polity Theory
• Argues that a key facet of globalization is the
emergence of a “world culture
– Embodied, in part, in international associations
• Global culture provides norms, scripts, and models that
shape the behavior of governments
• Consequence: Governments, laws, societies are
becoming increasingly “isomorphic”
– Contrast w/ WST: World culture may relate to
historical dominance of West….
• But, culture is not principally a mechanism of furthering
the dominance of the West
– Rather, it now evolves somewhat independently of the interests
of powerful countries
» Ex: Environmentalism, human rights…
Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
• 4. Hybridization: A view from anthropology
• Reading: Hannerz: Scenarios for Peripheral Cultures
• Contrasts two views on culture
– A. Homogenization (also called “saturation”)
• Similar to predictions of Modernization Theory
• The idea: that globalization erodes local cultures,
makes the whole world homogeneous
• “As transnational cultural influences unendingly pound
on the sensibilities of people of the periphery, peripheral
culture will step by step assimilate more and more of
the imported meanings and forms, becoming gradually
indistinguishable from the center.”
Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
• Hannerz: Scenarios for Peripheral Cultures.
– 2. Hybridization (also: creolization, maturation)
• Claim: Much local culture is embedded in daily life
• Locals are influenced by global culture, but also reinterpret it and adapt it to their lives
• “Local cultural entrepreneurs have gradually mastered
the alien forms which reach them through the
transnational commodity flows and in other ways, taking
them apart, tampering and tinkering with them in such a
way that the resulting new forms are more responsive
to, and at the same time in part outgrowths of, local
everyday life…
• Can anyone think of examples?
Culture, Identity, & Conflict
• Issue: Is conflict inevitable when globalization
brings cultures into contact with each other?
– Does globalization of Western/American culture generate
conflict?
• Example: Benjamin Barber’s book: Jihad vs McWorld
• Huntington: Clash of Civilizations
– And, more generally: Can ideas like culture,
ethnicity, and “identity” explain conflict
• Ex: Genocide in Balkans, Rwanda
• Ex: Conflict between radical Islamic groups and
Western/Christian/capitalist societies
– Answer: It depend on what you think culture is…
Perspectives on identity/culture
• Two views of identity/ethnicity/culture:
• 1. Primordial view
• Culture/ethnicity/identity is “primordial.” It is deeply
rooted, fundamental, and enduring
• Consequently, cultural differences are difficult to
overcome
– Conflict often results
• This view is common in media, popular culture.
Perspectives on identity/culture
• 2. The “social constructionist” view:
Culture/ethnicity/identity are malleable: They
change over time and with social context
• People exhibit different identities in different contexts
• Identities disappear and return (or are “re-invented”)
– Ex: Quebecois in Canada
• Political processes and social circumstances shape and
alter identities.
Perspectives on identity/culture
• Empirical evidence: Strongly supports the
social constructionist perspective
• 1. Culture/identity is not innate and
unchanging
• Example: Balkan conflict between Serbs and Croats
• Primordialist claim: Hatred is centuries old: “There will
always be blood on the Balkan soil”
• Evidence: Surveys suggest that trust and intermarriage
were very high in 1980s, before political conflict began.
Perspectives on identity/culture
• 2. Culture/identity is often the product (not
cause) of political struggle
• Example: Balkan political leaders strategically invoked
ethnicity, stoked hatreds to gain support
– Inflammatory speech about external threat = a powerful frame
to garner social/political support
• Elites & social movement groups frame selectively,
thereby “constructing” the conflict along certain lines
– Is fight against Al Qaeda a fight against an Islamic group? A
bunch of Saudis? A bunch of oil-rich bourgeoisie?
Culture and Conflict
• Samuel Huntington: Clash of Civilizations
– A. There are distinct “civilizations” in the world,
with different histories, beliefs, and cultures
• Ex: Western, “Confucian”, Islamic, Hindu, Latin
American
– B. These will become the main “fault lines” of
conflict in the future
• Replacing the “Cold War” battles over ideologies.
Culture and Conflict
• Why will there be conflict among civilizations?
• 1. Differences in civilizations are
fundamental
• Different language, history, religion, beliefs about
individuals, families, and groups
• “These differences are more fundamental than beliefs
about political ideologies and political regimes.”
(Reader, p. 28)
• 2. Globalization: The world gets smaller
• Globalization increases and intensifies interactions
among “civilizations”.
Culture and Conflict
• 3. Economic modernization is “separating
people from local identities” (p. 28)
• Local identities are dying out, allowing groups to
organize under broad “civilizations”
– For him, civilizations are primordial… more so than local
identities…
• Example: There are many Islamic sects (often in
conflict with each other); If those sects unite under
“Islam”, the potential for conflict increases
• Result: There is greater “civilization consciousness” in
non-West.
Culture and Conflict
• Huntington’s prediction: These cultural
differences will lead to greater global conflict:
A clash of civilizations
• Either among civilizations… or “the West versus the
rest”
• Issue: Sociologists have been very critical of
this view:
• The general idea of coherent “civilizations”
• And, the primordial view of culture…
Perspectives on identity/culture
• Hironaka: “Ethnic Conflict in Weak States” &
Bowen: “The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict”
• Argues against Huntington (But focuses on civil war, not
global conflict)
• Issue: There are many bloody conflicts raging
in developing countries
• Westerners often attribute them to enduring ethnic
hatreds
• Treat them as sad but inevitable
• And, many fear Huntington-like conflict of “West vs. the
Rest”…
Perspectives on identity/culture
• Question: Do ethnic hatreds explain civil
wars?
• Hironaka’s Argument: No…
• Civil wars are a product of political struggle… made
worse by weak governments, poverty
• Emphasis on ethnic identity/conflict = a Western
stereotype… not at all describing what is happening “on
the ground”.
Perspectives on identity/culture
• Example: Katangan revolt in the Congo
• Typical account: war is result of “tribalism and ethnicity”
(p. 131, citing Young)
• Actually, Katangans aren’t an ethnic group!
• Katanga a province (like a US state) filled with many
different ethnic groups – which fought on both sides
• Rather, the war was rooted in economics and politics
– For instance: Katanga was wealthy; they wanted to stop
people from migrating, taking jobs.
Perspectives on identity/culture
• Issue: Katangan war did help solidify the
“Katangan” cultural identity
• People began to be willing to “die for Katanga”
• But, it would be a mistake to assume that conflict was
caused by strong cultural identities
• Example: Cold War: I knew people in high school that
wanted to “Nuke those commie Russian bastards”
• Even strong identities can dissolve; Or, be replaced by
others (e.g., desire to fight radical Islamic
fundamentalists).
Local Reactions to Globalization
• So, if globalization doesn’t inevitably lead to
ethnic conflict… what’s up with Al Qaeda?
– The general issue: How can we understand
reactions against the West?
Local Responses to Globalization
• Local reactions against Western culture,
imperialism:
• 1. Opt out. Ignore or shun the external culture
– Examples: Many indigenous groups, the Amish
• Historically most common. Arguably the most
“authentically” traditional response to outsiders
• Typical outcome: children abandon traditional culture;
traditional groups shrink or disintegrate
– Many traditional societies do not have strong institutions of
social control… can’t compete with Western education, media,
labor market.
Local Responses to Globalization
• Reactions against Western culture,
imperialism:
• 2. “Reactionary movements”: Social
movements that attack the system, offer an
alternative
• Examples: French social movement against American
food, popular culture; Some Islamic fundamentalists.
– Note: Some movements attack a specific (or symbolic) part of
the dominant culture. Others are total rejections of it.
• Examples from readings, personal experience?
Local Responses to Globalization
• Kurzman reading: “Bin Laden and other
Thoroughly Modern Muslims”
• Argument: There are two kinds of reactionary
movements: “Traditional” and “Modern”
– Traditional Reactionary Movements:
• Ex: The Taliban in Afghanistan
• Mostly fight to get outsiders to leave
• Usually organized by actual indigenous people
– Participants are usually local
• Not very common…
Local Responses to Globalization
• Kurzman reading: “Bin Laden and other
Thoroughly Modern Muslims”
– “Modern” Reactionary Movements:
• Ex: Bin Laden & Al Qaeda
• Typically organized by highly educated people
• More like a social movement
– Sophisticated use of media, etc…
• Not really a very “local” response at all…
• Argument: These are modern social movements.
Reactionary Movements
• Reactionary movements are just like other
social movements. They rely on:
• Resource mobilization: resources, organizational
capacity
• Political opportunity structure: allies, lapses in
repression
• Framing: Use of symbols, imagery (often religious).
Reactionary Movements
• Example: Radical Islamic fundamentalist
groups
• Resource mobilization:
• Leaders are highly educated
– Some even have degrees from American universities
• Oil rich countries have tremendous resources
– It is easy to find donors for any pro-Islamic cause.
Reactionary Movements
• Example: Radical Islamic fundamentalist
groups
• Political opportunity structure
• Radical groups clearly took advantage of friendly
regimes (e.g., the Taliban) to train, build capacity
• Relative lack of repression in US is an opportunity
– Note: Increased security after 9/11 means fewer opportunities
for protest/attacks
– Note: These groups also attack pro-US regimes like Egypt…
but repression is much greater.
Reactionary Movements
• Ex: Radical Islamic fundamentalist groups
• Framing: Use of symbols, imagery
• Religion provides a powerful set of images
– Enemy isn’t just bad, but “evil” & “satanic”
• Another frame: attacking “imperialism”, the “system”
– Standing up for the “little guy”, fighting the “bully”
• Reactionary movements always claim to authentically
represent locals; that they aren’t part of the “system”
– Ex: Leaders don’t emphasize educational degrees or wealth;
They emphasize the small village they came from.
Reactionary Movements
• Issue for future discussion: How would
strategies for dealing with Al Qaeda differ if we
think of it as a modern social movement?
• Rather than a “traditional” reactionary movement…