Globalization of the Local : A Cultural Perspective.

                                                                   

                                                                                         

From a theoretical perspective, globalization in relation to culture is supposed to promote a world view of multiculturalism and diversity through liberal unrestricted inter-country connectivity, exchanges and flow of information. But to some of the critics, globalisation in reality has turned out to be  the spread of capitalism, market economy, hegemonist trade principles, global brands and consumer products of American or Euro-American dispensions. They point out the inherent tendencies in the policies of globalisation to foster  homogenization of life styles, attitudes and outlooks of people across the board through global brands of consumer goods, fast food chains, shopping malls, retail marts, movie, music, language   (American English ), electronic gadgets and so on which have steamrolled and swamped distinctive lifestyles, traditions, language, craft, dress, food, music or in short, local culture of the communities. These scholars say that globalisation has been manifested as  a type of neo-colonialism perpetuated by  the USA and its allies constituting the G-8 group of nations and in the garb of a WTO regime,  the economic principles favouring these nations have been thrust upon all others, particularly the developing countries without any scope of resistance for self-reliance. To them, globalisation in relation to culture is in fact nothing short of  cultural imperialism propagated by Euro-American economic forces and incorporation of their ideological contents into local cultures through manipulation of the mass media.

However, a careful scrutiny of the situation reveals that globalisation manifests itself in dangers as well as in opportunities. The growth and pattern of development of economies across countries will show how the opportunities have been embraced by many countries through appropriate restructure and readjustment of national economies in the WTO era to thwart the inherent dangers of neo-imperialism.  

 The astounding progress in Information & Communication Technology (ICT) is making it clear that the globalised   world has a great potential to nourish diversity and strengthen local cultures to a degree never seen before. This new potential is due to the remarkable developments in internet and the ICT tools which enable people to interact freely, open chat rooms, be on-line,   upload contents of their culture and creative talents for information of anyone living anywhere in  the world at real time. News reports, videos, photographs, encyclopedias, dictionaries, language, craft which constitute cultural attributes, particularity and distinctiveness can be spread in the world by the upload software. One can write own song, create a  podcast version in any language and share it with the world on some podcast web site. One can make own home video with a cheap webcam and Microsoft Movie Maker that comes free with the PC and upload that as well. Its like the muti-coloured fruits and vegetables on the Italian Pizza, the flat-world platform allows different cultures to season and flavour it as they like.  It now seems no longer inevitable that everyone is going to look, speak, sing, dance and think like an American or European because of globalisation. The forces of globalisation has other attributes too which strengthen local cultures and make it global by preventing the trends of homogenization. Our experience shows that  new forms of communication are propelling people to innovation and creativity. We are witnessing   creation of  a global platform for multiple forms of sharing traditions, concepts, ethos, craft, knowledge, entertainment and  empowering of individuals.

Diversity can now  travel to different corners of the world even without the internet. There is more radio today, more TV, more telephone, more cellphone, more travel, more contacts which enable people to respect diversity.  The internet, satellite TV, numerous ICT softwares,  podcasters and ipods enable   globalisation of  local cultures, art forms, styles, recipes, literature, videos, opinions, customs, languages and so on. It’s a new type of cultural revolution  but driven this time from the bottom up.

Globalisation of the local is manifested in the diaspora communities around the world who use the global media networks to cling to their local mores, news, traditions and communities, no matter where they are living. The demand for local news, information and respect for cultural traditions is the driving force for such developments.   The diasporic market means easy access to international newspapers, TV and radio channels which are completely based on local languages. Google Search Engine  is now available is 120 different languages enabling people to inform themselves easily in their own mother tongue. This is just an instance of not only preservation of local languages but its expansion from local to global.  

The flat world in the globalised environment empowers the forces of darkness as well as those of light. It depends on how we prepare ourselves to utilize the opportunities and  which strategies are adopted to empower human  creativity and share the resources with anyone living anywhere  at almost no cost. An amazing situation  of human fraternity is unfolding.