IS GLOBALIZATION SIMPLY WESTERNIZATION?

There is no doubt that globalization is changing and influencing other cultures and societies. But to say that globalization is simply a synonym to westernization and therefore homogenizing culture is not to asses the entire situation critically. Lets look at this from a western media perspective.

Ok, so first, what is westernization exactly? Well its the assimilation of Western culture (Europe and the USA). Its the social process of becoming familiar with, or converting to the customs and practices of Western civilization. And many believe that globalization is simply westernization. That through media, politics, transportation, logistics, and the economy, the western world is converting the rest of the world to its cultural values.

Tomlinson, who writes on globalization extensively in his book: Globalization and Culture, makes a significant point on the globalization of media and technology which relates to the question at hand. One, he says that we can't just assume that because we have the technology to connect ourselves with the world that we do, and we can't assume that the way we ( the western world ) connects with the rest of the world is in an equally give and take, symbiotic way.

By this he means that, the way we broadcast our culture to other cultures and societies is not the same in the way that their cultures are broadcast to us. In conjunction with this, Tomlinson says that the western media--Hollywood for example, produces and the rest of the world watches. And often what is shown in western media is not only the way we view ourselves, but the other cultures and people who we broadcast to in unflattering and stereotypical ways. Western media makes fun of other cultures, religions, and ethnicities, and exploits its own fears for the world to see.

So to claim that globalization is homogenizing culture through media is to claim that those people being foreign-ly exposed to western media, who see themselves being portrayed in unflattering light, are passive and un-critical! This is simply  not the case, as Tomlinson and other scholars have explored and determined people at home an abroad interpret, react, and use mass cultural products in unexpected ways.

Now, with this background information in the near future I will be expanding,questioning, and continuing the conversation on globalization in the light of westernization. I will be looking to other authors and scholars for jumping off points and probably continue to reference Tomlinson.

PHOTO CREDIT HERE