It is no secret that the 21st century is a time of globalization. People can now move freely all around the world, and because of this, there is more interaction between different cultures and nations. Although some fear that globalization will have a negative effect on cultural identity, I believe that certain aspects of human psychology could help to preserve cultural identities within multi-cultural communities, while globalization itself could be beneficial for the modern world.
Like any other socio-economic trend, globalization has raised a lot of concerns in different countries. For example, Mike Collins discusses the effects that globalization has on local communities, the economy, and nature. He states, “Multinational corporations are accused of social injustice, unfair working conditions (including slave labor wages, living and working conditions), as well as the lack of concern for the environment, mismanagement of natural resources, and ecological damage” (Collins sec. 3). Other cons of globalization that he notes include a lack of jobs in developed countries, the risk of technology stealing, increased child labor, and the spreading of diseases such as HIV/AIDS (Collins). Valadbigi and Ghobadi argue that “globalization is a new version of colonialism which not only increases vulnerability and interdependency of the developing world but also widens the existing gaps between the rich and poor countries” (sec. 1 par. 13). However, they also describe that whereas national identities get weaker due to migration, “The individuals try to adopt creative lifestyles and succumb to the traditional tools of identity-making to get rid of the crises of identity” (sec. 6, par. 3), meaning that cultural identities become more important and valued.
From my experience, I can confirm that this is true. I know a few people who moved to live or to study in other countries. In each case, they soon felt nostalgic for their native communities and tried to address their feelings by celebrating traditional holidays, finding other immigrants from their countries, spreading awareness of their native cultures across their new community, and so on. They became a lot more involved in their country’s traditions than the majority of people who still lived there. In this way, globalization indeed supports cultural identity instead of destroying it. But this does not mean that immigrant communities are alienated from local people. For example, it is a common practice in many European universities to hold culture-themed celebrations and events, where people from different cultural backgrounds can connect with one another. Such a cultural exchange is one of the benefits of globalization. As Turkey and Rudmin explain, globalization has “opened physical as well as social borders” (63), creating “new sociocultural environments” (64). Other advantages include the possibility to share technological advances, increased tolerance to other nations and cultures, circulation of information, and working on global ecological issues together (Collins sec. 2).
In my opinion, globalization is not only beneficial but also natural. It is logical for this process to happen in the world we live in now as some of the present issues (e.g., terrorism, poverty, and global warming) need different nations to come together and find a way to solve them. Some scholars claim that this cooperation would be impossible due to the difficulties surrounding cultural exchange (Papademetriou 41). Mark Pagel, on the other hand, argues that the ability to form large intercultural groups is in our DNA: “We have taken cooperation and sociality beyond the good relations among family members that dominate the rest of the animal kingdom, to making cooperation work among wider groups of people” (par. 8).
In general, there is clearly some truth behind the concerns about the impact of globalization on cultural identity: “Globalization, through its conspicuous promotion of consumerism, embraces a form of uniformity that dissolves cultural attachments, dissociates people, and induces isolation” (Hindi 533). However, in reality, most people can integrate with other cultures without losing their identity. Moreover, as I know from my experience, moving to live abroad can help some of us to develop a stronger bond to our native identity. To sum up, there are numerous benefits of globalization for the modern world, and I believe that people are flexible enough to allow for cultural exchange and cooperation without damaging their own cultural identity.
References
Collins, Mike. “The Pros and Cons of Globalization.” Forbes. 2015. Web.
Ghobadi, Shahab and Valadbigi, Akbar. “Ups and Downs of Ethnic Identity in the Era of Globalization (Focusing on the Middle East Region).” New Knowledge in a New Era of Globalization. Ed. Piotr Pachura. InTech Online Library, 2011. Web.
Hindi, Gizel, Ed. D. The Effects of Globalization on Identity. European Scientific Journal. Special edition vol. 1 (2014): 531-538. Web.
Pagel, Mark. “Does Globalization Mean We Will Become One Culture?”BBC Future. 2014. Web.
Papademetriou, Demetrios G. “Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration.” Challenges of a Multicultural World and Global Approaches to Coexistence: Realities, Visions, and Actions. Washington DC: Migration Policy Institute (2012). Web.
Türken, Salman, and Rudmin, Floyd W. “On Psychological Effects of Globalization: Development of a Scale of Global Identity.” Psychology & Society. 5.2 (2013): 63-89. Web.