Different World Cultures and Globalization Research Paper

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The US-Mexico border area is occupied by about 11.8 million people (MPI, 2006). Mexico makes the largest source of immigrants into the United States with about 30% of the total foreign-born population coming from the country (Passel, 2004; qtd. in Jiménez, 2008). The study of immigration patterns is important because these patterns influence the culture of a people (Jiménez, 2008). The Mexican border cities have been associated with large-scale smuggling of drugs, illegal immigration, ethnic tensions, night clubs and other forms of the disorder.

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The environment is characteristic of a blend of more than one factor; a blend between two mixing cultures in political, social, and cultural contexts-United States and Mexico; struggle to retain singular cultures and poverty among other factors. The border culture has evolved as a result of interactions of the Anglo-Americans, Mexican Americans, and border Americans. Co-existence which has occurred through transnational interactions as well as border interactions influenced by economic and other needs has played a role in ensuring that the community living on the border transforms into a relatively peaceful place. This paper seeks to examine the influence on the culture at the border, adoption of cultures, and assimilation as well as its relation to globalization.

According to social scientists’ views, intermarriages, language abilities, residential locations, and social-economic status have been measures through which assimilation models have acted to result in the fading away of ethnic boundaries (Waters and Jiménez, 2005). The ethnic boundaries fade to be replaced by the symbolic, optional, and inconsequential nature of ethnic identity (Jiménez, 2008). The influx of Mexican immigrants has been said to cause ethnicity less of a symbolic, optional and inconsequential aspect of identity through the creation of boundaries that slice through the Mexican-origin and sharpening of the boundaries that circumscribe Mexican Americans according to Jiménez (2008). The large presence of the Mexican creates the “inter-group boundaries” and the “intra-group boundaries”. The former acts to indirectly sharpen the boundaries between the non-Mexicans and the Mexican Americans although the foreign-born Mexican immigrants are the primary target of anti-immigrant antipathy; the Mexican Americans also experience indirect effects of nativist sentiments (Jiménez, 2008).

About a quarter of the population in the United States counties bordering Mexico (which is equal to about a double-12%-of the total population living in poverty the whole country) has been said to live below the poverty line. In addition, the rate of poverty at the Mexican border is below the Mexican national average (28% against 37%) (MPI, 2006). The populations at the border are also faced with unemployment, with the rate for unemployment for the Southern border being about 5.6 % as compared to 4.7% for the whole country. About 300,000 people living in the colonies are faced with poor living conditions such as unsafe drinking water or water systems and poor housing. The communities on the Mexican side of the border are faced with poor conditions of sanitation and less access to water than those on the American side of the border according to the Environmental Protection Agency, Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organization (qtd. in MPI, 2006).

The relationship between the two countries may still be important because MPI reports that the United States is the largest Mexico trading partner and Mexico is the second-largest trading partner. There were also plans to increase the border-crossings for people across the two countries to improve trade (MPI, 2006). The combined poverty rate for the US border has been indicated as 132.4% while that of the Mexico border being 52.3%. The countries have reached some agreements together such as the Smart Border Agreement to help screen third-country nationals, combat alien smuggling, and harmonize point-of-entry (MPI, 2006).

The people on the Mexican border can be grouped into two categories; national borderlands and transnational borderlands. The former are those who have minimal or superficial contact with other people across the border. The few interactions may result due to their lack of the ability or willingness to function in any substantive way in another society or as a result of their indifference to their next-door neighbors. Transnational borderlands are those that interact with people across the border in an attempt to advance their economic or other interests. They seek to overcome obstacles presented by the situation and take advantage in education, business, settlement, work, or other aspects of life. The influence of each other’s culture may differ in the extent, on the two classes of bonderlanders. The fact that the United States and Mexico maintain closer ties may have made some people see issues of nationality and loyalty as no big problems or have self-guilt over interactions, and encouraged further interactions. Because transnational interactions seek to take advantage of the situation and involve more cross-border travels, it may have the greatest impact on cultural exchanges as people seek to survive best. On the other side, it encourages dual-culturalism because these people need not lose their original cultures from the countries with which they align.

Transnational interaction which is evident in the Mexican borders with the various types of people interacting may have contributed to the adoption of cultures and borrowing of cultures by different people from each other. The people who live on the Mexican borders visit their countries of origin from time to time for shopping trips or leisure. In addition to transnational interaction, people on the border are accustomed to deal with conflicts resulting from international controversies and differences. These people have also curved central elements in the behaviors, values, and thinking through experiences encountered over time as they deal with ethnic differences and learn to co-exist (Martinez, n.d.). Stricter immigration policies have been proposed as means of reducing local crime and increased security on the border to reduce violent and property crime through thwarting undocumented immigration. Research on violent crime in border communities which has been noted to be very little needs to be advanced (Andreas, 2000; Nevins, 2002; qtd. in Martinez, Stowell & Cancino, n.d.).

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The differences also exist among the border people in terms of languages, religions, and customs, and these get to be shared or borrowed as the interaction progresses. Border cultures are mostly felt in the border cities and the Texas-Mexico cities include Saltillo, Monterey, San Antonio, and Houston. As one progresses to the interior of the countries, the impact of the border culture reduces. Interaction occurs as migrants travel from the Mexican cities into the interior of the United States and this is evident with the presence of large numbers of Mexican Americans in cities like Chicago and Denver. Guadalajara and Mexico City are cities in Mexico that have cultural connections with the people at the border. These cities also have people emanating from them and traveling into the United States as migrants (Martinez, n.d.).

The evident of adoption or assimilation of some cultures into others can be traced in the mix emanating from the interaction of Texas Anglo culture with Mexican norteno culture i.e. “Tex-Mex” culture, an agricultural and ranging society, and sub-tropical climate at the South Texas-Northeastern Mexico. In “Tex-Mex” music, there is a combination of instruments and sounds from both nations (Martinez, n.d.).

The effects of this interaction at the border include the learning of the English language by the Mexican Americans and their absorption of much of the American both being influenced by economic necessities. Although the group has learned English, the proximity to Mexico has made them retain the Spanish language and some Mexican Cultures. While the Mexican Americans may find themselves having a necessity to learn English and adopt some American cultures due to economic needs and therefore may be forced to interact more with American culture and language, most of the Anglo Americans living in the border do not have many transnational interactions with other ethnic groups thoughtfully because of lesser economic compelling factors to cross the border, learn Spanish, or familiarize themselves with the Mexican culture. However, there are a few Anglo Americans who participate in economic interests and would learn Spanish and function within the Mexican circles effectively. Some others interact with the Mexican society for personal reasons rather than economic needs. Through the various types of interaction, bicultural and binational symbiosis have been encouraged (Martinez, n.d.).

The impact and extent of cultural influences upon the people living on the border are also influenced by factors such as occupations, type of residence-whether permanent or temporary, source of income, level of education, and ties with the interior areas. Those who reside at the border for a long time are likely to show more transnational characteristics than the short-lived as would the transnational borderlands who spend a lot of time across the borders, compared to those who spend little time there. The co-existence among the core borderlands is possible because groups have managed to adapt to the border-related disagreements, extremely territorial and cultural animosity between the two nations. This is in consideration that the two have a disparity in their economies. Leadership is also provided by those with a high degree of cultural versatility and the leadership has contributed to unifying the different groups of people at the border. The core borderlanders have been able to learn and understand the implications of parochial policies and actions, have a broader view of problems, and take into consideration other people’s needs. This is one result of interactions at the border; people have learned to co-exist and formulate systems in which they can work together (Martinez, n.d.).

With globalization seeking to result in reduced barriers between countries, the people living on the Mexican border may experience more positive results because it will ensure that more people interact and bond. The transfer of cultures amongst the people will increase with the increase of the population interacting. The role of the culture in helping people to interact is the elimination of barriers where people view others as different, but as they seek to solve their problems, they view others as compliments.

References

Andreas, Peter. Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000.

Jiménez Tomás. Mexican-Immigrant Replenishment and the Continuing Significance of Ethnicity and Race. For the American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 113.no.6. 2008. Web.

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Martinez Oscar. Human Interaction in the Texas-Mexico Borderlands. 2009. Web.

Martinez Ramiro, Jacob Stowell, Jeffrey Cancino. A Tale of Two Border Cities: Community Context, Ethnicity, and Homicide. Web.

MPI. The US-Mexico Border. 2006. Web.

Nathan, Debbie. Women and Other Aliens: Essays from the U.S.–Mexico Border. El Paso: Cinco Puntos, 1991.

Urrea, Luis Alberto. Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border. New York: Anchor Books, 1993.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Different World Cultures and Globalization." November 1, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/different-world-cultures-and-globalization/.

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