The process of globalization has embraced various spheres of our life. Finance, ideas, and people are now mobile. It is natural that global financial and commodity markets, media, and migration flows have led to a rapid growth of cultural exchanges, which are expressed in a rapidly increasing number of direct contacts between state institutions, social groups, and individuals of different countries and cultures (Griffith and Marion). One of the significant connections which can be drawn between the course readings and Kenny’s book is related to globalization. The effect of globalization can be seen even in such populations as quilombos. This population, the victims of constant stigmatization, was forced to create sustainability not through international trading but through their cultural traditions. However, people are still in the other world and actively participate in online social movements and trends (Kenny). The influence of globalization on culture and the problem of preserving cultural diversity is a phenomenon due to which the experience of everyday life, affecting the dissemination of goods and ideas, reflects the standardization of cultural expressions worldwide. The population presented in the book manages to preserve cultural identity while being part of globalization.
The term globalization utilized in the textbook and Kenny’s writings is similar. Globalization is seen from the perspective of worldwide social relations, which affect people from different parts of the globe (Griffith and Marion). Quilombolas are affected by the power of media content on the Internet, which people from over the world create. The ubiquity of entertainment programming has given rise to the global influence of the Internet, making it a logical target for accusations of cultural imperialism. However, the reverse process cannot be seen because the culture defined in the book population needs to be more popular and well-known.
It is also important to note the similarity associated with the idea that globalization, as practice shows, does not lead to the formation of a single world culture. Modern culture remains a multitude of original cultures, induced in dialogue and interaction with each other. The quilombolas preserve their pottery style, traditional clothes, events, celebrations, and many other traditions as a tribute to history (Kenny). In the course of globalization, some of the ideas and structures of modern life are spreading all over the world. At the same time, the cultural characteristics of individual peoples, against the background of global processes, are becoming more and more sharply outlined or are generally recognized as such for the first time.
Kenny’s Attitude Towards Globalization
Globalization, as presented in the book, is when one region or nation becomes more powerful thanks to global trading or mechanization domination. The author portrays the negative implications and discrimination for less developed countries and populations. The lack of power and influence balance results in the compliance of power in giant corporations or government authorities. Such segregation significantly affects the cultural perception of less massive nations. Many people were re-enslaved due to the process of the global cheap labor economic system (Kenny 45). The shared identity of the quilombolas has significantly helped people overcome globalization-related issues resulting in racial discrimination and the prevalence of white people in the political sphere (Kenny 53). In order to eliminate the harmful prejudices, many campaigns and movements centered on improving the status of black people in society were created (Kenny 54). At the same time, economics is considered the moving force of progress. However, the author states that there can be different opportunities to utilize various economic patterns.
Based on the example of quilombolas, the author highlights that growth, spreading, and net value are only some of the vital basis of the economy. Quilombolas are primarily focused on advancing the ideology of the hand-created pots as a contradiction to the popular conveyor production today. Globalization leads to problems with the ecology, which puts the country’s sustainability at risk. Sustainability, defined in the course materials, is primarily related to the ecological protection of the planet. The sustainability in Kenny’s book is based primarily on the cultural peculiarities of the quilombolas. They use no mechanical tools for pottery which makes their production ecologically sustainable.
Appaduai’s Theory Applied to Quilombolas
Appadurai’s five-scapes theory of globalization can be effectively applied to Kenny’s book. Although the people from the quilomoblas do not live in the highly-delivered country, globalization affects them through the five scapes offered by Appadurai. Through these factors, people become united with the surrounding world (Griffith and Marion). White people often accuse quilombolas of being lazy and incompetent to economic changes, including innovation integrations. However, quilombolas believe in preserving the primordial method of pottery, and they rebel against such a perception. The population is open to access to the Internet or technological development. People preserve their traditions to protest globalization and conveyer production famous worldwide. Quilombolas use social networking sites to participate in worldwide innovation-centered movements actively. This direct effect of globalization supposes the ideoscape flow through technologies. As mentioned in the work of Apparaduai, the mediascape eliminates the boundaries between cultures allowing people to plunge into the different cultures (Griffith and Marion). However, the quilombolas attempts to preserve their unique culture are more distinct than other populations (Kenny). It is connected to the issue of discrimination. The example reflected by Kenny can even be called syncretistic. The different beliefs originating from polar ideology can be connected to one culture (the media development in the quilombolas population) (Griffith and Marion). Despite this, the people there are not deprived of globalization’s influence.
Works Cited
Griffith, Lauren and Marion, Jonathan. “Globalization.” Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology, Empire State College, 2018.
Kenny, Lorena. Deeply Rooted in The Present: Heritage, Memory, And Identity In Brazilian Quilombos. University of Toronto Press, 2018.