Introduction
Globally, many stands have been held, as to how different foreign attributes and communal beliefs have had a direct influence on culture allowing for the loss of the much-treasured identity. In general, the addition of different varieties of political issues, economic concerns, and social behaviors in a specified cultural setting has in the time allowed for unnoticed cultural erosion.
Given the rate at which the intensification of worldwide social relations linking distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa, it has been almost impossible to maintain and express a notable identity. Despite the economic and social opportunities offered by globalization, the adverse effect it has had on the youth concerning the cultural erosion of given communities has continued to bedevil it, as is explained. (Arnett 2002, p.774).
Cultural Imperialism
This review shall seek to clarify how foreignism, media, and cultural imperialism have changed the global perspective of culture and human trends by the review of three key texts; “the United Nations study of young people in a globalizing world, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett’s psychology of globalization and Nancy Morris’s media, culture and society” (Morris 2002, p.278). Cultural imperialism can be seen as a process through which a given civilization is brought into modern reality with the sole purpose of promoting the structures, virtues, and values for a more modern society.
The cultural imperialism theory tries to explain how and why western worlds have been able to dominate the third world countries through the media by imposing western views and, as a result destroying the present native ones. This theory exploits the lack of free will in human nature, showing how their ability to feel, think, and act is directly affected by the comparisons they make with their immediate environment. Understanding cultural imperialism is important as it directly affects how globalization has been able to naturally influence the society allowing for gradual cultural erosion.
The United Nation’s stand on cultural imperialism
“To gain a full understanding of how cultural globalization relates to the youth culture, greater regard has to be given to the role that ICT and the media play in the matrix” (UN 2003, p.1). Specifically, it is argued, that a bicultural identity has been developed by most people in the world over allowing them to combine their native identity to the global culture. It may have brought about an identity crisis, especially among the youth in native cultures, and this is entirely attributable to globalization and identity change. It can also be seen, that some people have taken to self-selected cultures to maintain a much-treasured identity separate from the global culture.
According to the United Nations’ survey, despite the gains made by the different societies regarding their adoption of different cultures, the effect of globalization on young people has been largely negative, with one person’s advantage being another’s disadvantage.
Cultural resilience and interaction of the youth with global culture
According to the UN study, the continued such of identity among young people has been the main cause of their instability in an evolving world (Arnett 2002). In this regard, the interaction of the youth with global trends has been the main cause behind the loss of the capacity to meaningfully generate and negotiate. In general, some global beliefs, passed through the youth have involved protested and contested possibilities that have posed as threats to communities despite the claims that it aims at promoting diverse relationships.
These beliefs have ideally forced many countries to invest in more modern technological equipment and more costly human labor due to the direct effect of advances in global trends. Due to this, ties between countries have become stronger, and more developed because of their ability to establish common grounds. According to the United Nations, cultural imperialism has continued to reduce the opportunities available to young people despite the many who depend on global media to express themselves.
General stands on cultural resilience and globalization
Nancy Morris supports sociologist Sam Pryke (1995), who notes that culture is not the single source of national purity, however, it allows the general population to constantly adapt and absorb it. In her view, the process of identity formation has never been pure and free of external forces and that there has always existed a link between foreign mass media and the identity many cultures are seen to poses. According to her, the evolution of media through modern technology conjoined with the effect of colonialism and imperialism has overly led to an increased cultural mixing which in the long run has resulted in the erosion of pre-existing norms and beliefs.
In her opinion, cultural creativity is a direct consequence of innovation and aspects borrowed from other cultures through media resulting in one way or another to cultural erosion. In this regard, it has been important to maintain the link between different cultures to allow for the movement of ideas that carry important cultural symbols from place to place allowing for cultural hybridization.
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, on the other hand, notes that globalization, due to its long existence has directly contributed to how one culture influences another, allowing for the exchange of information and ideas. In his thought, this has been the main reason behind the intensity and degree with which connections between different cultures in different world regions have been established. He supports (Morris 2002), who argue that it is because of the pivotal role adolescents have played that we have been able to appreciate the effects of globalization and an adverse cultural change.
Because of the ever-growing radio and television network, most populations over the world have been able to access global information despite this globalization has not been always welcome in urban areas, whereas in the rural ones older cultural trends are highly valued, as noted by (Morris 2002). In their opinion, to fully understand the impact felt regarding cultural erosion, it is very important to note the deep structures that have withstood surface alteration given the ever-changing nature and resilience of cultural identities.
Recommendations
Insights on both of the above texts, as explained by Arnett and Morris fail to indicate how the effects of media and foreignism and their contribution to cultural erosion can be effectively measured in the different populations concerning the population’s acceptance to change. It is important if at all one, is to clearly illustrate how some local cultures can retain a local identity despite the growing global foreign nudge. An example of this is as noted by (Arnett 2002), whereby young people in many countries with an educated background as a direct consequence of the trends in the global economy, surprisingly tend to vouch for an arranged marriage, which is an archaic arrangement of their olden traditions.
References
Arnett, J., 2002. The Psychology of Globalization. American Psychologist, 57(10), pp.774-783.
Morris, N., 2002. Media, Culture & Society. SAGE Publications, 24(12), pp.278-289.
UN, 2003. World youth report: Young people in a globalizing world. Web.