Culture and Globalization: A critical Literature Review

Abstract

The paper reviews the existing literature that discusses the relationship between culture and globalization. It begins with an exploration of the three paradigms that describes the impact of globalization on culture: the homogeneity, heterogeneity or hybridity perspective. The homogeneity perspective argues that globalization increases the development of cultural sameness or singularity. That is, globalization allows the adaptation of one dominant culture and hence foresees the possibility of the growth of a global culture. The heterogeneity perspective provides an opposite stance with that of the heterogeneous perspective. The perspective lays its foundation in the believe that existing conflict and violence based on religious or ethnic intolerance among people justifies that globalization actually creates an environment in which people turn back more in their culture and identify more with their existing differences and not sameness. Hence the perspective generally argues that that the homogeneity perspective to be theoretically true but practically questionable. The hybridity perspective on the other side argues that globalization allows give and take of culture and hence people may peak certain cultural pattern to adopt and some discard. The approach therefore persuasive, and support the nature of human behavior and that through interaction with others and even with one’s self, human continuously modifies his/her way of thinking, and world views which ultimately affect their way of life, thus maintaining one’s culture through time and space seems highly unfeasible. This belief makes the very foundation of culture as is viewed to be in a continuous process of social changes and that human rationality constantly influences them to persistently define and redefine their own culture.