Culture Change and Globalization

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Chapter 16

• Culture Change and Globalization

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What We Will Learn

• How do cultures change?
• What are some obstacles to cultural change?
• In what ways do civilization and
  industrialization threaten the cultures of
  Indigenous populations?
• Do economic development programs always benefit
  the people of developing countries?
• What is globalization, and how does it affect the
  cultures of the world?

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Cultural Change

• No culture remains unchanged.
• Cultures change in two ways
• Internally - through the processes of invention
  and innovation
• Externally through the process of diffusion.

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Inventors and Innovators

• Inventors and innovators tend to be marginal
  people living on the fringes of society.
• Not bound by tradition or convention, these
  people see problems and their solutions with a
  fresh perspective.
• Many come from from upper-class, wealthy, and
  well-educated segments of society.

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Diffusion

• The spreading of a thing, an idea, or a behavior
  pattern from one culture to another.
• If every culture had to rely solely on its own
  inventions, human progress over the centuries
  would indeed be slow.
• Cultures have been able to develop rapidly
  because the process of diffusion has enabled
  humans to pool their creative/inventive resources.

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Cultural Diffusion Selectivity

• The adoption of an innovation by a culture and
  the speed with which it is adopted depends on the
  following
• Is it seen as superior to what already exists?
• Is it consistent with existing cultural patterns?
• Is it easily understood?
• Can it be tested on a trial basis?
• Are the benefits clearly visible?

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Cultural Diffusion Reciprocity

• Diffusion is a two-way process.
• While Europeans introduced their culture to
  native Americans, they received cultural features
  in return
• Clothing - ponchos, parkas, and moccasins.
• Medicines - quinine, pain relievers, and
  laxatives.
• Food - corn, beans, tomatoes, squash, yams,
  avocados, and the so-called Irish potato.

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Cultural Diffusion Modification

• Once a cultural element is accepted in a new
  culture, it may change in form or function.
• The Masai of Kenya and Tanzania pierce their
  earlobes and enlarge the hole by inserting
  increasingly larger round pieces of wood until a
  loop of skin is formed.
• One group of Masai was observed using Eveready
  flashlight batteries obtained from the U.S.

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Cultural Diffusion Likelihood

• Some parts of culture are more likely to be
  diffused than others.
• Material culture is more likely to be diffused
  than ideas or behavior patterns.
• A traditional farmer in Senegal is more likely
  understand the advantages of a bulldozer over a
  shovel than of substituting Buddhism for his form
  of ancestor worship.

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Cultural Diffusion Variables

• Diffusion is affected by
• Duration and intensity of contact.
• Degree of cultural integration.
• Similarities between the donor and recipient
  cultures.

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Acculturation

• Takes place as a result of sustained contact
  between two societies, one of which is
  subordinate to the other.
• Involves the widespread reorganization of one or
  both cultures over a short period of time.
• Both the dominant and subordinate culture
  experience changes, but the subordinate culture
  changes most dramatically.

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Consequences of Acculturation

• The subordinate culture could
• Become extinct
• Be incorporated as a distinct subculture of the
  dominant group
• Be assimilated (blended) into the dominant group

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Linked Changes

• A single innovation may set off changes in other
  parts of a culture.
• Television
• Introduced during the 1950s.
• Replaced the the radio as the major form of
  electronic communication in U.S. Households.
• Had consequences for other parts of the culture,
  such as the family system, the political process,
  and religious institutions.

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Cultural Boundaries

• Strengthen a cultures traditions and discourage
  cultural borrowing
• Language
• Eating habits
• Clothing
• Folklore
• Humor

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Indigenous Populations

• Refers to a group of people who are
• Original inhabitants of a region.
• Identify with a specific, small-scale cultural
  heritage.
• Have no significant role in the government.
• Examples the small-scale cultures in Asia,
  Africa, and the Americas that came under the
  influence of the colonial powers during the past
  several centuries.

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Modernization Theory
Modern nations are associated with

• Precise time
• Religious pluralism
• Low birth/death rates
• Upward mobility based on merit
• Rapid change
• Planning for the future
• Decline in the extended family

• High levels of technology
• Industrialization
• Urbanization
• Formal education
• Efficient bureaucratic governments
• Strong market economies

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Modernization Theory

• Undeveloped nations must engage in activities
  that them more like the developed nations.
• Economic development would occur through the
  mechanism of foreign aid from the wealthy nations
  to the undeveloped nations.
• Blames poverty on the poor by suggesting that
  some countries are poorly developed because of
  cultural characteristics which they pass on to
  their children.

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World Systems Theory

• According to this theory, the rich and poor
  nations of the world are not fundamentally
  different because of cultural features but
  because of how they have operated within the
  world system.
• Economic development is not the result of an
  enlightened or progressive population but instead
  occurs when one group purposefully increases its
  own wealth at the expense of others.

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Factors in the the Rise of Globalization

• Revolution in computer technology made
  communication faster and cheaper for a growing
  segment of the worlds population.
• Methods of investing money has changed, today it
  is, to a large degree, in the hands of
  individuals.
• There has been a fundamental change in the flow
  of information all over the world.

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Quick Quiz
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• 1. Cultures change from ________ such as
  inventions and innovations.
• internal strife
• external mechanisms
• external forces
• internal mechanisms

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Answer d

• Cultures change from internal mechanisms such as
  inventions and innovations

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• 2. A/an ________ is any new thing, idea, or
  behavior pattern that emerges from within a
  society.
• Creation
• Innovation
• Construct
• invention

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Answer d

• An invention is any new thing, idea, or behavior
  pattern that emerges from within a society.

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• 3. ________ is the spread of a thing, an idea, or
  a cultural pattern from one culture to another.
• Diffusion
• Enculturation
• Innovation
• Acculturation

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Answer a

• Diffusion is the spread of a thing, an idea, or a
  cultural pattern from one culture to another.

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• 4. _______ is a special type of diffusion that
  takes place as a result of sustained contact
  between two societies, one of which is
  subordinate to the other.
• Modification
• Acculturation
• Reciprocity
• Enculturation

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Answer b

• Acculturation is a special type of diffusion that
  takes place as a result of sustained contact
  between two societies, one of which is
  subordinate to the other.

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• 5. According to the ________ theory, the wealthy
  countries of the world achieved high levels of
  development by exploiting other regions,
  plundering their resources, using their people as
  cheap sources of labor, and dominating their
  markets.
• colonialism
• voluntaristic
• world systems
• modernization

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Answer c

• According to the world systems theory, the
  wealthy countries of the world achieved high
  levels of development by exploiting other
  regions, plundering their resources, using their
  people as cheap sources of labor, and dominating
  their markets.