Globalization and Its Impact on Culture

More so, sovereign states and nations also indulge in the world of globalization. The effect of globalization is a major one and can be felt in matters trade, investments, policy, civil and political matters among other areas which in turn influences different aspects of the society ranging from culture, social setting, political ideologies, environment and even trends in trade and economics. Globalization is simply an exchange of ideas and information on how to do certain things. Therefore, the impact it has, is propelled majorly by change in technological trends and the advancement and growth of information and communication technologies. This paper therefore, seeks to shed light on the impact that globalization has on the culture of a society. The way of life is affected, from the naturally existing culture, to a culture controlled by globalization and mostly by western, first world countries who have been the major champions of globalization in third world countries.

In consistent trends, especially in the developing world, globalization leads to misrepresentation and stereotyping of locals, by the global companies that engage the locals in economic and social activities. (Duru-Ford, 2002) Multinational companies have taken advantage of the local cultures to exploit the available natural resources in the guise that they shall help the countries develop. This is usually a misleading principle, where the extracting company operates in a way that purports to foster labour opportunities for locals. (Jean, 2002) This idea of alternative economic activities, disorients the culture of those people that it affects. The locals are exploited and taken for granted by the companies and the loss suffered is so profound to the well-being of the local communities. (Jean, 2002) The sad truth is that the host countries have allowed this multinational companies to exploit their natural resources, and they do little or nothing at all to ensure that their citizens do not suffer at the hands of these multinational companies.

The third world countries are exploited at the expense of the developing world. Instead of the resources obtained therein to be used for the development and growth of that country, they are a reserve of the developed world. (Duru-Ford, 2002) This scenario is that of modern colonialism, where exploitation of resources, scramble and partition of those resources is being done in the twenty first century. (Izberk - Bilgin, 2012) The locals surely will try the new ideas but as and at when they fail, or alternatives come up, the locals abandon them and the challenges that were meant to be alleviated occur all over again. The new solutions become short-lived in the pursuit of globalization. Another major aspect of culture is the access, use and application of knowledge and information.

Cultural knowledge and traditional knowledge is the heritage of communities who still observe and practice cultural activities. (Izberk - Bilgin, 2012) Globalization has led to the adoption of e-learning activities which interferes with the cognitive form of popular culture, as well as creating alternative access to education and information. This has followed wide codification and documentation of culture in distributable media and this has caused a widespread pool of knowledge and information about cultures. (Olsson et al. Trade has now revolved under culture of the targeted group, where a company will tailor its products, these are goods and services, in a way that appeals to the cultural affiliations of various communities. The open economy has given rise to these aspects of targeted marketing.

(Olsson et al. Through improved global technological networks, people across diverse cultures can interact and share information quickly and that people’s decision to share information depends on their different cultural leanings. The global media provides a platform through education about relevant characteristics of a distinct culture can be undertaken. Besides, cultures can control artifacts, signs, and symbols by creating international awareness about their distinct culture. (Olsson et al. , 2014) In instances where culture maybe under the possible threat of becoming obsolete, extinct or unknown, globalization fosters revitalization and restoration of such cultures. Codification and documentation of cultural aspects could be a start so that such information is available even to the future generations who may choose to indulge in cultural advancement and growth.