Impact of Globalization on Society and Culture

Assignment No. 01 prepared by: Shaheer Khan. Section C, Class Number 106, 6th Semester. Assignment Submitted to: Sir Iqbal Arif Utman.

IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON SOCIETY AND CULTURE - MARCH 18, 2014

Oh human! A piece of universal sphere! Seek yourself to find the infinity woven into your body The human body is a wonderful creation of God. Its filled with a plethora of blessings unique to its existence. These blessings make this piece of creation stand out among all other creations that exist or existed in this universe. Social Integration with like creations is one of such blessings. Know that the social collaboration attribute over the years has not seen borders as its obstacle but has accepted it as an opportunity to evolve itself into an unstoppable plague. This plague is then termed as Globalization. Of all the definitions proposed by different scholars, the following provides a more vivid picture of its explanation.1 ..It is the process of world shrinkage, of distances getting shorter, things moving closer. It pertains to the increasing ease with which somebody on one side of the world can interact, to mutual benefit, with somebody on the other side of the world. The term globalization has itself become globalized over the past years and has reshaped our lives to an extreme extent. Economically, culturally and socially whether knowingly or unknowingly it has slowly crept inside our life veins and dominates our ideals. Culture is never static. It is dynamic. Every moment we are being transformed, always growing - like the cells in our bodies. It changes exactly the same way as human beings change. We cannot romanticize our culture. In my days, I would never dare say a word against my parents NO. Today, the generation would go into meaningless arguments over petty things with their parents. Numerous examples can be quoted here. Adieu! O life adieu! For times faded in silence. Colors disguised in crimson snow, wine in worthless frosty dew. Music collapsed; as for years my ears beg to hear, Eyes sigh for now. lights that dim

This transformation is so gradual and not sudden or abrupt. Culture is a continuous process of change but in spite of the change, culture continues giving a community a sense of identity, dignity, and continuity, security and binds society together. Consider globalization a garden of diverse flowers. Every flower has a unique fragrance and beauty which is intrinsic to its creation. None of the flowers share the same
1

Swedish journalist Thomas Larsson, in his book The Race to the Top: The Real Story of Globalization,
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IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON SOCIETY AND CULTURE - MARCH 18, 2014

characteristics. But they all belong to the same soil. Such diversity blooms the garden gives it its beauty it never dreamt of. That time is not far when there will be no borders, no boundaries, no flags and no countries and the only passport will be the heart. Where only hearts will be the basis for interaction and thats where globalization will reach its extremity.

Positive Influences
Dr S.Vijay in his paper titled Economic , Social and Cultural impact of globalization states 2 Globalization has made countries to realize that nations can no longer be cocooned in their own cultural or economic nests but invariably be part of the larger picture which takes into account the competencies, interests and the dependencies of economies world -wide. The zeal of globalization has even forced Governments to be tuned to the merits of a Global economy. If we for a moment come outside of the balance of busy life and observe our ideals, we would at once realize the drastic change that has occurred in our culture and social values.

As for the cultural aspect of the globalization impact is concerned, it has infused quality ideals and expanded our horizons to a great extent. The foremost impact on culture it has is on dress fashion. Our dresses are markedly changed and incorporate Western design inputs. This has undoubtedly revolutionized the fashion arena, be it dress or glasses or shoes, and brought versatility in our art. With the advent of globalization came media factor which instantly clutched our culture in tight hands. Media acted as a catalyst for evolution of unique and indigenous ideas that were latent in our society. It changed somehow the existing perceptions by showing the people best of the both worlds content so that they weigh their perceptions in different lights. The access to the television and broadband facilities has grown to a remarkable extent thus bringing change in our outlook, language dialects and preference, more inclination towards easy going life and recreational
2

National Seminar on Globalization: New Challenge to Indian Society on March 6.

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IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON SOCIETY AND CULTURE - MARCH 18, 2014

activities, preference for modern activities and majority of population now interested in music and dance forms. We have not noticed how fast these have risen. Most of the industrialized world--and a good part of the nonindustrialized world as well--has better cell phone service. Broadband is faster and cheaper across the industrial world, and Pakistan is now hastily advancing towards 3G cellular service. Albeit a third of the country's public schools are totally dysfunctional, there has more emphasis on high level education and hence the number of functional fully operative private schools has risen over the last decades. Access to television has grown from 10% of the urban population in 1991 to 75% in 1999 and to 90% in 20093.Cable television and foreign movies have become widely available for the first time. Whats interesting about the impact of globalization is that our dreams and ambitions have taken new turns. Our dreams are loftier than they were ever before and more people aspire of greatness now. Our personality traits and achievement of success perception has changed. There is a greater and faster flow of information between countries and greater cultural interaction has over time helped to overcome cultural barriers which has led to better understanding contributing to peaceful earth. In the era of globalization, everything is interconnected. A problem in one part of the world will definitely impact on other parts of the globe. Such phenomenon is also valid for defense and security context. A conflict in a state will bring implications in its neighboring countries or other countries extended in the same region. Therefore, collaborative efforts in tackling common defense and security problems are essentially required.4 (Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono_)

Negative Influences
Along with this cross-cultural change in dress designs, the ideology has taken a turn too. The veil that was once associated with the female form in the pre-globalized Islamic world where the more covered had spelt more chaste has now changed meaning altogether. Thus, the change in the newly established preferred dressing style come with a renewed concept of morality that does not conform with those of our ancestors. The impact of globalization on Pakistani culture is quite visible with almost all the cultural phenomena now moving towards post-modernism, including film, theatre and media. Moreover, our cultural renewal has led us to detach ourselves from our true cultural values which were passed down to us by ancestors. Losing culture is equivalent to losing identity. It should be mentioned here that excessive reliance on global cultures and norms has been followed
Internet URL retrieved on 3/18/2014 from http://vijaysvision.blogspot.com/2011/12/economicsocialand-cultural-impact-of.html 4 Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono
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IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON SOCIETY AND CULTURE - MARCH 18, 2014

without keeping in view our religious, cultural and moral limitations. For instance, social mixing of opposite genders has accelerated violating the religious commandments openly. Besides, uncontrolled and wholly liberal media has acted as the corruptor of healthy minds which are destined for greater things in life; rather get indulged in unhealthy activities leading to moral derailment of themselves as well as society. Economically, the products are being imported from any country whose production potential is at best. However, in doing so, we fail to realize that we are pushing ourselves to an abyss where we totally depend on other countries. This makes us weaken our production capacity and hence severely affect our economy. While globalization opens doors it also leads to blending of cultures and the deterioration of unique cultural differences. Gap between rich and poor, reduction in individual sovereignty of a nation, environmental pollution and susceptibility of all parts of the world suffering with recession in other countries are the anticipated results of globalization. The youth prefer the western beats to the local artists and hair styles, shoes and clothing keep to the trends on the western fashion scene. Surprisingly, globalization has strengthened the void between the haves and have-nots. This will ultimately result in the absolute division of human beings into two classes, and the more powerful of these classes will enslave the other until the human condition either evolves or comes to an end. Ill wrap by following words said by Swamy Vivekananda in 1893 who perceived the hazardous coming of Globalization menace years before when he spoke at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. 'Shall India die? Then, from the world all spirituality will be extinct, all sweet-souled sympathy for religion will be extinct, all ideality will be extinct ; and in its place will reign the duality of lust and luxury as the male and female deities, with money as its priest, fraud, force, and competition its ceremonies, and human soul its sacrifice. Such a thing can never be.

IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON SOCIETY AND CULTURE - MARCH 18, 2014