THEORIES OF GLOBALIZATION

For various theories, they see globalization as a process that increases

either homogeneity or heterogeneity.

• Homogeneity – it refers to the increasing sameness in the world as

cultural inputs, economic factors, and political orientations of societies
expand to create common practices, same economies, and similar
forms of government.
- Homogeneity in culture is often linked to cultural imperialism.
- This means, a given culture influences other cultures.
- For example, the dominant religion in our country is
Christianity, which was brought to us by the Spaniards.
- Another example is Americanization, which was defined
by Kuisel (1993) as “the import by non-Americans of
products, images, technologies, practices, and behavior
that are closely associated with America/Americans.”
- In terms of economy, there is recognition of the spread of n
neoliberalism, capitalism, and the market economy in the
world.
- Global economic crises are also products of homogeneity in
economic globalization.
- The global flow of media is often characterized as media
imperialism. TV, music, books, and movies are perceived as
imposed on developing countries by the West (Cowen, 2002).
- Media Imperialism undermines the existence of alternative
global media originating from developing countries, such as
 Al Jazeera (Bielsa, 2008), and the Bollywood (Larkin, 2003),
as well as the influence of local and regional media.
- The internet can be seen as an arena for alternative media.
Global media are dominated by a small number of large
corporations.
- As McChesney (1999) put it, this is being “extended from old
media to new media”, such as Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter,
Google, and Apple’s iTunes. As a result, in the long run, the
internet could end up being less diverse and competitive.
- According to Ritzer (2008), in general, the contemporary
world is undergoing the process of McDonalization.
- McDonalization is the process by which Western societies are
dominated by the principles of fast food restaurants. It
involves the global spread of rational systems, such as
efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control.
- Globalization, in contrast with glocalization, is a process
wherein nations, corporations, etc., impose themselves on
geographic areas to gain profits, power, and so on.

• Heterogeneity – it pertains to the creation of various cultural practices,

new economies, and political groups because of the interaction of
elements from different societies in the world.
- Heterogeneity refers to the differences because of either
lasting differences or of the hybrids or combinations of
cultures that can be produced through the different trans
planetary processes.
 - Contrary to cultural imperialism, heterogeneity in culture is
associated with cultural hybridization. A more specific concept
is “glocalization” coined by Roland Robertson in 1992.
- To Robertson, as global forces interact with local factors or a
specific geographic area, the “glocal” is being produced.
- Economic issues are not exempted from heterogeneity. The
commodification of cultures and “glocal” markets are
examples of differentiation happening in many economies
around the world. The same goes with political institutions.

Dynamics of Local and Global Culture

• Cultural Differentialism – it emphasizes the fact that cultures are

essentially different and are only superficially affected by global flows.
- The interaction of cultures is deemed to contain the potential
for “catastrophic collision.”
• Cultural Hybridization – this approach emphasizes the integration of
local and global cultures.
- Globalization is a creative process which gives rise to hybrid
entities that are not reducible to either the global or the local.
- A key concept is “glocalization” or the interpenetration of the
global and local resulting in unique outcomes in different
geographic areas.
• Cultural Convergence – this approach stresses homogeneity
introduced by globalization.
 - Cultures are deemed to be radically altered by strong flows,
while cultural imperialism happens when one culture imposes
itself on and tends to destroy at least parts of another culture.
- One important critique of cultural imperialism is John
Tomlinson’s idea of “deterritorialization” of culture.
- Deterritorialization means that it is much more difficult to tie
culture to a specific geographic point of origin.

• World System Theory - for Wallerstein, a world-system is a

multicultural territorial division of labor in which the production and
exchange of goods and materials is important for surviving everyday
life.
- This division of labor is explained as the forces of production
of the world economy and the reason for the existence of the
two interdependent regions called core and periphery.
- Adding one to what Goldfrank stated as interdependent
regions, World system theory is characterized by three
interdependent regions: core, semi- periphery and periphery.
• World Polity Theory - In this perspective, state remains an important
component of world society. Societies were becoming more similar in
terms of government and policies.
- This is considered as a response to modernization theory.
The expectation that countries will march through the same
stages of development.

• World Culture Theory - It focuses on the way in which participants in

the process become conscious of and give meaning to living in the
world as a single place. By this, globalization refers both to the
compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of
the world as a whole (Lechner, nd).
- Cultural Ideas: Relativization, Emulation, and Glocalization

• Neoliberalism - It is a theory of political economic practices that

proposes that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating
individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills characterized by strong
private property rights, free markets, and free trade.
- The concept also suggests its meaning, revival of liberalism.
From the word “neo” which means new or revived.

• Protectionism refers to actions or policies that allow the government

of a country to promote domestic or local producers, and thereby boost
its own production of goods and services by imposing tariffs or
otherwise limiting foreign goods and services in the marketplace.