The Globalization Creates a New Form of Global Consciousness - Assignment Example

To what extent has the globalisation of the mass media created a new form of global consciousness or identity? The term ‘Globalisation’ is normally used to refer to the increasing phenomenon of global interconnectivity in all the aspects including the social angle, cultural, political and importantly economic angle. “Globalisation is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment …. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems...” (Aurence and Othenberg, 2002, p1). Although, globalisation is making an impact on the economy of the various countries, both in the positive as well as in the negative direction, its impact on cultures or identity are reaching maximal proportions particularly through media. Human societies across the world lead their lives following a particular culture or identity, which might border on their national identity. The culture and identity which is followed by people in one country differs from the culture of other nations in various aspects. However, if there is interaction among the people belonging to different countries or cultures, and importantly if there exposure of one culture to other cultures through the omnipresent media, there are chances that the native culture may be influenced by the culture of other nations. This is what happens because of globalisation, leading to the emergence of global consciousness or identity or multiculturalism. That is, as globalization and the resultant spread of mass media causes and promotes more interaction and integration between the people and thereby their cultures, it kind of creates and impacts global consciousness or identity. So, this paper will discuss how the globalisation of the mass media created a new form of global consciousness or identity to a maximum extent. Globalisation and its impacts on Mass Media Among the many economic based movements, globalization is the one which had and is still having major impact on the economic development of many countries and its people worldwide. “The word globalization marks a set of transitions in the global political economy since the 1970s, in which multinational forms of capitalist organization began to be replaced by transnational” (Appadurai, cited in Meyer and Geschiere 1999, p307). Economic part of globalization is the key because with the whole world becoming a kind of global village, barriers between the countries are broken with integration happening mainly in the economic aspects. In this scenario, foreign organizations particularly media organisations or houses, using the globalization plank, have entered and will also enter various sectors of the businesses leading to the establishment of many industries and thereby having an impact on multiculturalism. That is, with every firms including mass media firms wanting to expand their geographical reach and make an imprint in various markets, there will be enough opportunities for it, to initiate an entry into a foreign market. This economic aspect of globalization only impacts the culture and the identity of the entering countries’ people and its society, and makes them assimilate and encourage the new cultures and identities, leading to global consciousness or identity or multiculturalism. Erasing of physical barriers and the resultant impacts on global consciousness or identity The physical separateness between the countries and culture has become a thing of past, with entire world and the various cultures turning into a homogeneous entity. The interaction and thereby promotion of multiculturalism is mainly brought on by the emergence of transport and importantly mass media related communication tools, which are clear by-products of globalization. That is, as foreign countries or firms or individuals wanted to explore, interact or even wanted to do business as part of globalization, they used the above mentioned tools of transportation and communication as the aid. “The new facilities of transport and communication allowed for a rapid transformation of the horizons of expectation of ordinary people all over the World” (Claval 2009, p.9). All these communication and media tools by crossing boundaries as part of globalization are making an impact on social change. That is, like the restriction placed on foreign firms from entering new countries, media forms were also restricted from entering new territories. But, with the advent of globalization and development of technology, media forms are working as a key part of globalization and thereby impacting social change. Thanks to the proliferation of media or Television channels and the increasingly ubiquitous nature of computing and telecommunications, we are entering an era when mass media will be everywhere and we will use all kinds of media in relation to each other. This ubiquity of media is the direct outcome of globalization and it has engulfed the world, manifesting in two types of global convergence or global identity. The first is, media convergence where the ownership of media and their influence is getting concentrated in the hands of a few transnational media houses from select few countries or the only country of United States of America. The second how these media houses with their multinational influence are able to influence the political polices, foreign affairs policies and thereby social sphere of their own countries as well as the countries they are entering or broadcasting. These two aspects, the direct outcome of globalization, have led to global convergence or formation of global consciousness, which is further marked by the multidirectional flow of cultural ‘goods’ around the world. People are given a ‘front row seat’ to all the happenings with the aid of media including television, satellites, radios, mobile phones, etc. All these communication and media tools by crossing boundaries as part of globalization are making an impact on multiculturalism, thereby identity. That is, like the restriction placed on foreign firms from entering new countries, media forms were also restricted from entering new territories. But, with the advent of globalization and development of technology, media forms are working as a key part of globalization and thereby impacting global consciousness or identity. Mass media’s impact on global consciousness or identity in the aftermath of globalisation- A case study of American mass media and its impacts As discussed above, various forms of mass media from one country are entering into other countries, thereby making them follow those contents and getting influenced by that content, which in turn is creating assimilation and thereby uniform identity. Although, mass media of various countries are entering other countries due to globalisation, media of particular countries is only maximally entering and impacting other countries. British and the European mass media are entering many countries, but they are not able to make as much impact as the American mass media has made. American mass media with its varied and influential content has reached maximum parts of the world, and thus in turn making the American culture as the global culture. The best examples are the role by played by the American media forms. “American popular culture has become a globalized popular culture. American movies, television shows, music and books dominate foreign markets.” (Spiro 2009, p.44). That is, although world mass media is making an impact regarding global consciousness or identity, it is the American mass media which is making an impact to a maximum extent. So, if one looks at it from a particular perspective, it can be said that ‘Americanization’ promoted by American mass media is indeed causing and impacting global consciousness or identity. That is, as maximum countries of the world are exposed to the American culture and identity through its mass media, it has indirectly become a kind of global culture, and so with the consensus global consciousness or identity gets formed. American TV channels, movies, etc are entering foreign territories and impacting the local culture, and thereby impacting multiculturalism in both positive as well as in negative direction. American media including TV, film, internet content, music, etc, etc has expanded its reach. American TV shows are broadcasted through their subsidiaries such as HBO Asia, Fox Channel, CNN International, CNBC Europe, etc. As American films and Television shows dominate the airwaves and ‘enter’ the minds of people all over the world in a continuous way, it is interacting with the local culture thereby stressing its prominence over the local culture. That is, from Hollywood films to News channels, many forms of media mostly reflect the American government’s viewpoints and foreign policies in a positive manner, imbuing those in the minds of the people. Nye (2004, p.8) puts forward this same assertion through the words of a former French foreign minister who observed that the Americans are powerful because they can "inspire the dreams and desires of others thanks to the mastery of global images through film and television". Boal (2006) in his "The Aesthetics of the Oppressed" focuses on how Hollywood and Television are acting like sedative agents of Globalisation. “Hollywood is the world’s greatest promoter and exporter of visual symbols” (Nye 2004, p.47). So, the main point is, as part of globalization America is dominating and influencing the world, its people and their opinion through media, thereby impacting multiculturalism and promoting global consciousness or identity. Another best example of how American mass media’s handing of a political issue influences the world opinion can be understood through the actions of CNN. CNN during First and the Second Iraq War does not ‘sit on the fence’ covering both the sides and giving the visuals for the viewers to decide. Instead its reports seem to be fixated exclusively on the advancement of the American and British forces, and the success of their mission, excluding details about the death of many innocent civilians. This way, it wanted the world view its views and reports as the only truth that is happening in Iraq, thereby impacting their consciousness and wanting to take its has the global view. However, that did not work as expected because of the opposition to the second Iraq war from various quarters. Thus, although there are opposition to the formation of Americanization as the global consciousness, it is indirectly or directly taking place. Gitlin in 2001 had painted a very succinct picture of this current state of social and cultural change that has been unleashed by the American mass media, with globalisation as the catalyst, when he said “If there is a global village, it speaks American. It wears jeans, drinks Coke, eats at the golden arches, walks on swooshed shoes, plays electric guitars, and recognizes Mickey Mouse, James Dean, E. T., Bart Simpson, R2-D2, and Pamela Anderson.” (Gitlin 2001). So, controlled by giant corporations, the USA’s media industry including the TV and the films’ mass-produced products that generate a highly commercial system of culture, are in turn sold as the values, life-styles, and institutions of "the American way of life” to the entire world, thereby promoting American culture as the mass culture of the world. (Kellner). However, it is not one-way direction, as the mass media from different countries are also entering other countries including America, and still creating global consciousness or identity. Further evidence of global consciousness or identity Globalisation and the role of mass media is giving rise to a new form of cultural cosmopolitanism where the new cultural cosmopolitans are progressively embracing newer forms of global cultural watermarks or global identity, breaking away from their local cultural moorings and experience a hitherto unknown and untested flavour of global culture or global consciousness. As witnessed among young Americans, they are breaking away from the ‘all American’ culture of earlier generations as they soak in Japanese anime and manga and the Indian export of Bollywood films and bhangra. It has surely started the process of opening up psyches to cultures and customs of the outside world where the younger generation experiences a sort of global oneness and solidarity with all those residing many oceans and continents away but share the same tastes and preferences. As media transcends political borders and tends to homogenize the world there have been quite rightly fears of a new form of cultural ‘imperialism’. Under this form of imperialism, the West, by virtue of its superior technological competence, will swamp the technologically inferior East. That will lead to vast multitudes of young persons in the East who would be merely aping the western mores that totally lack congruence with the culture that permeates the environs they physically reside. Although it is a key criticism, the fact is, as discussed above, globalization will lead to the formation of a culture and value system that will be truly multinational with global consciousness or identity. In this structure or system, the best of all cultures will fuse to generate an altogether new paradigm of international culture that would not carry the flotsam and jetsam of centuries of cultural servitude that has been the common malady of human society. Zygmunt Bauman Adorno, Polish sociologist, came up with many post-modernistic thoughts on how globalization has expanded the role of mass media in shaping human thought processes as well as their culture in the direction of the global consciousness or identity. Along with conventional businesses, foreign media has also entered or entering into other countries, thereby shaping the views of the people in those countries with their created images. Bauman has also stated how development of technology in the form of video content has started having a great impact on the minds of the viewers all over the world. “…hearing about human misery is, however, much less potent in arousing compassion than the misery we see: the pictures, the spectacles of human suffering.” (Bauman qtd by Bentley and Jones, 2001, p.1). Although, the viewers may be thousands of miles away from sufferings and could not take any direct actions to stop that human suffering, they could do something in their sphere. And the only thing they can do is through mass media by writing in internet forums, sending emails to the concerned countries’ official machineries, airing their views of TV channels, etc, etc. This way, the ubiquitous media makes true impact on the way the people think and act throughout the world, leading to global consciousness or identity Conclusion Globalization is an omnipresent and continuous phenomenon impacting the lives of many people. As it impacts people in various countries, it has an impact or effect on the multiculturalism or multiculturalistic society. In this globalised world, the geographical lines have blurred due to the far reaching media. That is, omnipresent media reaches various territories cutting across geographical lines and covers the activities of specific cultures and broadcasts or reports in a certain way, so that culture becomes a mass culture leading to global consciousness or identity. In today’s age of technology and information, media influences every aspect of human life. The thinking and the attitude of the people towards a particular issue is shaped by the media or shaped by how the media shows or broadcasts or reports. The manner in which cultures are represented in media has a major impact on the way people look and imbue that culture. The mainstream mass media in the form of television, movies, newspapers, internet, etc has the ability to dominate the airwaves as well as the ‘mind waves’ of the spectators or audience, ‘injecting’ their view as our view. This form of injecting their view as our view mainly leads to the creation of mass culture, thereby leading to global consciousness or identity References Aurence, L and Othenberg, E R, 2002, Globalization 101: The Three Tensions of Globalization, American Forum for Global Education, viewed on April 22, 2010 http://www.globaled.org/issues/176.pdf. Bentley, T and Jones, DS 2001, The Moral Universe: Whatever happened to Compassion, Creative Commons, London Boal, A, 2006, Aesthetics of the Oppressed, Translated by Adrian Jackson, Routledge, London Claval, P, M 2009, Multiculturalism and the Dynamics of Modern Civilizations, viewed on April 22, 2010 http://www.unu.edu/dialogue/papers/claval-s2.pdf Gitlin, T. 2001, Media unlimited: How the torrent of images and sounds overwhelms our lives. Metropolitan, New York. Kellner, D, The Frankfurt School, viewed on April 22, 2010 http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/fs.htm Meyer, B and Geschiere, P, 1999, Globalization and Identity: Dead certainty: Ethnic Violence in the Era of Globalization by Arjun Appadurai, 305-324, Wiley- Blackwell, New York. Nye, J 2004, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, PublicAffairs. Sipro, PJ, 2008, Beyond citizenship: American identity after globalization, Oxford University Press US Read More