The Wave of Globalization: Societies Impacted in Japan and Afghanistan - Essay Example

Societies across the globe have been influenced by the wave of globalization although differences exist. Global integration has provided many oppurtunities to the individual as well as the societies, impacted their daily lives but has also provided many challenges. Culture is vulnerable to change and globalization has impacted the national culture and values. There is also a marked difference in the way globalization has impacted the societies in a developed country and a developing country. This paper will discuss how families and societies have been impacted in Japan and Afghanistan. Cultural pathways in every society are made up of everyday routines of life and the routines are made up of cultural activities like bedtime, playing video games, cooking, homework, watching TV, baby sitting for money or social visiting (Weisner & Lowe, 2004). Globalization has led to the disintegration of social communities and fragmentation of social ties. At the same time there has been enhancement in global communication and transportation which has strengthened transnational communities. Nevertheless, between Japan and Afghanistan there is income disparity which has which differently impacts families’ access to basic education and health. The Japanese society has traditionally been a collectivist society where group needs are placed over the individuals. This is changing to some degree but there is still a strong gender-based division of labor. The modern Japanese families are nuclear families and look much like an American family and this indicates a dynamic socio-cultural change at work (Bestor & Hardacre, 2004). The values have undergone a sea change which is evident from a report which says that teens that skip breakfast tend to engage in sex at a much earlier age than those who have regular breakfast (Kubota, 2008). The reason is that if the children do not have breakfast it is indicative of the disturbed family environment. Another example of fragmented social ties is the reduced birth rate in the Japanese society. Employees are now being given more free time to spend with their families and have more children in an attempt to reverse the trend of declining birth rate (Yamanaka, 2008). Although the Afghan society comprises of many ethnic groups, the characteristics remain unaltered. The family is the mainstay and there exists a closely knit bond between the members. They continue to maintain the patriarchal system of family where the oldest male member rules the house. Divorces were traditionally unheard of and because of the lack of a nation-wide government, the family replaces government rules with their own. Both the Japanese and the Afghan society have the values of respect for elders, have a male dominated society, where man is the bread earner, reverence of motherhood and avoidance of divorce. Inheritance in both the societies is in favor of males. Today the Afghan society faces challenges as women fight for equal human rights and this struggle will not go uncontested by the opposing groups (WLP, 2009). Women are being targeted with disturbing regularity and senior women government officials have been the chief targets. Attacks on educational institutions are growing in frequency leaving the women’s group on edge. When women come out to fight, it would disturb the traditional setting of men being the head of the family and create further turbulence. It can thus be seen that the family structure in both Japan and Afghanistan have undergone changes and continue to face challenges. The challenges differ – in the developed country like Japan, it is the family environment which has been challenged by the modern ways of life where a developing nation like Afghanistan still faces the challenge of getting the basic human right. Japan traditionally had a four-tier class system which consisted of the samurai or the warrior class, then came the farmers or the peasants who were superior to the artisans and lastly the merchants or traders and shop-keepers (Szczepanski, 2009). In addition, there were people who were above the four-tier and below the four-tier also. The Emperor was considered above the four-tier and the religious leader of Japan. Over time the merchants gained power over the samurai class and in 1868 during the time of the “Floating World’ the Japanese society was completely remade. The emperor retook the power in the Meji Restoration and the samurai class was dissolved. As trade and contacts with the outside world increased, the Japanese merchants became important. The same principle existed even in a developing nation. Afghanistan too had the four-tier class system although the priority differed. Since 80% of the population is engaged in agriculture, the farmers were divided into four distinct classes (Bashiri, 2002). Here the division was based on the amount of land owned by the farmers and the group of people that did not own land but worked for the land owners had their own class. Again, depending upon the work they were engaged in, the people of Afghanistan were divided into the bourgeois class, the religious class, the intellectuals and the labor class. Thus the class structure exists in any nation irrespective of its level of evolution although changes can be seen in all nations as an impact of globalization and modernization. Economic challenges are many in Afghanistan. They realize that economic growth needs incentives. In the face of globalization, the country has eliminated the capital controls that it previously imposed (USIP, 2007). As such, there has been a spurt of investment. Some money is also leaving Afghanistan but lot more is coming into Afghanistan. The banking system too has been decentralized which has provided a further foundation for economic growth. Investment in the telecom sector has been phenomenal and the country’s GDP has doubled in the past five years. Nevertheless, the society still faces the challenge of getting jobs, procuring safe drinking water, accessible health care, housing and education (Farhad, 2001). In an undeveloped economy like Afghanistan, most children of a family have to work as that is the only source of income for the family. These children are not able to attend school even though primary school may be available in their area. Even though health acre facilities are available, Afghanistan has the world’s highest infant and maternal mortality rate. There are restrictions on girls completing the school education because of the distance from home and security concern. Japan too faces economic challenges. They need to develop a new mind-set and realize that they cannot depend on past successes (Rosselet-McCauley, 2006). They have to be innovative and come out of the shell that they have encased themselves in. Internet and communication technology has touched upon the lives of the local people. Women, who even earlier were allowed to work outside home, were confined inside during the Taliban regime. They had become suppressed and oppressed but due to initiatives by certain online sites, women have found a means of livelihood. In fact, an online website – Overstock – is currently the largest provider of private employment in Afghanistan (Glasner, 2004). It directly or indirectly provides for over 1700 people living in Afghanistan. These are mostly women who work from home and their chief products are rugs, embroidery, jewelry and fur-lined clothing. Others also like Novica have provided the Afghans a platform to market their products to a much larger group of potential buyers. By Afghan standards the artisans make a lot of money although by the standards of a developed country, it would be peanuts. Thus the economic conditions in Afghanistan have forced the women and children to work for a living. While Afghanistan has been in this online services and business, Japan by contrast is too far ahead in mobile and internet technology. Food habits too have changed in Japan and globalization has had a tremendous impact on the diet of the people. Where noodle carts served steaming bowls of soba and udon, the modern manifestations include McDonalds (Fuselier, 2006). Outside the US, Japan has the highest number of McDonalds outlets in any single country. McDonalds is believed to facilitate human intimacy and warmth. It is believed that the popularity of fast food companies like McDonalds in Japan can be attributed to changes on a global scale. The Japanese society has always been a close knit family and they feel places like McDonalds provide an opportunity for the whole family to dine out together. Other changes include that now Japanese women work after marriage and even childbirth although traditionally women had very little role in the employment system (Webster, 2001). As the education level was high more people became aware of the world around them. Financial means provided them a platform to interact with the world and came out of its cocoon. They adapted to the demands and expectation of the world but never forgot their cultural heritage. Years of wars and conflicts have left Afghanistan underdeveloped and devastated. It has not only caused physical destruction of the land but has mentally and emotionally affected the people. The culture in both the countries has been the same at the grass-root level but the economic condition brought about the changes. The contrast has become evident because of the economic disparity that exists between the two nations. Both the societies were male-dominated and had the class structure. The economic status has lot of importance in Japan. Even when people exchange business cards, they take a lot of time to understand the social status through the size of the company one is employed with (Bestor & Hardacre, 2004). Before meeting, they even try to assume the class because the language would differ depending upon the social status. Students too are very conscious of the school they go to. They are also conscious of the class within the school because they are informal within their own class but maintain a formal relation with another class outside their group. In every field their interactions differ with the in-group and outside-the-group. Even the eldest son or daughter in the family has a distinct position different from other children from the same parents. Japanese have a culture of ‘consensus at any price’. This does not mean that the Japanese society does not have disagreements or conflicts but it shows that the conflicts are manageable and settled amicably. Both Afghanistan and Japan have different ethnic groups in their social structure but Japanese is a much more homogenous society. There are few linguistic differences and people’s lifestyles are quite similar anywhere in the country. Afghanistan faces a challenge as two different systems of government operate side by side. One set of families follow a steeled lifestyle but they have another group with nomadic lifestyle (Bashiri, 2002). These pose a challenge in the face of globalization, modernization and industrialization of the country. Japan does not have such challenges and has been able to rise above such feudal system. In Afghanistan the clergy has the powers to swing the fortunes of the country while in Japan the class system has changed to reflect its entry into the global markets. Afghanistan is currently in a state of transition and the leaders recognize that the challenges they face are complex. Political instability and ethnic rivalry has added to the woes making the contrast between developed nations like Japan more conspicuous. The culture takes a back seat when any nation is faced with economic challenges. Survival becomes important and people are willing to compromise on values. Globalization has impacted the two countries in different ways. The food habits in Japan have undergone change while in Afghanistan women are fighting for their own rights. They have started working for a living who were hitherto confined behind a veil. As Afghanistan does not have any nation-wide government norms and as it has two types of social class, economic need has overtaken any formal regulations. The economic need has prompted the women to work outside home and defy the cultural norms. This has been possible due to the technology and oppurtunities by the process of globalization. Despite these changes, the country as a whole is reeling under poverty and the poor economic conditions is largely responsible for corruption in the society. The families in both the countries have been impacted by globalization but the contrast in the two nations is primarily due to the economic disparities. References Bashiri, I. (2002). Afghanistan: An Overview. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Afghanistan/AfghanOverview.html Bestor, T. & Hardacre, H. (2004). Contemporary Japan: Culture & Society. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/at_japan_soc/common/all.htm#family Farhad, M. N. (2001). Study highlights socio-economic challenges faced by Afghan returnees. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/afghan?page=news&id=46dc00144 Fuselier, C. (2006). Effects of Globalization on Japanese Food Culture and Health. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/95262/Effects-of-Globalization-on-Japanese-Food-Culture-and-Health-Essay Glasner, J. (2004). Overstocking in Afghanistan. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2004/06/63932 Kubota, Y. (2008). Japan teens skipping breakfast have sex younger. Reuters, Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE4BP18P20081226 Rosselet-McCauley, S. (2006). Japan in world competitiveness. IMD. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://www.imd.ch/research/challenges/TC022-06.cfm?bhcp=1 Szczepanski, K. (2009). The Four-Tiered Class System of Feudal Japan. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://asianhistory.about.com/od/japan/p/ShogJapanClass.htm USIP. (2007). The Challenges of Economic Growth in Afghanistan. United States Institute of Peaca. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://www.usip.org/events/2007/1023_afghanistan_finance_minister.html Webster, F. (2001). Globalization does its work on Japan. The Japan Times. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fb20010320a1.html Weisner, T. S., & Lowe, E. D. (2004). Globalization and the Psychological Anthropology of Childhood and Adolescence. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://cultureandhealth.ucla.edu/tweisner/pdf_files/Weisner_2004_Globalization.pdf WLP. (2009). Confronting Crisis, Creating Change: WLP Partner Challenges and Strategies. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://learningpartnership.org/en/node/640 Yamanaka, M. (2008). Lifestyle: Japan. Retrieved February 5, 2009 from http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2008/11/lifestyle-japankeidanren-tells-japans.html Read More