Globalization and Ethnicity in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

Globalization and Ethnicity in the United Kingdom Globalization in the contemporary society has overtaken all other forms of human association. In the modern society, globalization has been characterized by western cultures becoming dominant in many parts of the world, more dominant than established already-existing cultures of any given area especially in former colonies and those countries mostly affected by imperialism. The main characteristic of globalization is the sky rocketing human mobility (Natrajan 2003). Human migration and movement from place to place has been necessitated by globalization, of which many of the people moving from place to place have been migrants, refugees, and sojourners. The effect of globalization-led migration is the growing diversity of any given state and the heightened pressure of supporting and fairly representing the interest of a state’s citizen living abroad. On the other side, globalization has resulted in some of the societies that exist as enclaves within the boundaries of a given state to champion for their independence, secession, and right to govern themselves. Prior to the World Wars, the United Kingdom was the most dominant nation on earth and the superpower of the nineteenth century. The UK had engaged in colonial conquest in various parts of the globe. Having been the major power in the nineteenth century, Britain had occupied many parts of the world spreading their language and culture. In contemporary world setting, immigration to the United Kingdom has been tremendous with many people especially from third world countries and former colonies making the highest numbers of immigrants. Many third world countries have been affected by political turmoil at one time in their history, resulting in political asylum and influx of refugees into the UK (Beck 2000). Former British colonies like India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and South Africa among many others form the largest numbers of refugees and political asylum individuals living in the UK. Between 1991 and 2001, about half of the population increase in the UK was a result of the presence of immigrants born outside the UK. The UK thus has a very high number of immigrants who constitute the general population (Delanty 2008). Most of these people are not UK born and some have spent the most part of their childhood in other countries and some even adulthood. Culture is dynamic, and culture in most cases dictates individuals’ behaviour and ways of life. These immigrants have come from other parts of the globe. These parts have their own authentic culture and cultural practices. These people find themselves at crossroads on arriving in the UK as they find a very different culture from which they were accustomed to, back at their respective places of origin. Some are disoriented ending up suffering from psychological and mental torture because of culture shock (Bauman 2000). The emergence of advancement in technology and other sophisticated modern engineering in information technology especially the internet have been depicted as a major threat to nationalism and self-consciousness in comprehending and appreciating individual’s first culture and place of origin (Ozkirimli 2005). The advancement in technology has enabled these refugees from different countries with diverse cultural inclinations to interact freely without being limited by physical geography or by the prior high cost of travelling. The asylum seekers and refugees are able to chat with other people even strangers that they may never had a chance of interacting with if it was not for the effects if globalization brought about by advancement in technology. The creation of World Wide Web has facilitated the creation of social space. The social space has culminated to global networking with creation of social network pages such as face book and twitter. Through these networks and other millions of forums, like-minded people with similar interests are able to share ideas, imminent problems, fear, and exchanging knowledge (Gellner 1994). The immigrants in the UK have first to learn the English language. Although there are other languages that are used in the social networking and knowledge sharing forums, English has remained the dominant and prevailing language of the internet; making it necessary for the immigrants to first learn English which can also be termed as the generally accepted universal language of engaging in interactive activities. The global use of the internet has facilitated the platform that offers people the chance to learn about other cultures and ways of life, of which this has been cited as a major factor in weakening xenophobic opinions, views, and tendencies towards people from different, diverse authentic historical and cultural background (Kivisto 2001). The internet interactions surpass the physical forms of interaction, breaking the barriers that have been in existence for ages like geographical boundaries, historical facts, cultural beliefs, and practices. The concept of a global village is more evident than ever, with the internet age community emerging from the various interactions. This global emerging community is based on mutual shared interests rather than historical, race or cultural alienation and thus has been sited as one of the key factors undermining nationalism (Bauman 1998). Globalization has also resulted in the emergence of other global media apart from the internet. The other forms of media have also become a major challenge for national cultures, attitudes, as these global media represent the pertinent and imminent global issues, and thus it is hard to identify with a particular group or nation while referring to these media (Pringle 1998). These media are highly rated and trusted by the mob and thus are preferred to the local media. The print media is one example that has undergone radical changes. Globalization has facilitated the art of translation and people of diverse and different cultures are able to comprehend the information relayed by a particular article or book as the said article or book has been translated into many languages for a wider audience. For example J. K Rowling’s famous works contained in the ‘‘Harry Potter’’ series have been translated into more than sixty languages, attracting an audience of about half a billion people. Music can also be a unifying factor in addressing major phenomena in the world. For example the American rock Green Day released a song called ‘‘Working Class Hero’’ addressing the events in the Darfur region of Sudan. While the Sudanese refugees in Britain and other parts of the world would have been the only people with the knowledge about the events in their motherland, the song and other channels have highlighted the events in the region, making the problem global and thus the Sudanese cannot claim it is their issue alone. Well wishers and the international community has taken up the issue in condemning the Sudanese government with the International Criminal Court issuing a warrant of arrest for the Sudanese president Omar El Bashir, for committing crimes against humanity. Globalization of the film industry has also been one of the major and most significant factors that erodes and diminishes nationalism and ethnicity amongst the immigrants in the UK and other people around the world. Many of the youths in third world countries or from third world countries follow programs exclusively set and produced in the west (Jay 2004). They have ceased to abide by their traditions instead aping what they see on TVs. People from other parts of the world have adopted western foods; fashion design, language, social behaviours, and even methods of producing local programs, some of these people have no connection with the western ways, but have been made to incline towards the west by globalization (Malesevic 2006). To such a group of people, ethnicity or nationalism is misplaced and has no place in the modern society. For example, some of the immigrants in the UK no longer want to be associated with their place of origin rather they want to be perceived as closer to the British lifestyle and culture. On returning to their place of origin, they want to speak the British English, some even purporting to have forgotten their indigenous languages. Some refugees no longer want to go back to their original homeland even after there is prevailing peace, they want to acquire British citizenship and be considered Britons. Some political asylum seekers continue staying in Britain even after they have been granted amnesty or, the leaders or factors that led them to seek asylum no longer exist (Baumann 1996). On the other side, globalization is one of the greatest factors that contribute towards nationalism. As globalization becomes more sophisticated, there have been reported many instances of rise in nationalism and ethnicity. Since the 1990, the rise in nationalism has seen the creation of many new nations as each group of people or various communities seek to govern themselves and establish their autonomy with international recognition and appreciation (Madood 1997). In the contemporary modern society, people have more mobility and awareness than they did ever had in history. As a result the UK and many other regions of the world especially the first world countries, have recorded large numbers of immigrants and other visitors and tourists. Improved infrastructures enables people to move from one place to the other with convenience, especially air transport allows people to travel thousands of miles within few hours, a fete only accomplished from the twentieth century onwards with much improvement done in the twenty-first century(Hall 2000). While tourists stay in a foreign nation like the UK is for a specified limited time, asylum seekers and refugees are uncertain of the time they would spend in a foreign nation. They leave their country with a hope that they would return after a couple of years, in Britain some of the refugees and asylum seekers have stayed forever, some acquiring British citizenship and have no desire of returning to their place of origin. Since asylum seekers and refugees, stay for a considerable duration of time there is the tendency of there evolving of a mixed culture over time as these people are brought together with other people who also hail from different cultural backgrounds. A multicultural community that participates in cross culture sharing and appreciation emerges of which the UK is a good example. The high number of immigrants in the UK have been accused of eroding nationalist ideology and a sense of belonging for the British native as there is the dilution of the once well preserved British culture that spans thousand of years. Most native British citizens dislike immigrants and view them as a threat to the British common cultural heritage (Baumann 1999). However, although globalization has resulted in the threatening of nationalism in Britain, there are very many instances that globalization has been reported to foster and boost nationalist ideology. For example, xenophobia usually rapidly increases during reported mass migration or when the globe is faced with radical terrorism. When such scenarios and events occur, the native British citizens have a tendency of fearing other people from various cultural backgrounds or ethnicity in part because they do not know their backgrounds culture, beliefs and behaviours (O’Neil and Spybey 2003). These Britons opt to have faith and trust in people they are accustomed to, having known them for a long time, speaking their language and having similar cultural beliefs. The extremists and nationalist thinkers tend to fear that their culture is threatened by the presence and practice of exotic cultures especially those practiced by immigrants. These native Britons feel that the clash of civilizations would result in strangers and foreigners usurping power that is not supposed to be theirs, changing the British system of association and societal relations. Alarmed by these fears, there is the re-emergence of nationalistic feeling among the native Britons who in turn advocate for tougher and stricter regulations on immigrants. In the process, there has been the provocation of nationalist ideas (Heywood 2007). Apart from xenophobia, some people fear their culture is threatened and is at the point of extinction thus opposed to the globalization and the presence of refugees and asylum seekers. They discriminate these people and blame them for any problem they might be experiencing. These immigrants are segregated in that many people are unfriendly to them. Some are racially abused in a bid to make their life as hard as possible so that they may opt to go back to their countries of origin. Many refugees have reported cases of racial abuse and discrimination. These immigrants are also not spared by the law as many are not permitted to work and those permitted are restricted (Eriksen 2002). To survive in this unfriendly environment, these immigrants have united and devised ways of meeting their basic needs. They have formed some organizations to offer financial and psychological support. Some have gone further in designating some social amenities and places as their meeting points to engage in sharing forums. Through the social networks like face book, they have created groups for members to share their views, share news, and organize meetings at the same time engaging in other essential activities. Some immigrants, who after a long struggle have acquired citizenship, have sought to assist the others (Edensor 2002). They have established businesses like hotels, exclusively catering for the needs of the immigrants. Many of these groups have led to increased socialization and intermarriage has taken place. They have thus tried very hard to solve their problems of being sidelined, marginalized, discriminated and racially abused by the majorities. The immigrants have also established their own churches and other forms of religious practices to preserve their culture and continue with their practices as they were doing in their original homelands (Barth 1969). To keep updates with what their countries are going through, they have regularly kept in touch with the people back at home (Featherstone 1990). Some have created organizations to help their countries financially and intellectually. Those seeking political asylum influence decisions back at home by commanding a large following on their face book or twitter accounts. They make their opinions public for others to see and comment. Social networks have been very essential in the politics of the contemporary world. Social networks have become platforms for organizing strikes and boycotts. The government of Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was overthrown by protests organized on twitter in what came to be known as Twitter Revolution. The unrest in Middle East could be attributed to the social networks. Asylum seekers are able to encourage the protesters to soldier on until change is effected and there be a change of regime (Fenton 2003). Due to the large numbers of immigrants in the UK, there has been rise of movements towards national independence. For example, a survey has shown that there has been rise in number of Scots advocating for the independence of Scotland. Such movements have been witnessed in other parts of the world like Barcelona desire to secede from Spain. The emergence of a global culture has resulted in nationalists feeling being overwhelmed. The people’s search of identity has remained a major preoccupation for both natives and immigrants (Hutchinson and Smith 1996). The UK has a responsibility to be hospitable to refugees since it is a signatory to the UN convention relating to refugees. However, the issue relating to refugees has been of contention in the UK politics with the two main political parties suggesting implementation of policies of which many have been described as tough on asylum seekers and refugees. However, the suggested policies go against the set international policies on the handling of refugees (Back and Solomos 2000). The critics of the UK system intention to impose tougher restrictions on refugees point out that the tougher laws are fuelled by racism. Most of the asylum seekers are said to be in the UK after it was chosen and arranged for them rather than UK being their nation of choice. Human rights organizations have accused the government of going against the international human rights especially on the issue of detention. The government has started a program to find and deny asylum to those that are perceived as not genuine. This has put at risk even those that are in need of protection (Anderson 1991). Globalization has a major impact on ethnicity/nationalism. Globalization has made there to evolve a global popular culture that is generally accepted by many especially the youth. Globalization has also resulted in massive movement of people especially to areas perceived as offering good opportunities for people to earn money or better life like the UK and the US. In the UK, globalization has resulted in nationalism as the indigenous people feel threatened by the globalized culture and thus unite in a bid to preserve their culture and identity. Xenophobia feeling has arisen; that in turn has resulted in racism and discrimination. Globalization of culture has made many people who have similar traits within a nation, to advocate for their independence as they feel their sense of identity is threatened. Nationalist have suggested that Scotland would be much better if it seceded. Globalization immensely affects ethnicity/nationalism. Reference list Anderson, B. 1991. Imagined Communities. 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