Through music and a simply magnificent song, I must say that the Beatles surely provided a great definition of “globalization,” singing: “One thing I can tell you is you got to be free, come together right now over me.” (okay, so it may just be the one little part, but I really enjoyed it…plus it’s a lot more entertaining that just looking up a definition on dictionary.com, right?) Course it sounds like a long shot, but globalization is all about being interconnected, not only through people among our society, but nations, and even cultures. Therefore, I think “coming together” is a great way to provide a definition of globalization. And I am sticking to my Beatles reference. =]
To explore globalization further, let’s take a look at the concept of cultural imperialism. There is a big difference between cultural imperialism and cultural influence. The former is sort of like the “taking over,” or dominance, of one culture or a trend. We don’t allow for one thing to slowly starting becoming a part of the community or society. Cultural influence, I think, learns towards heavily pushing the idea of something, so that is DOES become part of a new society. Let’s use the example of the expansion of everyone’s beloved restaurant, McDonalds! Now, this is something that is all over Western culture, and we never think “I wonder if there is a McDonalds around…,” simply because we KNOW that somewhere there is a McDonalds nearby. But McDonalds is slowly expanding to other nations and cultures. Some of these people may not like it because the western culture is managing to bleed within the cracks of their societies. While doing some research, I’ve read that the French had a giant outcry when the first McDonalds opened in France. And who could blame them? They don’t want cheese burgers and (although it would SEEM appropriate) French fries (haha, French humor) to become the new “French meal.” I do remember that when in Paris with friends and other people from the States, all of us at one point or another wanted to spot the golden arches and have a tasty meal (that we were accustomed to back in the States). We did manage to find one, only after struggling with placing an order in French, but we were all really bummed that there didn’t seem to be many McD’s all over like back home! And alas! An example of cultural imperialism. McDonalds is all over the US, and rarely we do find it throughout the streets of Paris, but this chain does manage to step outside of the States and in some way “connect” everyone. It is kind of sad that this restaurant is what connects us, but our western culture is managing to make its way to other people. Not necessarily to take over, but to make a common connection between people and cultures.
Hey, I still believe the Beatles said it best.
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