Blog Entry #12 - "Globalization of the Local"

During the past few years Globalization could have very well been a synonym for Americanization. With a few acceptions, such as the auto industry, American product and entertainment have been very successful world wide. Although I hate to admit it I believe that this is almost over. America as a world power is diminishing and other nations are taking over. I think in the future these two words will drift away from each other and once again become there two entities.

I think that Globalization has and will continue to mean Americanization for quite some time. Not only is our pop culture and entertainment widespread throughout the world but America has been known as the "melting pot" and in a sense this is what Globalization is doing. America was the first form of a "melting pot" taking people from all around the world and putting them in one country. Now we are taking the entire world, sperated by culture and achievements and pitting them against eachother in competition to be the first and best thing around in all markets. So while America's power, as a country is declining, the American "intent" is only going to grow larger and remain apparent as the world globalizes.

I don't think that globalization does not at all mean Americanization, but people trying to have shallow conversations about globalization often assume that they are one in the same. This is not to say that I do not participate in these conversations, but I think it's the honest blunt truth. I think globalization is much more about technology sharing and absolute or comparative advantages. For example, globalization is Chinese workers working in sweatshops because they have a comparative advantage in making shirts, not just for the US but for other developed countries too. Or another example is the spread of home computers and high speed internet. As for the third question, I think globalization will have an empowering outlook in many American text books and disempowering and oppressive lessons in many others. This will be completely based on what the writers think obviously and I think that this will be determined completely based off of how much a country buys into globalization.

I have to agree with andrew. Although many people automatically put Americanization and globalization together, (and this will continue to happen for sometime) I think that since we (the US) have had such a strong say and influence over the world that our movement and involvement in developing areas has been mistaken as the one and only form of globalization. Yes we have had a huge hand in trying to help countries off the ground by establishing a government such as ours, but i can think of many other countries who have large affects on our growing and developing world. our time as a "super power" is over, and we must make room for countries who are growing and who will be sharing the power with us.

I wouldn't say that globalization necessarily means Americanization throughout the world. I think it would make more sense to call it simply "westernization". It's not simply American that's influencing the world, it's all of the west. Europe's influence has also spread to America. As for specific examples, Europe's "trance" culture has spread to America and is popular in a ton of clubs. Artists are selling out in all kinds of venues here. It just seems like America may be spreading its culture a ton, but it's mostly just the western culture that is spreading throughout the rest of the world because it is the most prosperous and healthy in the world.

Globalization does mean Americanization in many ways, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think the world has benefited from America's tendency to share beliefs and technologies. Many developing countries are looking at America to figure out what they need because we are so much further along. It's probably helpful to have a success story to look up to. There are some that argue that globalization/Americanization is destroying cultures around the world. I don't believe this to be true. It's mainly just helping countries to increase the standard of living for it's people. Of course I am extremely biased, being an American, so I could be way off. If I am, I apologize.. (I hope it's not too late, LOL)

In the beginning phases of this transformation, globalization did look a lot like Americanism. But I feel that that's how globalization needs to get started. One country needs to spread the technologies and resources globally in order to get everyone else involved. It just so happened that the US was most ready to take on and spread globalization. It could have been China, France, Australia but the US got the world started. ALong with this, American culture was spread throughout the world - that was made very apparent when I lived in Holland and Belgium - but it wasn't overkill on American culture. So now I think the world is going into a phase of using globalization to solidify, spread, and educated other about his or hers culture because the resources are there now. The path has been paved and sooner or later, American culture won't be the only culture to travel down that path.

"Globalization" as it is used today inarguably means Amerikkkanization/Westernization. The spread of Western culture and values is inseparable from the relentless quest of Western companies to capitalize everything on earth. However, the alterglobaliztion movement believes that the concepts of global connectedness and communication between people are good and can be achieved without the exploitive capitalist globalization that has dominated thus far.

1. To what extent DOES "globalization mean Americanization?" Explain your answer with specific examples.

I think that the terms globalization and Americanization are two different words with two different meanings that people commonly switch with one another. Globalization is the spread of ideas by the collaboration of every country in the world while Americanization is just the spread of American values and findings. In the chapter, Friedman states that the Big Mac is not the worlds most eaten food, it is pizza, an Italian invention. Because each culture can change the way pizza is made and eaten by using different toppings, it has become the worlds most famous food. Another example Friedman uses to show the difference between Americanization and globalization is the story of an Indian who goes to Minnesota to work at 3M. When the world is more globalized, he will not have to leave his country to be an engineer in Minnesota, he can work in India. Americanization would mean that the Indian man would lose his culture, while globalization would prevent that from happening.

I agree with Mckenzie that at the beginning globalization meant Americanization. However I agree with some of my other classmates that this Americanization is actually more of a westernization. Because American and European culture have become very similar (with McDonalds in Paris and the French people I visited listening to Paris Hilton), they have kind of blended together in my mind. So as I said, in the beginning it was a one way spreading of American/Western culture. However, I think that at some point we started also learning from other cultures. For example, we learned a some of our technology from eastern countries.

Question 3
I think this is a really tough question to answer, but being optimistic (or perhaps delusional) I am going to go with the empowering, particularizing and democratizing power of globalization. It would be incredibly easy to fall to the other side, it’s happened, and it’s happening now, but I hope that with the spread of information through new technologies we’ll get a step closer to understanding the ways we are all interconnected. Honestly, I’m sure that globalization will have both effects on the world. Today we’re more connected than ever before but haven’t managed to do anything about the genocide unraveling in slow motion in Darfur. Still, I can’t help but think that as previously marginalized societies begin to grow economically, humanitarian conditions will (eventually) grow as well.

Globalization does mean Americanization in this modern world. This however is not a bad thing, I think there is so much good that America can spread to the world but it also has spread bad things. For example the USA has allowed many arms to fall into the wrong hands when we intervene in these countries. Yet we have created many a few good jobs to boot.

To what extent DOES "globalization mean Americanization?" Explain your answer with specific examples.

In many ways, globalization does mean Americanization. I think America has a great impact on other nations. We as a nation, have learned to embrace the many cultures, languages and groups of people that have become a part of our society. Although, it took significant achievements such as the end to slavery and Civil Rights Movement to help us do so, we have become a idol for many other nations. Our culture will greatly influence other nations in the future as it does so today. For example, our television series such as American Idol is show in many parts of the world. As the world becomes more globalized, I feel that more and more nations will become influenced or westernized by America. We are currently a superpower, we will influence the rest of the world in some way or another.

In our world Globalization does mean Americanization. In many ways the world has benefited from what America has accomplished. Countries all over the world are following our progress to help themselves become more developed, especially with technology. There is of course the argument that Globalization is crippling to other cultures, but I believe in the end its really just creating more opportunities for countries to grow.

I agree that Globalization will continue to be called Americanization because I think that as a country we tend to impose our views on others that we don't believe are "up to par". And even if you don't agree with that, you have to agree with the fact that our culture is being spread to other countries on a day-to-day basis. Our music, our television, our fashion sense (or lack thereof), is all being transferred through to other countries through internet and television. So not only will we continue to spread through the media, I think that America has made itself almost a type of "world police", and if we're not in a country through the media, than we certainly will be with our government. (Or army.)

I think that a lot of globalization has to do with americanization, but i don't think thats all of it. America set a kind of standard and really had a head start over many of the other countries. at this moment countries are looking towards the US as to how to use this technology, but once they become familiar with it, i think we will be seeing a whole different world. as Friedman says kids in china don't want to be like americans they want to be better.

GLobalization and americanization are indeed similar terms, but they do not mean the same thing. It just so happens that America trys pretty hard to become globalized thus it makes the definitions of the too more similar. Americanization means becoming more like America which is still not a completey globalized place. Globalization is flattening the world so to speak and connecting with others all around the globe. As american influence decreases around the world, the meanings of these two words will spilt apart.

Question #1

To a certain point, I agree with the statement "globalization means Americanization" because it seems that America is (for time being) leading globalization. Many countries turn to us as models because we have had the greatest technologies and the best overall quality of life. However, I don't think it's necessarily fair to say we lead globalization in terms of how globalization has disrupted other cultures. Friedman often describes globalization as "leveling the playing field", and with so many new developments in technology and connectivity, it's natural that others would seek out these means to 'better' themselves. Globalization provides people with opportunities to rise, and, though we set the trend, I guess we can't be culpable for how globalization takes its course.

I think that considering globalization to be americanization underestimates the rest of the world. Yes, we are the leaders in the flattening of the world, but other countries have had a significant part in it. It is almost contradictory to consider them the same thing. Americanization means pushing american culture on the rest of the world while globalization is all about the "shrinking" of the world. We may be producing some of the best technology used in the world, but that contribute to globalization. Now, we learn as much from other countries as they learn from us.

Question 2.

I feel like while Freidman makes a point about "Globalization of the Local", it doesn't carry too much weight. While, as Friedman states, uploading allows people access to cultures they otherwise never would have, it works far more in the other direction. While I may be able to access a Thai music video, for example, for some school project, the amount of influence it has on me is far less than what the American culture has had on other countries and cultures via the internet and uploading. While the internet and uploading my preserve and spread other cultures somewhat, the influence American culture has on other cultures through this media is far greater.

To what extent DOES "globalization mean Americanization?" Explain your answer with specific examples.

I believe that Globalization has many key components that means Americanization. The United States has set a standard at where we should be at with technology so other countries that aren't at that level are trying to make their way up to the United States level. I don't think this is a bad thing at all, other countries that want to be more developed have that opportunity with technology. The theory going around is that globalization is weakening cultures around the world, but i don't believe that is necessarily true. Globalization is creating many new jobs and opportunities for people to become more successful in todays world.

Globilization in other words used to mean Americanization. When Globilization started, as Fridman said the United States was first out of the gates. He went on to say that the world was worried that they're culture would be steamrolled by the unstopible force of mcdonalds, mtv and it would crush they're cultures. The world thought that the US would Homogenize all the worlds cultures. This would be true except there is something called uploading. Now people can upload what they want to upload pertaining to their own cultures ensuring the spread and continuum of their culture.