Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, England, France, Scotland. All of these places are large tourist destinations, but other than that they all have something in common. What you ask? I ate a Big Mac in each of them. This delicious coincidence is due to something theorists have grown to recognize as Globalisation.
Globalisation is the process of a world becoming one through cultural, physical and technological advancements. “Globalisation … questions capitalism, inequality, power, development, ecology, culture, gender, identity, population…” (Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004, p.7) It is said to be about all the countries joining together, becoming seemingly ‘borderless’.
Globalisation is said to have 5 flows, physical (physical bodies actually flowing), the cultural (food, television, beliefs, behaviours), information flows (thanks to the internet), Media flows (news, television programs, movies and so on.), and flows of capital (finances).
Globalisation is said to have 5 flows, physical (physical bodies actually flowing), the cultural (food, television, beliefs, behaviours), information flows (thanks to the internet), Media flows (news, television programs, movies and so on.), and flows of capital (finances).
Mostly on my trip I saw cultural and physical flows, this being said they are interrelated; one being necessary for the other. Every place I visited was extremely multi-cultural (physical flows), so there was always a touch of home anywhere I went. Even though I only visited these places I was experiencing things from the US, Japan, India and even Australia (cultural flows). I found it remarkable that Fosters beer is on tap in every pub in every country except Australia. Upon arrival to every hotel I received a Holy Bible even in the countries whose main religion isn’t Christianity. (Hong Kong, Singapore) This is yet another example of cultural flows.
Overall my trip helped show examples of Globalisation even before I knew what it was. Globalisation is a showing how the cultures are flowing into other countries due to physical flows of people which is a large aspect of globalisation. Physical flows take with them Cultural flows.
The comical part of all this being, Big Macs actually originated in the USA, and I am still yet to set a foot in America.
References
Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004, ‘Globalization: consensus and controversies’,
Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004, ‘Globalization: consensus and controversies’,
Globalization and culture: global mélange, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., p.7
Interesting blog background!
ReplyDeleteVery, uhh, different?
Overall a nice blog, interesting and good use of own experiences to help demonstrate an example.
I enjoyed the way you explained the flows in a simplistic way, so as it becomes more understandable.
Even though the word count is supposed to be low, you maybe could have gone into a little bit more detail on one specific topic. If you choose to edit this later, maybe you could speak more specifically about cultural flows (which seems to be the key topic you are focusing on) and give less information about the others types of flows. However, I will repeat that I do enjoy the approach you have taken in explaining them all, it makes it easy to understand if you knew nothing about the topic.
good job.
I thought this was an excellent introduction to the concept of globalisation, especially for a reader with a limited understanding of the concept. In my opinion, blogs are an informal means of communicating and should offer the reader something funny and quirky but still informative. Your blog ticked all these boxes for me. Your structure was good and you started off you entry with context but then drilled down to the more specific, academic interpretations of globalisation. My only criticism is that you could have set out that you were going to link your personal experience to globalisation in the first paragraph just to make it a bit more reader friendly. Other than that I really enjoyed reading your blog and look forward to your next one. Cheers
ReplyDeleteWhat a great but slightly random name for a blog. It certainly gets the reader’s attention and encourages them to read on. Well done on your use of anecdotes as it adds a personal touch and makes your post all the more enjoyable to read. One slight criticism I would have is that while your use of the first person and personal anecdotes is great, maybe try to be a little bit more objective as these are intended to be scholarly blogs. Overall keep up the good work and good luck with your future posts.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. You've explained the different flows of globalisation, something I've only being pretending to fully understand. Nodding knowingly was only going to propel me so far, so thank you. The fact that you're using personal experiences is really engaging as well. I'm curious - where was the best Big Mac? Finally, I like dinosaurs. Liz
ReplyDeletePlease tell me where is the best Big Mac? Thank-you for being so clear in your introduction to globlization, you have helped me to understand something which i knew very little of. Using personal experience encourages the reader to continue. Good Luck!
ReplyDeletelike those before me great job, very engaging and informative. brought much needed simplicity to the whole topic and did it very decisively without wasting any words. love the personal experience too. The bible part is particularly thought provoking and humorous at the same time. great work and have enjoyed your work.
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