GEC 003 - The Contemporary World (Midterms)

Media and Globalization, Globalization of Religion

Jack Lule

He describes media as a “means of conveying something such as a channel of communication.”

Media

Technologies of mass communication

Print Media

Books, magazines, and newspapers

Broadcast Media

Radio, film, and television

Digital Media

Internet and mass mobile communication

Marshall McLuhan

He theorized that “the medium is the message.” He also asked how media as a form of communication reshape the society.

“The Medium is the Message”

The way that we send and receive information is more important than the information itself

One of the positive effects of media

To expand the react of communication

One of the negative effects of media

To amputate and limit human senses

“Global Village”

It means the perception of the world woul be the same

Tendency of Global Media

Homogenize culture

Herbert Schiller (1976)

He argued that not only was the world being Americanized but this process also led to the spread of “American” capitalist values like consumerism

John Tomlinson

He says that cultural globalization is really a cover for “Western cultural imperialism” as it promotes “homogenized”, Westernized consumer culture

Cultural Imperalism

A process by which one country dominates other countries’ media consumption and consequently dominates their values and ideologies

Political-economy perspective

Argues that the homogenization of culture and communication leads to shared values and ideologies

Media messages are not just made by producers

They are also consumed by audiences

Media consumers

Active participants in the meaning-making process who view media “texts” through their own cultural lenses

Ien Ang (1985)

Researched on how various viewers in the Netherlands reacted to the American soap opera — it resonated joy

Elijo Katz and Tamar Liebes (1990)

They found that Russians think it contained American propaganda while the American viewers think that it was primarily about the lives of the rich

Japanese Brands

Hello Kitty, Mario Brothers, Pokémon are now indelible part of global popular culture

Korean Pop (K-pop) and Korean Telenovelas

Widely successful regionally and globally

Sushi

Most obvious case of globalized Asian cuisine

McDonalds

Continued to spread across Asia

Philippine Jollibee

The number one choice for fast food in Brunei

Social Media

Digital platform where people connect, share information, and exchange ideas within virtual communities

Cultural Homogenization

Where diverse cultures become increasingly similar due to the widespread sharing of cultural symbols, customs, ideas, and values

“Splinternet” or “Cyberbalkanization”

Where users are exposed to limited perspectives and information that aligns with their existing beliefs

Cyberghetto

Used to describe both a marginalized online community and a particular fashion style. An online space where a specific social group feels excluded or marginalized.

“Cyber”

Refers to the internet and digital space.

“Ghetto”

Used to denote marginalized urban areas, often associated with Black communities

Biggest threat of globalization of media

Global online propaganda

Lack of global cybersecurity cooperation

Can create digital divides and vulnerabilities

Media literacy

Awareness regarding the media environment or consumption of mass communication. Ability to responsibly comprehend, access, and use mass communication.

Potter

States that we should maintain cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and moral awareness as we interact with media.

Baran

Suggests a number of skills in order to be media literate.

Religion: Definition

Belief in and worship of a divine being; a particular system of faith and worship

Religion: More Concerned with the scared

Globalism: Places value on material wealth

Religion: God, Allah or Yahweh

Defines and judges human actions in moral terms

Globalism: Human Actions

Will lead to the highest material satisfaction

Religion: Association With Globalism

It regards citizenship, language and race as inferior and narrow because they are earthly categories

Religion: Membership

It represents a superior affiliation that connects humans directly to the divine and supernatural

Religious Person

• Someone less concerned with wealth

• Someone who shuns anything material for complete simplicity

• Main duty is to live a virtuous and sin-less life

• Aspires to become a saint

• Detests politics

• Concerned with spreading holy ideas globally

Example of Religious Persons

• American Born-Again Christians

• Sufi and Shiite Muslim

• Buddhist monasteries

• Catholic

• Protestant

• Mormon Churches

Religious Groups

Their differences explain why certain groups flee their communities to create sanctuaries free from control of state authorities

Followers of Dalai Lama

Established Tibet

Buddhist Monasteries

Located away from civilization so hermits can devote themselves to prayer and contemplation

Rizalistas in Mount Banahaw

Isolated Themselves

Israel

Believers in One God

Mormons

They live in Utah

Botor (2020)

He says that “In the age of globalization, where does religion lie on the greater scheme of things?”

Victor Roudometof (2014)

Highlights a disconnect between the study of religion and social sciences; the study of secularization which suggests the diminishing influence of religion in society

Secularization

Separation of church and state

Peter Berger

He argues that far from being secularized, the “contemporary world is furiously religious”

Realities of Religion

• A foundation of modern republics

• Religious movements do not hesistate to appropriate secular themes and practices

• In other cases, religion was the result of shift in state policy

Malaysian Government

Places religion at the center of political system. Its constitution explicitly states that “Islam is the religion of the Federation”

Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini

Late Iranian leader that says, “No fundamental distinction among constitutional, despotic, dictatorial, and communistic regimes.” Islamic rule was the superior form of government because it was spiritual in nature.

Muslim Association Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia

Has islamic school; stufents were also taught modern science, banking education, democracy

Church in England

Shaped by the rationality of democratic and bureaucratic culture. King Henry VIII broke away from Catholicism, establishing his own church to bolster his power.

US (United States)

Religion and law fused to help build modern secular society

Alexis de Tocqueville

French historian that wrote: “not only do the Americans practice their religion out of self-interest but they often even place in this world the interest which they have in practicing it.”

Jose Casanova

“Historically, religion has always been the center of all great political conflictsvand movements of social reforms.”

Christianity and Islam

“Old world religions” that see globalization less an obstacle and more as an opportunity to expand their reach all over the world

Religious Group “Moral Codes”

Answers problems ranging from people’s health to social conflict to even personal happiness

Religion as a Pro-Active Force

Not the regressive force that stops or slows down globalization, instead it gives communities a new powerful basis of identity

Religious fundamentalism may dislike globalization’s materialism

Continues to use “the full range of modern means of communication and organization”

View of Muslims of Globalization

A Trojan horse hiding supporters of Western Values to spread ideas to eventually displace Islam

The World Council of Churches

Association of different Protestant congregations — criticized economic globalization’s negative effects

Pope Francis

Catholic church leader who condemned globalization’s “throw-away culture” that is fatally destined to suffocate hope and increase risks and threatsa

The Lutheran World Federation 10th Assembly

292-page declaration message included economic and feminist critiques of globalization

World Bank (1998)

Brought religious leaders its discussions about global poverty, leading eventually to a “cautious, muted, and qualified” collaboration in 2000

Glocalization

“Universal religion is thematized alongside local particularity”

Deterritorialization

Describes the movement of religious traditions into areas where they may be unfamiliar or less prevalent, leading to the rise of transnational religions or “religion going global”

Four forms of glocalizaton (Roudometof, 2013)

• Indigenization

• Vernacularization

• Nationalization

• Transnationalization

Vernacularization

Linking “religious universalism with vernacular language.”

Indigenization

Linking “religious universalism with local particularism”

Nationalization

Linking “universal religion and local national particularism”

Transnationalization

Absorption of a universal religion into one’s own culture; naturalization of religion

Peter Bayer and Lori Beaman

“Religion seems, is somehow outside looking at globalization as a problem or potential”

Religion being a belief system

Cannot be empirically proven, anathema to modernization

Secularization Theory

Thesis that modernization will erode religious practice

Samuel Huntington

Civilization can be held together by religious worldviews

Jesuits and Dominicans (15th Century)

Used religion as an "ideological armature” to legitimize the Spanish empire

Max Weber

Observed the correlation between religion and capitalism as an economic system

Calvinism

Branch of Protestantism believed that God had already decided who would and would not be saved

Regions

“Group of countries located in the same geographically specified area”

Region: Definition & Purpose

“An amalgamation of two regions or combination of more than two regions”

Regionalization

Regional concentration of economic flows

Regionalism

Political process characterized by economic policy cooperation and coordination among countries

Regionalism: Seen As

A political and economic phenomenon that can be examined in relation to identities, ethics, religion, ecological sustainability, and health

Regionalism: Process

It is a process and must be treated as an “emergent, socially constituted phenomenon”. This means they are constructed and defined by others

China

They offer their cheap and huge workforce to attract foreign businesses and expand trade with countries

Singapore and Switzerland

They developed their countries into financial and banking hubs.

Reason countries form regional organizatons

It is a way of coping with the challenges of globalization, making people aware of the world in general

Claudio and Abinales: Regionalism

1. For military defense

2. To pool their resources, get better returns for their exports as well as expand their leverage against trading partners

3. To protect their independence from the pressure of the super politics

4. Economic crisis compels countries to come together

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Founded by Western European countries and USA during the Cold War against the Soviet Union

Warsaw Pact

A regional alliance composed of Eastern European countries under Soviet domination

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Founded in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela to regulate the production and sale of oil

The Non-Aligned Movement

Founded in 1961 by the presidents of Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, and Yugoslavia to establish world peace, international cooperation, human rights and etc.

Thai Economic Crisis

It made the ASEAN Countries along with China, Japan, and South Korea more unified and coordinated in saving the economy of Thailand that collapsed in 1996

Non-State Regionalism

Gaining its presence in addressing the common problems confronted by the region in terms of economic, politics, health, culture, environment, and etc.