GLOBALISATION, JUSTICE & A CROWDED PLANET – Week 2 Culture

Elusive concept: few scholars rigorously define it; term resists simple definition (Mathewson in Norton).
Everyday, dynamic systems of shared meaning that exist at multiple spatial scales (McWean & Daya).
Enacted through identities—political, sexual, ethnic, national—around shared beliefs/values (Barnett).
Culture framed by diverse perspectives:
- Exotic: rituals/languages of “others.”
- High culture: artistic, literary, intellectual achievements.
- Popular culture: music, TV, video games.
- Science vs. Culture dichotomy but science itself is a cultural practice—locally developed, globally transported.
Three analytic dimensions (Anderson & Gale):
- Visions/knowledge systems—religious, scientific, political (free-will, reason for existence, governance models).
- Language—shared vocabularies, grammar, gesture (e.g., “It’s all in the wrist” TikTok, multilinguistic memes).
- Codes of practice—norms for daily and ceremonial conduct (e.g., Japanese dining etiquette).
Material artefacts also express culture (road signs, architecture, ear-bandage meme, etc.).

Beliefs, religion, language, customs, values.
Historically transformed by migration, trade, ICT, tourism, and media.
Imperial legacies (e.g., Britain’s reach: map of areas "invaded").
Global religious mosaic: Judaism, Christianity/Orthodoxy, Islam, Hinduism, Eastern traditions, non-religious.

Cultural traits arise out of social interaction but reciprocally guide behaviour.
Culture = the lens through which individuals interpret social experience and build identity.
Identity practice quote: “practising of identities…around sets of shared beliefs and values.”

• External influences (Murray & Overton through ethnicity lens):

Assimilation: adoption of new practices/beliefs entirely.
Acculturation: selective adoption; retain core traditions.
Autarkism: reassertion of identity versus outside force.
• Internal processes:
Culture as continual enactment → inherently mutable.
Shifts in slang (e.g., “Yas-Queen”), product names (Coon → Cheer cheese) show ongoing renegotiation.
Dominant vs. subcultures (elites, marginal groups) contest meaning; context awareness (“read the room”).

Intensifies, extends, speeds, deepens exchange of ideas, products, practices, meanings.
Three outcomes spectrum: Homogenisation, Heterogeneity, Hybridity.

Dis-embedding of local activities followed by re-embedding distant artefacts (Giddens via Featherstone & Lash).
Western time constructs: linear time, $24$ -hour day, Greenwich Mean Time, Gregorian calendar.
Built forms: classrooms, hospital wards, McDonald’s golden arches as placeless architecture.
English language hegemony: air-traffic, maritime, policing, emergency communication; shift of scientific journals to English only.
Quote (Rothkopf): globalisation removes cultural barriers & negative dimensions.
Counter-quote (Barlow): commodification destroys culture.

Capitalism, commodification, consumer culture spread through U.S. corporations.
Symbols: Starbucks, $7$ -Eleven, skyscrapers.
Statistics: McDonald’s grew to $31\,000$ restaurants in < $50$ years; concept extends to other sectors (Ritzer).
Globesity:
- Adult obesity prevalence map (max $50.80\%$ , min $2.20\%$ ).
- Liberal regimes show higher obesity; socio-democratic lower.
- Drivers (Friel, Hawkes):
1. Trade liberalisation → cheap energy-dense foods.
2. TNC concentration → market power.
3. $FDI$ in food processing reduces cost, boosts marketing.
4. Global ad spend rose $US\$216$ billion → $US\$512$ billion (1980-2004).

Responses: nationalism (Brexit, Australian protectionism), regional movements (Basque, Catalan, Quebecois, Balkans), Indigenous revivals.
Indigenous impacts: land loss (Guarani), suicide, biodiversity decline; fracking protests (Tanumbirini Station).
Language endangerment: $6\,511$ Indigenous languages; $1500$ may vanish by $2100$ ; Australia worst-performer among settler states.
Overall linguistic diversity: > $7000$ languages; dominant tongues threaten this heritage.

Glocalisation: global forms embedded locally (e.g., MTV India, MTV Polska; Starbucks’ near-failure in Australia due to existing café culture).
Hybridity: mixing to fit or create new cultures; two modes:
1. Adapt new to existing (yoga/Buddhism in West).
2. Fuse into novel culture (Kimbangism—Congo Christian/indigenous mix).
Early musical diffusion: Slave-trade → Blues/Gospel/Soul/Hip-Hop; Spanish/Portuguese conquest → Flamenco–Andean-Classical fusions.
Contemporary music industry:
- Uneven flows dominated by Western TNCs: Sony $22.8\%$ , Universal $21.1\%$ , EMI $12.6\%$ , Warner $8.4\%$ , independents $35.1\%$ .

Origin: South Bronx 1970s—African-American, Caribbean, Latino youth.
Glocalisation: white youth in Newcastle, UK reinterpret lyrics/identity to local context (Bennett).
Hybridity: immigrant youth in Germany craft German-language rap aligning with their realities (Adelt).
Australian trajectory: underground → mainstream (Hilltop Hoods); corporatisation sparked independent resistance; fear of identity dilution (Arthur).

Cultural globalisation shapes sense of identity & place; flows can be reinterpreted, resisted, regulated.
"Coca-Colonisation" & "McDonaldisation" met by localisation, policy interventions, and grassroots revitalisation.

Justice concerns: cultural imperialism vs. empowerment.
Commodification dangers for intangible heritage; yet integration can spread human rights & scientific knowledge.
Health externalities (globesity) illustrate intersection of economic policy, corporate power, and public health.
Language preservation critical for cognitive diversity, ecological knowledge, community resilience.

$24$ -hour day; $31\,000$ McDonald’s; $50.80\%$ peak adult obesity; $2.20\%$ lowest; > $7000$ languages; $6\,511$ endangered; $1\,500$ predicted losses by $2100$ ; ad spend $US\$216$ billion→ $US\$512$ billion (1980–2004); music TNC market shares: Sony $22.8\%$ , Universal $21.1\%$ , EMI $12.6\%$ , Warner $8.4\%$ , Independent $35.1\%$ .

Globalisation ↔ cultural flows ↔ identity politics.
Imperial legacies ↔ language dominance ↔ knowledge dissemination.
Economic liberalisation ↔ TNC power ↔ consumer culture ↔ health/environmental impacts.
Local resistance ↔ glocalisation ↔ hybridity ↔ ongoing cultural evolution.