Race, Nation, and Ethnicity

Challenges to Traditional Culture:

• Large-scale global processes like industrialization, migration, and urbanization have deeply influenced individual identity.

  • Secularism, feminist movements, and socialist or communist thinking have challenged traditional cultural, religious, and social norms.

Ideologies and Regimes:

• During the 19th century and after the Scientific Revolution came Social Darwinism.

  • Ideology of race based on supposed biological characteristics.

• Notable openly racist regimes included Nazi Germany, the southern United States from the 1890s to 1950s, and Apartheid South Africa.

  • Racist ideology enforced with extreme social segregation and poverty among minority groups like Jews and Blacks.

Global Impact of Racial Thinking:

• Racism and white supremacy were prominent in European colonies, fostering racial awareness among colonized peoples in Africa and Asia.

• After Nazi Germany was defeated, racial ideology lost public legitimacy.

  • The rejection of racism gained momentum and was further fueled by decolonization movements and the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Nationalism and Ethnic Identity:

• Nationalism triumphed over European empires and drove public support for the World Wars, but this general commitment to faced challenges.

  • Transnational Pan-Arabism and Pan-Africanism intended to politically or culturally unite regions, but not all countries were in support of a broad identity..

  • The EU intended to link Europe politically after the World Wars, but it wasn’t fully supported as nationalist sentiments were strong among many countries and Britain withdrew.

  • Globalization challenged large-scale national loyalties as there was a growing appeal for less international conflict after the World Wars.

    • Economic globalization fostered cosmopolitanism: a sense of global citizenship among some individuals who identified more with humanity as a whole, rather than with loyalty to one specific nation.

• Ethnically based separatist movements occurred in many developing nations, demanding greater autonomy or independence for people of distinct culture.

  • Disintegration of states: British Raj disintegrated into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India

    • Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia fragmented after the fall of the USSR

    • Scotland left the UK, Tibet left China,

AP C&C: In what ways were traditional ideas on nationalism challenged throughout the twentieth century?

• The rise of globalization challenged traditional ideas of nationalism by eroding the significance of borders between nations. The rapid flow of capital, goods, and people across borders made it harder to maintain a strict idea of national identity.

• The growing diversity of societies challenged traditional notions of nationalism, which often assumed that a nation was defined by a single, homogeneous culture. The recognition of multiple cultures within a single nation has led to a redefinition of nationalism as an inclusive concept.

• Decolonization: The process of decolonization in the mid-twentieth century challenged traditional ideas of nationalism by revealing the arbitrariness of national boundaries. The emergence of newly independent states, often divided along ethnic or linguistic lines, demonstrated that ideas of national identity were not inherent but rather constructed.

• Supranational organizations: The creation of supranational organizations like the European Union challenged traditional ideas of nationalism by promoting the idea of regional identity over national identity. The idea that nations could work together without losing their national identities challenged the notion that nationalism was inherently divisive.

• Internationalism: The rise of internationalism challenged the idea that loyalty to one's nation should take precedence over other loyalties. The idea that nations should work together for mutual benefit challenged the notion that nationalism was inherently competitive.

Popular Cultural on the Move

Cultural Globalization: Definition

• The global spread of elements of popular culture such as film, language, and music from various places of origin, especially the spread of Western cultural forms to the rest of the world

  • Has come to symbolize modernity, inclusion in global culture, and liberation or rebellion.

• It has prompted pushback from those who feel that established cultural traditions have been threatened.

Cultural Globalization: In Practice:

• Western cultural practices like Hollywood films, modern music, and television programming have fostered massive audiences, shaping patterns of taste and cultural norms globally

  • Introduction of American TV in Fiji in the 1990s led to increased cases of bulimia and anorexia among teenage girls, reflecting the influence of Western cultural norms.

• Global Language: English has become a dominant world language, with over a billion people using it at various levels, particularly among educated and elite circles.

• Fast Food Culture: Chains like McDonald's have spread extensively, with over 36,000 outlets in 100+ countries, serving millions daily and contributing to a globalized culinary landscape.

• Fashion standards: Western fashion items, like jeans and large dresses, have become so influential to where they have lost direct association with their origins in many cases.

Cultural Globalization: Causes:

• The spread of Western culture was driven by the West’s dominance in world affairs for the past few centuries and the tendency of people to mimic the ways of the powerful.

• Adoption of Western cultural elements can represent liberation or rebellion, particularly among the youth, as seen in Kemal Atatürk's promotion of Western-style clothing in Turkey and Japanese "modern girls" imitating Western fashion during the 1920s and 1930s.

Conflicts Arising from Cultural Globalization:

• Resistance to Western Influence:

  • Many regions have experienced pushback against perceived cultural imperialism or homogenization brought about by the global spread of Western culture.

  • This resistance is often rooted in fears of losing local or national cultures, values, and traditions to dominant Western norms.

    • Examples include Communist Party officials in the Soviet Union attempting to suppress American jazz and rock and roll due to associations with Western individualistic values that clashed with socialist ideals.

    • Religious fundamentalist circles, particularly in the Islamic world, have opposed what they view as cultural contamination from the West. They resist Western cultural influences, fearing they undermine traditional religious values and practices.

    • Efforts to protect national languages have led to resistance against cultural globalization.

      • Organizations like the French Academy have campaigned against the infiltration of English terms into French usage, advocating for the use of French equivalents.

Influence of Non-Western Cultures on Globalization:

• Cultural Exchange:

  • Practices such as yoga, originating from Indian culture, have become widely embraced in the West and beyond.

  • Spread of national cuisine throughout countries

Continuities and Changes Within Religions:

• Continuities:

  • Religious fundamentalism: many movements within Islam have sought to preserve traditional interpretations of the faith as they faced pressure from what they perceived to be Western cultural imperialism.

    • Poor government management of independent former colonies and lingering Western influence contributed to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

• Changes:

  • Secularism and non-association become more common during the past century.

Religion and Global Modernity

Critical Views on Religion and Its Decline

Various intellectuals: enlightenment thinkers (18th c.), Karl Marx (19th c.), and academics studying in universities (20th c.) believed that religion was headed toward extinction due to globalization, science, communism, and modernity.

• State actions in Soviet Union and modernizing Islamic countries restricted religion.

  • Decline in religious belief and practice was evident in major European countries like Britain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, as well as in the United States, where a significant portion of the population identified as religiously unaffiliated.

  • The spread of scientific culture contributed to skepticism towards religion, particularly among the educated classes.

Resurgence of Major World Religions:

• Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam continued to spread globally, with Buddhism finding acceptance in the West and Islam experiencing growth in Asia and Africa.

  • Christianity diversified beyond its traditional European and North American base, with the majority of its believers residing everywhere in Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America by 2016.

  • Sufi mysticism attracted Westerners disillusioned with conventional religious practices, showcasing the adaptability of Islamic spirituality to modern contexts.\

Religious Fundamentalism:

Fundamentalism emerged as a response to perceived threats posed by secularism, globalization, and social changes, with adherents advocating for a return to traditional religious values.

• American Protestant fundamentalism, Hindutva in India, and Islamic fundamentalism manifested as politicized movements within democratic contexts.

  • American Protestant Fundamentalism challenged liberalism and the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and secular humanism.

  • Hindutva: A Hindu nationalist movement that became politically important in India in the 1980s; advocated a distinct Hindu identity and combatted government efforts to accommodate other faith communities, particularly Islamic and Christian as they were seen as “foreigners” to the natively Hindu land.

  • Islamic fundamentalism, in particular, arose in reaction to Westernization, colonialism, and secularism, seeking to establish Islamic governance based on the sacred Sharia law.

    • Islamic fundamentalist movements sought to counter Western cultural ‘imperialism.’

    • The Iranian Revolution of 1979 represented a significant milestone in the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, leading to the establishment of an Islamic state governed by Sharia law.

    • While violent attacks by radical Islamist groups garnered attention (like 9/11), Islamic renewal movements also played crucial roles in providing social services and participating in political processes.

  • Debates Within Islam:

    • Muslims engaged in significant debates regarding the role of the state, interpretation of Sharia, women's rights, democracy, and other socio-political issues.

      • Initiatives like the "Amman Message" aimed to foster Islamic unity, condemn terrorism, and promote interfaith dialogue, reflecting attempts to address internal divisions within the Muslim community.

  • Responses in Other Religious Traditions:

    • Various Christian groups engaged with ethical issues arising from globalization, advocating for debt relief for poor countries and immigrant rights.

    • Adherents of liberation theology in Latin America sought to address social injustices and poverty while reinterpreting Christian teachings through a lens of social activism.

    • Socially engaged Buddhism emerged as a response to societal challenges, focusing on social reform, education, healthcare, and peacebuilding efforts in conflict zones.