AP Human Geography

1
AP Human Geography

• Chapter 29 Cultural Change in an Era of
  Globalization

2
The Changing Scope of Cultural Interaction

• All cultures have been affected
• No culture exists in isolation
• Examples of cultural interaction
• Folk cultures largely self-sufficient, somewhat
  isolated groups with long-standing traditions
• Popular culture the rapidly changeable,
  nontraditional heterogeneous ideas and practices
  that reflect the current era.
• Discussion of the disappearing folk cultures
• All cultures are dynamic
• Discussion of todays fast pace of diffusion

3
Impacts of the Globalization of Culture

• The influence of television
• American and to a lesser extent British products
  are now seen and heard around the world.
• The French cinema has carved out a special niche
  in the film world.
• Cultural forms produced in a few places exert an
  influence disproportionate to their size- and
  with clear cultural impacts.
• The threat of cultural homogenization
• Much evidence has shown that individual cultural
  productions are interpreted and understood in
  their specific culture.
• Example of American war movies.

4
Impacts of the Globalization of Culture

• The link between economic and cultural
  globalization
• Example McDonalds hamburger outlets are now
  spread over six continents.
• Success not based primarily on tourists.
• Local consumers largely sustain them.
• Introduced a fairly standardized fare with some
  local variations reflecting local tastes.
• After character of the cultural landscape.
• Commodification defined
• Example of different kinds of commodification are
  given.

5
Impacts of the Globalization of Culture

• The evolving cultural landscape
• Architectural forms and planning ideas have
  diffused around the world.
• Individual businesses and products have become so
  widespread they leave a distinctive idea in
  peoples minds.
• Borrowing of idealized landscape images promote a
  blurring of place distinctiveness.
• The skyscraper (figure 29-1).
• Discussed the growing tendency to transpose
  landscape ideals from one place to another.

6
Impacts of the Globalization of Culture

• The changing meaning of local
• We cannot speak of cultural convergence in any
  meaningful sense.
• The same cultural form or process will not have
  the same impact in different places.
• We are not moving toward a mono-cultural world.
• Global-local continuum what happens at one scale
  is not independent of what happens at other
  scales.

7
Reactions to Cultural Globalization

• Discussion of events tied to the link between
  globalization and culture.
• Concerns over the loss of local distinctiveness
• Appeal of external cultural forms promotes
  concerns about their implications for local
  traditions.
• Can represent a challenge to cultural forms and
  behaviors with a high degree of difficulty.
• Accelerate human alteration of the environment.

8
Reactions to Cultural Globalization

• Minorities in the global core sometimes see
  change as an effort to promote an influx of the
  majority viewpoint.
• Seen as efforts to promote a national ideology.
• Impacts of resistance
• - Resistance is widespread and often vehement.
• - Impacts of resistance is limited.
• - Some degree of hybridity has characterized
  most cultures and landscapes.
• - How Michael Jordan became the most recognized
  person on Earth is discussed.