Chapter 16 Culture Change and Globalization

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Chapter 16 Culture Change and Globalization
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Chapter Outline

• Inventions/Innovations
• Diffusion
• Acculturation
• Linked Changes
• Obstacles to Cultural Change
• Cultural Survival of Indigenous Peoples
• Urbanization and Change
• Change and Development
• Globalization and World Cultures

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Cultural Change

• No culture remains unchanged.
• Cultures change in two ways
• Internally - through the processes of invention
  and innovation
• Externally through the process of diffusion.

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Inventors and Innovators

• Inventors and innovators tend to be marginal
  people living on the fringes of society.
• Not bound by tradition or convention, these
  people see problems and their solutions with a
  fresh perspective.
• Many come from from upper-class, wealthy, and
  well-educated segments of society.

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Cultural Diffusion Selectivity

• The adoption of an innovation by a culture and
  the speed with which it is adopted depends on the
  following
• Is it seen as superior to what already exists?
• Is it consistent with existing cultural patterns?
• Is it easily understood?
• Can it be tested on a trial basis?
• Are the benefits clearly visible?

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Cultural Diffusion Reciprocity

• Diffusion is a two-way process.
• While Europeans introduced their culture to
  Native Americans, they received cultural features
  in return
• Clothing - ponchos, parkas, and moccasins
• medicines - quinine, pain relievers, and
  laxatives
• food - corn, beans, tomatoes, squash, yams,
  avocados, and the so-called Irish potato

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Cultural Diffusion Modification

• Once a cultural element is accepted in a new
  culture, it may change in form or function.
• The Masai of Kenya and Tanzania pierce their
  earlobes and enlarge the hole by inserting
  increasingly larger round pieces of wood until a
  loop of skin is formed.
• One group of Masai was observed using Eveready
  flashlight batteries obtained from the U.S.

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Cultural Diffusion Likelihood

• Some parts of culture are more likely to be
  diffused than others.
• Items of material culture are more likely
  candidates for diffusion than ideas or behavior
  patterns.
• A traditional farmer in Senegal is more likely to
  be convinced of the advantages of a bulldozer
  over a shovel than of substituting Buddhism for
  his form of ancestor worship.

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Cultural Diffusion Variables

• Diffusion is affected by a number of important
  variables
• duration and intensity of contact
• degree of cultural integration
• similarities between the donor and recipient
  cultures

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Acculturation

• Takes place as a result of sustained contact
  between two societies, one of which is
  subordinate to the other.
• Involves the widespread reorganization of one or
  both cultures over a short period of time.
• Both the dominant and subordinate culture
  experience changes, but the subordinate culture
  changes most dramatically.

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Consequences of Acculturation

• The subordinate culture could
• become extinct
• be incorporated as a distinct subculture of the
  dominant group
• be assimilated (blended) into the dominant group

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Linked Changes

• A single innovation may set off a series of
  changes in other parts of the culture.
• Example television
• Introduced into U.S. society during 1950s.
• Replaced the the radio as the major form of
  electronic communication in U.S. households.
• Had far-reaching consequences for other parts of
  the culture, such as the family system, the
  political process, and our religious institutions.

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Cultural Boundaries

• Strengthen a cultures traditions and discourage
  cultural borrowing
• Language
• Eating habits
• Clothing
• Folklore
• Humor

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Indigenous Populations

• Refers to a group of people who are
• Original inhabitants of a region.
• Identify with a specific, small-scale cultural
  heritage.
• Have no significant role in the government.
• Examples the small-scale cultures in Asia,
  Africa, and the Americas that came under the
  influence of the colonial powers during the past
  several centuries.

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Urbanization and Change

• 1900 - 16 cities with a population of a million
  or more people.
• 1990 - 276 cities with a population of a million
  or more people.
• 1990 37 of the worlds population will be
  urban.
• 2025 - estimated that approximately 60 of the
  worlds population will be urban.

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Urban Growth in the U.S.

• Percent of population living in cities
• 1790 - 5 of the population
• 1850 - 14 of the population
• 1920 - 50 of the population
• 2000 - 75 of the population

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The Worlds 10 Largest Cities
City Country Population 2002 millions Projected Population 2015 millions
1 Tokyo Japan 26.4 26.4
2 Mexico City Mexico 18.1 19.2
3 Mumbai India 18.0 26.1
4 São Paulo Brazil 17.6 20.4
5 New York USA 16.6 17.4
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The Worlds 10 Largest Cities
City Country Population 2002 millions Projected Population 2015 millions
6 Lagos Nigeria 13.4 23.2
7 Los Angeles USA 13.1 14.1
8 Calcutta India 12.9 17.3
9 Shanghai China 12.9 14.6
10 Buenos Aires Argentina 12.6 14.1
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Factors in the the Rise of Globalization

• Revolution in computer technology made
  communication faster and cheaper for a growing
  segment of the worlds population.
• Methods of investing money has changed, today it
  is, to a large degree, in the hands of
  individuals.
• There has been a fundamental change in the flow
  of information all over the world.