Prefinal

Lesson 1. A World of Ideas: Global Media Cultures

Learning Outcomes:

1. Analyse how various media drive various forms of global integration.

2. Explain the impact of globalization to religion and the impact of religion to
globalization.

Global Media Cultures

The media have a very important impact on cultural globalization in two

mutually interdependent ways: Firstly, the media provide an extensive
transnational transmission of cultural products and, secondly, they contribute to
the formation of communicative networks and social structures. The rapidly
growing supply of media products from an international media culture presents a
challenge to existing local and national cultures. The sheer volume of the supply,
as well as the vast technological infrastructure and financial capital that pushes
this supply forward, have a considerable impact on local patterns of cultural
consumption and possibilities for sustaining an independent cultural production.
Global media cultures create a continuous cultural exchange, in which crucial
aspects such as identity, nationality, religion, behavioural norms and way of life
are continuously questioned and challenged. These cultural socio-economic
base, typically a transnational and commercial cultural industry on one side and
a national, publicly regulated cultural industry on the other side.

Due to their very structure, global media promote a restructuring of

cultural and social communities. The media such as the press, and later radio
and TV have been very important institutions for the formation of national
communities. Global media support the creation of new communities. The
internet, for example, not only facilitates communication across the globe, and
also supports the formations of new social communities in which members can
interact with each other. And satellite TV and radio allow immigrants to be in
close contact with their homeland’s language and culture while they gradually
accommodate to a new cultural environment. The common point of departure is
the assumption that a series of international media constitutes a global cultural
supply in itself and serves as an independent agency for cultural and social
globalization, in which cultural communities are continuously restructured and
redefined. (Source: Website)

In other words, media cultures take part in the process of globalization,

including how they challenge existing cultures and create new and alternative
symbolic and cultural communities.

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Various Forms of Global Integration

Global integration is not a new phenomenon in today’s contemporary

world. Trade took place between distant civilizations even in ancient times. This
globalization process in the economic domain has not always proceeded
smoothly has it benefited all whom it was offered, But, despite occasional
interruptions, such as the collapse of the Roman Empire or during the interwar
period in this century, the degree of economics integration among different
societies around the world has generally been rising in the past half century, and
ever greater than it has been and is likely to improve.

These are three (3) factors that have affected the process of economic
globalization. These are:
1. Improvements in transportation and communication technology
have reduced the cost of transporting goods, services and factors
of production and communicating economically useful knowledge
and technology
2. Tastes of individuals and, societies have generally but not
universally, favoured taking advantage of the opportunities
provided by declining costs of transportation and communication
through incre4asing economic integration
3. The character and pace of economic integration have been
significantly influenced by public policies, although it is not always
in the direction of increasing economic integration.

Thus, technology, tastes, and public policy each have important influence
on the pattern and pace of economies in its various dimensions.

The Globalization of religion

Globalization has played a tremendous role in providing a context for the

current revival and the resurgence of religion. Today, most religion is not
relegated to the countries where they began. Religions have, in fact, spread and
scattered on a global scale. Globalization provided religions a fertile milieu to
spread and thrive. As Scholte (2005) made clear: “Accelerated globalization of
recent times has enabled co-religionists across the planet to have greater direct
contact with one another. Global communications, global organizations, global
finance, and the like have allowed ideas of the Muslims and the universal
Christian church to be given concrete shape as never before” (p.245).

Information technologies, transportation means, and the media are

deemed important means on which religionists rely on the dissemination of their
religious ideas. For instance, countless websites that provided information about
religions have been created. This makes pieces of information and explanations
about different religions ready at the disposal of any person regardless of his or

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 her geographical location. In addition, the internet allows people to contact each
other worldwide and therefore hold forums and debates that allow religious ideas
to spread.

Furthermore, media also play an important role in the dissemination of

religious ideas. In this respect, a lot of television channels, radio stations, and
print media are founded solely for advocating religions. Modern transportations
have also contributed considerably to the emergence, revivalism, and
fortification of religion. In this respect, Turner (2007) cited the case of Islamic
revivalism in Asia which “related to the improvement in transportation that has
allowed many Muslims to travel to Mecca, and return with reformist ideas”
(p.163). Modern technology, therefore, has helped religious of different forms,
such as fundamentalist, orthodox, or modernist to cross geographical
boundaries and be present everywhere.

Globalization has also allowed religion or faith to gain considerable

significance and importance as a non-territorial touchstone of identity. Being a
source of identity and pride, religion has always been promoted by its
practitioners so that it could reach the level of globality and be embraced by as
many people as possible. Muslims, for instance, aspire to establish the Islamic
Ummah, a community of believers. By paving the way for religions to come in
contact with each other and providing a context for their flourishing and thriving,
globalization has brought such religions to a circle of competition and conflicts.

As Turner explained:

Globalization transforms the generic “religion” into a world-system of competing

and conflicting religions. This process of institutional specialization has
transformed local, diverse and fragmented cultural practices into recognizable
systems of religion. Globalization has, therefore, had the paradoxical effect of
making religions more self-conscious of themselves as being “world religions”
(p.146).

Such conflicts among the world religions exhibits a solid proof confirming
the erosion and the failure of hybridization, as stated in the above excerpt,
makes religions more conscious of themselves as being “world religions”
reinforcing their respective specific identities. These identities are strengthened
by globalization and cannot, in any way, intermingle or hybridize. Since religions
have distinct internal structures, their connections to different cultures and their
rituals and beliefs contradict. For instance, Islam and Christianity are mostly
incompatible with each other. These religions cannot be hybridized or
homogenised even if they often come in contact.

Though religion is strengthened and fortified by globalization, its

represents a challenge to globalization’s hybridizing effects. Religion seeks to
assert its identity in the light of globalization. As a result, different religious
identities come to the fore and assert themselves. Such assertions of religious
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 identities constitute a defensive reaction to globalization. Scholte (2005), in this
respect, maintained, “At the same time as being pursued through global
channels, assertions of religious identity have, like nationalist striving, often also
been partly a defensive reaction to globalization” (p.245).

It has been difficult for religion to cope with values that accompany
globalization like liberalism, consumerism, and nationalism. Such phenomena
advocate scientism and secularism. This, in fact, pushed Schlote to speak of the
anti-rationalist faiths. Since he equated rationalism with globalization and
considered religion anti-rationalist, it can be deducted that religion is anti-
globalization. To quote Scholte (2005).

Transplanetary relations have helped to stimulate and sustain some renewals of

anti-rationalist faith, but global networks have more usually promoted activities
involving rationalist knowledge. Contemporary revivalist movements have largely
replayed a long-term tendency-one that well predates contemporary accelerated
globalization-whereby certain religious circles have from time to time revolted
against modern secularism and scientism. (p.261).

On the other hand, it can be said that the anti-rationalist qualities ascribed
to religion can be characteristics of fundamentalist and extremist forms of
religion. We cannot consider religion as purely anti-rationalist since many
religious people reconcile reason and faith and make moderate trends within
their religions. Nevertheless, globalization’s strict rationalism manifested in such
phenomena as liberalism and secularism can be incompatible with the norms
and the values of certain religions.

Globalization is also with Westernization and Americanization. The

dominance exerted by these two processes, particularly on the less developed
countries, makes religion-related cultures and identities take defensive
measures to protect themselves. Sometimes, extreme forms of resisting other
cultural influence are being done, such as that of the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS). As Ehteshami (2007) pointed out, “Globalization is not only seen as
a rival of Islamic ways, but also as an alien force divorced from Muslim realities.
Stressing the negative impact of the loose morals of Western life is a daily
feature of airwaves in the Middle East” (p.130). The imperialist aspirations of
globalization and its incompatibility with Islam make globalization completely
alien to the Muslim realities. Since globalization is cultural construct at its core
and its meaning is the Western discourse, “promoting and engaging with it on
the part of Muslims is like accepting and promoting Western cultural values and
their dominance” (p.131).

The challenges of globalization to religion link automatically to the

challenges of religion to globalization. In other words, while religion takes
caution against the norms and the values related to globalization, it challenges
the latter since religion does not approve its hybridizing effects. The idea of de-
hybridizing effects of religion is approved also by Samuel Huntington’s clash of
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 civilizations, which maintains that such de-hybridizing upshots spring also the
religious partitioning and clashes.

References:

Aldama, Prince Kennex R. The Contemporary World,

Rex Book Store, Inc., 2018
Ariola, Mariano M. The Contemporary World,
Unlimited Books Library Services and Publishing Inc., 2018

Check-up Questions:

1. How do media affect cultural globalization?

2. What is the impact of globalization to religion?
3. What is the impact of religion to globalization?

Activity: Image Creation

Direction: On an A4 bond paper paste or sketch an image of the following items and
briefly describe them.

An example of a media form an example of a form of global

integration

an example of a religious practice

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