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CULTURAL GLOBALISATION: THE ROLE OF SOUTH, EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA www.IndianJournals.com Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Downloaded From IP - 115.248.73.67 on dated 27-Dec-2010 European products. The Industrial Revolution globalised world production and trade. During this phase, the centres of gravity played significant and dominating roles in production, distribution and as markets and paved the way for globalisation. For example, although France and Germany did produce certain goods, England accounted for the bulk of mechanised and industrial goods and dominated as the single nuclear centre. This in turn affected and shaped, directly or indirectly, world trade throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Later, especially after the world wars and increasingly since the 1970s, the US has become the nuclear centre of Asian business powers have been taking over Western businesses. This is a turning point in current world history and these takeovers have become symbols of Asia’s participation in “reverse” globalisation including culture. globalisation. As both a producer and market for almost all goods, the US has played a dominant role in globalisation. As the dominance of England, France and Germany faded, they ceased to be nuclear centres. In the last two decades, Asia in general and India and China in particular have become nuclear centres, as they develop into both primary production centres as well as markets for world goods. The Ambanis, Birlas, Mittals, Tatas and information technology (IT) company moghuls have bought, collaborated or taken over Western business empires ranging from oil to steel to IT industries. Other Asian business powers like China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, have been taking over Western businesses as well. This is indeed a turning point in current world history and these takeovers have become symbols of Asia’s participation in “reverse” globalisation including culture as denoted by not only the products but also in the names of companies like ArcelorMittal Steel. Today, China boasts a world-class stadium—the Bird’s Nest—an architectural marvel that hosted the 2008 Olympic Games. This stadium is comparable to any in the West (perhaps it is even better) and stands as a new symbol of the East in Western minds. In such a scenario, cultural globalisation is often ignored even as elements like art, film, food, literature, media, music, painting, sports, are spread throughout the globe and popularised as global culture. In this process, nuclear centres change, as “receivers” become “senders”. Yoshitaka Miike (“Cultural Asia in the Age of VOL 13 NO 4 WINTER 2009 WORLD AFFAIRS 23
K SYAMALAMMA AND P KRISHNA MOHAN REDDY www.IndianJournals.com Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Downloaded From IP - 115.248.73.67 on dated 27-Dec-2010 Globalization”, Jen Hu Chang, Guo-Ming Chen, D Ray Heisey, Yoshitaka Miike, Todd Nesbitt, Carmen de la Peza, Jan Servaes and Xu Shi, “Intercultural Symposium on Cultural Globalization”, China Media Research, Vol 2, No 3, 2006) explains that “Globalisation is often perceived in the Asian context as an inevitable process of adjustment and accommodation. It usually implies the existence of certain global trends that we need to cope with for survival and success. And such global forces, Cultural globalisation should be seen as the continual development of multiple modernities on a global scale. Transculturation should develop so that different cultures can be true to their own indigenous strengths and not be swept into a similar pattern of only one type of transformation. or waves of change, come largely from the West, notably from the United States. ... We ought to dispel the misconception of globalisation as intercultural adaptation to the West. We should realise that the significance of globalisation, cultural globalisation in particular, lies not in the power of dominance and imposition but in the possibility of creativity and interaction. In the Asian milieu, then, is it conceivable that we will actively fashion the globalisation of Asian cultures in quest of Asian collective identities and common values? … Ceaseless dialogue about the commonality and diversity of Asia will yield profound insights into the politics of Asian identities, the complexities of Asianness and the beauty of humanity. The time is ripe for us to rekindle our interest in the distinct cultural traditions of Asia, re-educate ourselves on Asian cumulative wisdom, explore the common values of Cultural Asia and articulate an Asian vision of the global village”. According to D Ray Heisey (“The Meaning and Impact of Cultural Globalization”, Chang, et al, ibid) “One of the ways of looking at the problem of ‘critical’ perspective. The ‘liberal’ perspective views cultural globalisation as ‘the triumph of the market economy’ and the ‘critical’ perspective views it as ‘the domination by Western or American culture’. Instead, Chan and Ma argue that cultural globalisation should be seen as ‘the continual development of multiple modernities on a global scale’. They think that transculturation should develop around the globe so that different cultures can be true to their own indigenous 24 WORLD AFFAIRS WINTER 2009 VOL 13 NO 4
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