Consumer Culture

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Recommended: impact of globalization on cultures

On the contrary, the alternative assumptions of homogenisation are the deterritorialisation on cosmopolitanism and hybridisation, where globalisation did not erode the cultural differences in most localities. Deterritorialisation not only affects globalisation in the homogenised perspective, but also in the aspect of cosmopolitanism. It can influence people by the openness and accessibility of media in the wealthy people. Human, information and goods can flow to other cultures without restrictions under the consequence of globalisation. As Hebdige (1990) stated that people can become a cosmopolitan by watching television at home. They can recognise the distant national culture without really travelling and involved in that place. Commodities can also be imported from other countries by transportation and hence exotic foods were emerged in local community. David Harvey mentioned that the global cuisine was gathered in one place and a variety of food could be found on supermarket shelves nowadays (Tomlinson, 1999). Williams (1983:177) had given an example of the dinner of a Western cosmopolitan couple; ‘[a] New Zealand lamb, Californian carrots, Mexican honey, French cheese and Spanish wine’. All foods in the dinner could be found in a supermarket today. Hence a supermarket in modernity can be considered as a cosmopolitan place with exotic foods from other cultures.
Another theory concerned with the deterritorialisation on cosmopolitanism is hybridisation. Hybridisation, also known as creolisation, is the new combination of two cultures resulted from the effect of deterritorialisation and the interaction among cultures. In addition, the issue of purity, which is indigenisation, is the main element for the hybridisation. Purity was d...

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...olitan culture. The assumptions of homogenisation are the global-local dialectic, deterritorialisation and commodity fetishism, while cosmopolitanism will be the deterritorialisation on cosmopolitanism and hybridisation. Globalisation will also incur cultural consequences such as McDonalisation on the community and displacement of labour. These consequences should be noted and handled carefully. Then there will be a unity and peaceful culture occurred yet remained some extent of local features.

Reference:
James, A., 1997. How British is British Food. In: P. Caplan, ed. Food Health and Identity. London: Routledge, pp.71-84.

Sassatelli, R., 2007. Consumer Culture:History, Theory and Politics. Padstow: Sage.

Tomlinson, J., 1999. Globalization and Culture. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Eriksen, T.H., 2003. Creolization and creativity. Global Networks, 3(3), pp.223-237.

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