Globalization is not a new concept, but has a history that stretches thousands of years, starting from the second half of the 20th century when trade wall was pulled down, and eventually developing into the global interconnected societies of today. Generally, according to Globalization101.org, globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations. With the rapid development of globalization, it’s common to see that people everywhere are drinking Starbucks, eating McDonald’s, and watching Hollywood movies. Globalization, in brief, makes the whole world a small village. Although some people argue that globalization contributes to cultural diversity, there are three reasons why a global monoculture is a more widespread consequence of globalization. …show more content…
The term“McDonalization” is invented by the sociologist George Ritzer(cited in, p180), indicating the power of the spreading trend of America culture. In the book The McDonaldization of Society, Ritzer argues that fast food restaurants are becoming dominated and have profoundly affected other sectors not only in America but also in the rest of the world. Showing from the statistics, McDonald’s has expanded to over 31,000 restaurants worldwide within the last fifty years (N.E. Dollahite & J. Haun, p180). In the big cities of a country, McDonald’s is everywhere: on the main streets, in the shopping centers, around tourist attractions. McDonald’s is so popular that in China, take a simple example, it’s not surprising to see a 5-year-old child clearly knows the menu of McDonald’s and is addicted to French fries and hamburgers. Many of them even view their trips to McDonald’s as the rewards from their parents for good
The author introduces the concept of the "new means of consumption" to illustrate the ways in which not only business, but cultural, practices are threatened by McDonaldization. Defined as "those things owned by capitalists and rendered by them as necessary to customers in order for them to consume" (91), examples of the new means of consumption include fast-food restaurants, credit cards, mega-malls, home shopping television networks, and cybermalls. The critical point for the author is that each changes the ways individuals consume. For example, the exportation of fast-food restaurants and American eating habits, with their emphasis on food as something to be consumed as quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively as possible, alters the way people eat and, thereby, "poses a profound threat to the entire cultural complex of many societies" (8).
Globalization is the process of people of different cultures or countries integrating through interacting through trade or the use of social media. In “Point: Globalization Provides a Better Life for All” By Jennifer Graham, she provides a valid point of view of how globalization has benefited society. “Globalization enriches the human experience through increased cultural and economic integration, which promotes diversity by opening society to new technology, communication and ideas...Moreover, globalization helps to break down discrimination against people on the basis of religious beliefs or race” (Para, 11,13). Globalization has an impact on my lifestyle because I am currently surrounded by technology and different cultural food. With globalization I have access to different foods that i would normally never get to try, also technology has allowed me to gain knowledge about different culture I would normally not know, this results in me being more informed and benefited because of globalization bringing the different culture of the world so much closer
At the end of chapter six, George Ritzer lists suggestions for those of us who wish to combat McDonaldization, a term he coined himelf, and the topic of this essay. Ritzer warns the reader to not fall victim to the, “mindless trap,”(Ritzer 158) of Mcdonalized systems. He writes that, “a major motivation behind writing this book is to alert reader to the dangers of McDonaldization and to motivate them to act to stem its tide”(Ritzer 161). Despite McDonaldizations great momentum, natural limits and personal interests provide barriers to it. Ritzer feels that the struggle itself, to combat Mcdonaldization, is ennobling. In this essay I will attempt to accomplish three objectives. First, I will relate Ritzers study to max weber’s theory of rationalization. Second, I will describe the
Globalization is the process of people of different cultures or countries integrating through interacting through trade or the use of social media. In “Point: Globalization Provides a Better Life for All” By Jennifer Graham, she provides a valid point of view of how globalization has benefited society. “Globalization enriches the human experience through increased cultural and economic integration, which promotes diversity by opening society to new technology, communication and ideas...Moreover, globalization helps to break down discrimination against people on the basis of religious beliefs or race” (Para, 11,13). Globalization has an impact on my lifestyle because I am currently surrounded by technology and different cultural food. With globalization I have access to different foods that I would normally never get to try, also technology has allowed me to gain knowledge about different culture I would normally not know. This results in me being more informed and benefited about the world as a whole because of globalization bringing the different culture of the world so much closer
G.Ritzer an American sociologist wrote a book about this, in 1993 called « The McDonaldization of society ». In this book, he explains that the process of McDonaldization can summarized as the way in which "the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world."
“Globalization is not new, though. For thousands of years, people—and, later, corporations—have been buying from and selling to each other in lands at great distances, such as through the famed Silk Road across Central Asia that connected China and Europe during the Middle Ages” (What is globalization). For centuries many people and companies had invested in other countries even before the First World War. Globalization is a huge issue, because it affect on all the people around the world. It can affect in several of ideas, cultures, local and regional economics, societies, communication, and trade. Globalization can influence the environment of the people, security, and the exchange of the ideas between the countries. It distribute in a fast way, which emerge of new technologies, rise in free-trade activities, and markets worldwide acceptance.
According to Peter Kaufman, globalization is the process in which products, ideas and cultures are exchanged around the world. Globalization is found everywhere. Each individual might be from a certain part of the world, but the products in its house might not; for instance, an individual’s laptop might be made in China. Ultimately, the increase of globalization in the last few decades has had a powerful impact in the world, and will likely to continue in the future.
Keel, Robert. 2010. “The McDonaldization of Society”. Introduction to Sociology, Sociology 1010. Retrieved October 1, 2011 (http://www.umsl.edu/%7Ekeelr/010/mcdonsoc.html
In today’s continuously changing world, many experts say that globalization is what every business, organization, and nation should seek and welcome as a positive change. However, many people are unaware of the main focus and meaning of Globalization, especially in comparison to Localization. A large number of people believe that globalization is just another common word used to refer to changes and differences that cannot be explained or accounted for. Therefore, many different activities or changes are improperly labeled to be a part of or caused by globalization.
The term “globalization” was known in the common vocabulary in the 1980. It is used to describe the increased movement of people, knowledge, goods, and money across national borders. It has led to increased interconnectedness among the world's populations, economically, politically, socially and culturally (T. L. Friedman 6-14) . Even though globalization often is thought of in economic terms, this process has many social and political implications as well. The globalization of today’s world through technology creates an intercultural phenomenon that has never been seen before. Not only are jobs and services more readily available to all people in the world, cultures are also meeting on all levels.
The phenomenon of globalization as the acceleration and intensification of economic, social and political among the people, companies, and government of different nations around the world. Observers of globalization are increasingly recognizing that globalization is having a significant impact on matters such as local cultures, matters which are less tangible and hard to quantify, but often fraught with intense emotion and controversy. In this globalization western has a big part in order to influence others countries. Globalization, of course, does more than simply increase the availability of foreign-made consumer products and disrupt traditional producers. It is also increasing international trade in cultural
Today, a person in Nairobi can buy an Italian suit, the same person owns a German vehicle and can travel to another continent with ease. This is as a result of interaction and exchange of ideas, technology, information, services and goods with fewer barriers or in other words, people across large distances become more connected as the distance between them is shortened due to a phenomenon known as Globalization. Globalization has many effects and therefore it would take eons if not centuries to try and elaborate all of them, however it is imperative that we understand some of the effects of globalization and how it affects our society.
Globalization has taken place in the past when state and empires expanded their influence far outside their border. However, one of the distinctions of globalization today is the speed with which it is transforming local culture as they took part in a worldwide system of interconnectedness. Through globalization, many cultures in the world have changed dramatically.
Globalization’s history is extremely diversified and began during the beginning of civilization. Now we live in a world that is constantly evolving, demanding people to use resources in locations that are very difficult to obtain certain resources. This could make it completely impossible to operate in these specific parts of the world. However, globalization allows people across the world to acquire much needed resources. Globalization creates the opportunity for businesses to take advantage and exploit the ability to take part of their business to a different country. Nevertheless, globalization is part of today’s society and will be involved in virtually all situations.
Globalization is the connection of different parts of the world. Globalization results in the expansion of international, cultural, economic, and political activities. As people, ideas, knowledge, and goods move easily around the globe, the experiences of people around the world become more similar. (“Definition of Globalization“, n.d., ¶ 1)