According to Barber, Jihad and McWorld are two seemingly opposing paradigms that share a common trait - they both threaten democracy. In the meantime network based organisational structures - Jihad and McWorld belong to this category - are taught to foster democracy. How would you unfold this paradox?
This is the question in which this blog post is attempting to explain. The author in question is Benjamin R. Barber and the text, Jihad Vs. McWorld, an in depth article which featured in the March, 1992 issue of The Atlantic Monthly.
'The two axial principles of our age--tribalism and globalism--clash at every point except one: they may both be threatening to democracy'
- Benjamin R. Barber
Barber begins his article by introducing the reader to just two ideologies 'political futures' that our planet will undoubtedly succumb to:
1. The first is the retribalization of large factions of humankind through the use of war and bloodshed. Barber entitles this movement the Jihad.
2. For the second movement he has coined the term McWorld (this is undoubtedly inspired by the global conglomerate fast food industry McDonalds). McWorld refers to the continuous pressing of nations into one commercially homogeneous global network: one McWorld tied together by technology, ecology, communications, and commerce.
The forces of Jihad and the forces of McWorld operate with equal strength in opposite directions. However according to Barber, they share one common interest; neither offers much hope to citizens looking for practical ways to govern themselves democratically.
McWorld, Or The Globalization of Politics
Barber identifies four crucial components which make up the dynamic of McWorld. The first of these vital imperatives is the market. In the text we are presented with a market which must lack in national identity, individualism and religious preference in order to survive in the McWorld. Individual National laws, such as the law against liquor sales in Massachusetts on Sundays, are being overruled by an International set of laws. These laws, however, do not strive to achieve international morality or global peace. In the context of common markets, international law ceases to be a vision of justice and becomes a workaday framework for getting things done - enforcing contracts, ensuring that governments abide by deals, regulating trade and currency relations, and so forth. (Barber, 1992: p. 2)
The second imperative outlined is the resource imperative. Barber reminds the reader that we once lived in a world where Democrats dreamed of societies whose political autonomy rested firmly on economic independence, a type of Utopian self-sufficiency. However it was not long before every Nation discovered that interdependence is inevitable. Every nation needs something another nation has. A contemporary example of this is the oil crisis.
The information-technology imperative is the third imperative. Barber makes a direct similarity between science and globalization: Scientific progress embodies and depends on open communication, a common discourse rooted in rationality, collaboration, and an easy and regular flow and exchange of information. Alike globalisation, the pursuit of science and technology asks for, even compels, open societies. Satellite footprints do not respect national borders.
As well as the rapid spread of hardware technology across the globe, the new technology's software is also creating an outstanding impact on culture. Cultural imperialism came to light at the 1991 Cannes film festival. Exhibitors expressed growing anxiety over the 'homogenization' and 'Americanization' of the global film industry when, for the third year running, American films dominated the awards ceremonies. Culture has become more potent than arnaments.
Barber insists that this high-tech commercial world avoids the democratic.
'It lends itself to surveillance as well as liberty, to new forms of manipulation and covert control as well as new kinds of participation, to skewed, unjust market outcomes as well as greater productivity'
- Barber (Barber, 1992: p. 4)
The fourth imperative is the ecological imperative. In this section, Barber discusses the inequality cultivating between the developed world and the developing world:
'The world cannot afford your modernization; ours has wrung it dry!'
- Barber (Barber, 1992: p. 4)
Jihad, Or The Lebanonization Of The World
There are scores of institutions that reflect globalization but they often appear as ineffective reactors to the world's real actors: national states and sub national factions in permanent rebellion against uniformity. The headlines feature these players regularly: they are cultures, not countries; parts, not wholes; sects, not religions; rebellious factions and dissenting minorities at war not just with globalism but with the traditional nation-state. They are people without countries, inhabiting nations of their own, seeking smaller worlds within borders that will seal them off from modernity. (Barber, 1992: p. 5)
The Jihad law is as follows: war is not an instrument of policy but rather an emblem of identity, an expression of community, an end in itself. The Jihad movement emerged with the passing of communism. Ethnic prejudices were revealed which in turn resulted in the breakdown of civility in the name of identity, of comity in the name of community.
A Possible Resolution
Neither McWorld nor Jihad is of democratic persuasion. Neither needs democracy, neither promotes it. This theory even exists among the positive aspects of each way of life. McWorld promises peace, prosperity, and relative unity (at the cost of independence, community, and identity). However when it comes to trading, Mcworld does not value human rights, equality, peace. Once there is a constant market, the system operates beautifully. In other words, predictability is of more value than justice.
Jihad delivers a different set of virtues: a sense of identity and cultural individualism, a sense of community, solidarity among like-minded people. However it is a way of life grounded in exclusion. Solidarity is secured through war against outsiders and solidarity often means obedience to a hierarchy in governance.
So Barber is left to present us with one crucial question: How can democracy be secured and spread in a world whose primary tendencies are at best indifferent to it (McWorld) and at worst deeply antithetical to it (Jihad)? Barber concludes that the world will more than likely succumb to the ways of McWorld. However in any instance it is vital that in order for democracy to exist in our world, we will have to commit acts of 'conscious political will'.
'Democrats need to seek out indigenous democratic impulses ... These need to be identified, tapped, modified, and incorporated into new democratic practices with an indigenous flavour.'
- Barber (Barber, 1992: p.9)
Conclusion
Jihad Vs. McWorld is an engaging and thought provoking text. During the course of my study of this text I came to realise that although both ways of political rule hold a significant threat to democracy, it is pessimistic to assume democracy cannot exist. It is time the world as one unifies on at least one notion: compromise. It is through compromise and understanding that both worlds can exist alongside each other peacefully.
List of References:
1. Benjamin R. Barber (1992) Jihad Vs. McWorld, appeared in the March 1992 issue of The Atlantic Monthly
Friday, March 19, 2010
Globalisation and the Media
The above title refers to a documentary I recently viewed and critically analysed as part of my study of globalisation and the media. The documentary is a short investigation into the ever expanding globalisation of trade and the mainstream media coverage of this expansion.
'Globalization of trade is expanding rapidly but many are wondering is the media offering a clear analysis of the critical voices.'
The above will provide the main argument for this specific blog post.
On examining the documentary 'Globalisation and the Media' I chose to incorporate arguments presented in Understanding Global Media by Terry Flew, in particular, the chapter entitled 'Theories of Global Media'. In this chapter, Flew identifies three prime arguments that can be directly related to the documentary:
1. Critical Political Economy
2. Cultural Studies
3. Strong Globalization Theories: a Critique
Critical Political Economy
Critical political economy argues that there exists economic structures of dominance in the media and communications industries that set limits to the diversity of ideas and opinions in circulation through the media, and that this in turn promotes the circulation of a hegemonic set of ideas, or a 'dominant ideology', among the wider population. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 31)
This 'dominant ideology' can create a significant level of bias within the mainstream media content.
In relation to the documentary, there is a certain amount of reference made to the notion that the media often conform to the government line. Danny Schechter, director of mediachannel.org and former producer of CNN International News, outlines the main reasons for his departure from CNN in the documentary:
'CNN footage is often very flawed in part because it narrows the range of discourse... Bin Laden versus Bush. But what about other people in the world who hold points of view that are critical of both Bin Laden and Bush?'
Danny Schechter, speaking on 'Globalisation and the Media'
I believe what Schechter was trying to convey was that the mainstream media often portray the news in a black and white fashion, or rather a good versus evil. The same issues been identified within the BCC. Workers within the Media sector held demonstrations on the grounds that the broadcaster had taken a bias towards the government line. The media had become what one journalist coined a 'government propaganda machine'.
Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman proposed that the United States media largely functioned through a class-based monopoly of ideas, whereby 'money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant interests to get their messages across to the public. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 33)
According to Chomsky and Herman the 'ruling class = ruling ideology'. This was also known as the Propaganda Model.
In the documentary, the model is clearly seen in the instance of ITN and CTN. ITN is Britain's largest commercial broadcaster and CTN, or Corporate Television Networks, is a company within ITN which was fifty per cent owned by the broadcaster. Investigative journalist George Monbiot led an in depth investigation into CTN's exploits within ITN. It emerged that CTN was using ITN staff to make highly misleading corporate propaganda videos. The documentary uses the example of Shell to illustrate one of these propaganda videos. The CTN footage portrayed Shell as a generous corporation who had the Third World's best interests at hand. However the reality was far from this false image. New technology, such as the camcorder, enabled independent bodies to record their own version of events, such as an oil spill in Nigeria. Once this story was revealed to the public, public trust in the media was significantly bruised.
Cultural Studies
Cultural studies has been particularly concerned with questions of cultural power, or the ways in which a multitude of cultural forms are produced, distributed, interpreted and contested through technical means of communication in an era where access to the technologies through which the media are distributed is widely spread among populations. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 37)
The differences between cultural studies and critical political economy have frequently revolved around the question of ideology, and the ways in which developments in the economic and cultural spheres are articulated and have mass-popular impact in contemporary societies. Hall argued that cultural studies addressed these questions through the concept of hegemony. The notion of ideology as hegemony implies continually shifting power balances between the social classes, so that 'the concept allows for the dimension of struggle and opposition, of contradiction between different cultures, where hegemony has to be negotiated and won'. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 38)
In the media sector, the ideology of hegemony is evidently occurring between the mainstream media corporations and the independent media centres. In other words, there has been a radical shift in public interest from the national media to the voluntary media organisations striving to portray the reality of key global issues, for example, climate change.
The documentary presents us with two incidents, both handled differently by two opposing media organisations. The first incident occurred in Seattle in November 1999. An anti-globalization protest began at the World Trade Organisation summit. It was during this protest that the first independent media centre was founded. The website was entitled 'Seattle Independent Media Centre'. This media website used real live footage gathered from independent camcorder operators within the crowd to capture the level of police brutality exercised during the protest. Disturbing images of protesters being shot at with rubber bullets and doused in tear gas were made available to the public via internet. At first the national media channels refused to report on this brutality. However following the increasing number of Americans viewing the reality online, CNN were forced to turn their story around.
The same situation occurred in another instance two years later in Genova during the G8 Summit. Over two hundred thousand people travelled to Genova to highlight the increasing role the corporate world was having in their day to day lives. It was during the Summit that the first Italian independent media centre was established. The protests became international news when the level of police brutality was broadcast across the globe via the worldwide web. One protester was killed, several others critically injured. The police also raided the independent media centre, including the sleeping quarters of its technicians. Cameras and computers were smashed and protesters beaten to within an inch of their lives. Despite the grave level of violence witnessed and felt by thousands of people on this occasion, not one Italian television station reported it. It is choices such as these that are creating a further level of distrust between the media and the people.
Strong Globalization Theories: a Critique
According to Manuel Castells, and quoted in the Flew text, 'we are not living in a global village, but in customised cottages globally produced and locally distributed'. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 59)
Supporters of the strong globalization thesis would echo this theory. The world is rapidly becoming smaller as the nations become more interconnected and interdependent on each other.
'The power of nation-states is in decline, with many of their core operations being superseded by the laws and regulations established by supra-national governmental institutions'
Manuel Castells (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 57)
In the documentary, there is one clear instance of strong globalization. There is a piece of footage taken from The European Bioscience Conference held in 10 Downing Street on the 20th of November 2000. At the conference, Prime Minister Tony Blair made a number of arguments as to why bioscience was vital for the country's well being. What the Prime Minister was really doing was promoting an ideal that was pushed into Europe from the USA, the world's largest super power and thus, the cultural imperialist.
'Britain has the opportunity to lead Europe in pioneering this new technology and setting the standards that govern it. To be the life sciences hub of Europe, and the bridge between the European and US health care markets.'
- Tony Blair speaking at the European Bioscience Conference.
Conclusion
Globalisation has provided the world with one of the most diverse and interesting topics of discussion and debate. Whether one be in favour of the movement or opposed to it, one cannot deny the reality of its rapidly increasing growth. And furthermore, it is the responsibility of the media to portray this phenom om in a way which is truthful and free from prejudice.
List of References Used
1. Flew, T. (2007) 'Theories of Global Media' in Understanding Global Media
2. Globalisation and the Media, documentary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6HRt1bH_dw
'Globalization of trade is expanding rapidly but many are wondering is the media offering a clear analysis of the critical voices.'
The above will provide the main argument for this specific blog post.
On examining the documentary 'Globalisation and the Media' I chose to incorporate arguments presented in Understanding Global Media by Terry Flew, in particular, the chapter entitled 'Theories of Global Media'. In this chapter, Flew identifies three prime arguments that can be directly related to the documentary:
1. Critical Political Economy
2. Cultural Studies
3. Strong Globalization Theories: a Critique
Critical Political Economy
Critical political economy argues that there exists economic structures of dominance in the media and communications industries that set limits to the diversity of ideas and opinions in circulation through the media, and that this in turn promotes the circulation of a hegemonic set of ideas, or a 'dominant ideology', among the wider population. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 31)
This 'dominant ideology' can create a significant level of bias within the mainstream media content.
In relation to the documentary, there is a certain amount of reference made to the notion that the media often conform to the government line. Danny Schechter, director of mediachannel.org and former producer of CNN International News, outlines the main reasons for his departure from CNN in the documentary:
'CNN footage is often very flawed in part because it narrows the range of discourse... Bin Laden versus Bush. But what about other people in the world who hold points of view that are critical of both Bin Laden and Bush?'
Danny Schechter, speaking on 'Globalisation and the Media'
I believe what Schechter was trying to convey was that the mainstream media often portray the news in a black and white fashion, or rather a good versus evil. The same issues been identified within the BCC. Workers within the Media sector held demonstrations on the grounds that the broadcaster had taken a bias towards the government line. The media had become what one journalist coined a 'government propaganda machine'.
Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman proposed that the United States media largely functioned through a class-based monopoly of ideas, whereby 'money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant interests to get their messages across to the public. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 33)
According to Chomsky and Herman the 'ruling class = ruling ideology'. This was also known as the Propaganda Model.
In the documentary, the model is clearly seen in the instance of ITN and CTN. ITN is Britain's largest commercial broadcaster and CTN, or Corporate Television Networks, is a company within ITN which was fifty per cent owned by the broadcaster. Investigative journalist George Monbiot led an in depth investigation into CTN's exploits within ITN. It emerged that CTN was using ITN staff to make highly misleading corporate propaganda videos. The documentary uses the example of Shell to illustrate one of these propaganda videos. The CTN footage portrayed Shell as a generous corporation who had the Third World's best interests at hand. However the reality was far from this false image. New technology, such as the camcorder, enabled independent bodies to record their own version of events, such as an oil spill in Nigeria. Once this story was revealed to the public, public trust in the media was significantly bruised.
Cultural Studies
Cultural studies has been particularly concerned with questions of cultural power, or the ways in which a multitude of cultural forms are produced, distributed, interpreted and contested through technical means of communication in an era where access to the technologies through which the media are distributed is widely spread among populations. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 37)
The differences between cultural studies and critical political economy have frequently revolved around the question of ideology, and the ways in which developments in the economic and cultural spheres are articulated and have mass-popular impact in contemporary societies. Hall argued that cultural studies addressed these questions through the concept of hegemony. The notion of ideology as hegemony implies continually shifting power balances between the social classes, so that 'the concept allows for the dimension of struggle and opposition, of contradiction between different cultures, where hegemony has to be negotiated and won'. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 38)
In the media sector, the ideology of hegemony is evidently occurring between the mainstream media corporations and the independent media centres. In other words, there has been a radical shift in public interest from the national media to the voluntary media organisations striving to portray the reality of key global issues, for example, climate change.
The documentary presents us with two incidents, both handled differently by two opposing media organisations. The first incident occurred in Seattle in November 1999. An anti-globalization protest began at the World Trade Organisation summit. It was during this protest that the first independent media centre was founded. The website was entitled 'Seattle Independent Media Centre'. This media website used real live footage gathered from independent camcorder operators within the crowd to capture the level of police brutality exercised during the protest. Disturbing images of protesters being shot at with rubber bullets and doused in tear gas were made available to the public via internet. At first the national media channels refused to report on this brutality. However following the increasing number of Americans viewing the reality online, CNN were forced to turn their story around.
The same situation occurred in another instance two years later in Genova during the G8 Summit. Over two hundred thousand people travelled to Genova to highlight the increasing role the corporate world was having in their day to day lives. It was during the Summit that the first Italian independent media centre was established. The protests became international news when the level of police brutality was broadcast across the globe via the worldwide web. One protester was killed, several others critically injured. The police also raided the independent media centre, including the sleeping quarters of its technicians. Cameras and computers were smashed and protesters beaten to within an inch of their lives. Despite the grave level of violence witnessed and felt by thousands of people on this occasion, not one Italian television station reported it. It is choices such as these that are creating a further level of distrust between the media and the people.
Strong Globalization Theories: a Critique
According to Manuel Castells, and quoted in the Flew text, 'we are not living in a global village, but in customised cottages globally produced and locally distributed'. (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 59)
Supporters of the strong globalization thesis would echo this theory. The world is rapidly becoming smaller as the nations become more interconnected and interdependent on each other.
'The power of nation-states is in decline, with many of their core operations being superseded by the laws and regulations established by supra-national governmental institutions'
Manuel Castells (Flew, T.: 2007, p. 57)
In the documentary, there is one clear instance of strong globalization. There is a piece of footage taken from The European Bioscience Conference held in 10 Downing Street on the 20th of November 2000. At the conference, Prime Minister Tony Blair made a number of arguments as to why bioscience was vital for the country's well being. What the Prime Minister was really doing was promoting an ideal that was pushed into Europe from the USA, the world's largest super power and thus, the cultural imperialist.
'Britain has the opportunity to lead Europe in pioneering this new technology and setting the standards that govern it. To be the life sciences hub of Europe, and the bridge between the European and US health care markets.'
- Tony Blair speaking at the European Bioscience Conference.
Conclusion
Globalisation has provided the world with one of the most diverse and interesting topics of discussion and debate. Whether one be in favour of the movement or opposed to it, one cannot deny the reality of its rapidly increasing growth. And furthermore, it is the responsibility of the media to portray this phenom om in a way which is truthful and free from prejudice.
List of References Used
1. Flew, T. (2007) 'Theories of Global Media' in Understanding Global Media
2. Globalisation and the Media, documentary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6HRt1bH_dw
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Tracking Global Flows
Tracking Global Flows is an introduction to the theroetical text The Anthropology of Globalization by Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo. This extensive introduction provided me with the relevant material for this particular post.
Introduction
This essay opens with the presentation of five scenarios, or five examples, of globalization. Globalization refers to the intensification of global interconnectedness, suggesting a world full of movement and mixture, contact and linkages, and persistent cultural interaction and exchange. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 4). According to the text, these stories speak of an intensely interconnected world- one where the rapid flows of capital, people, goods, images and ideologies draw more and more of the globe into webs of interconnection, compressing our sense of time and space, and making the world feel smaller and distances shorter.
At the same time Inda and Rosaldo argue that globalization is an awkward and uneven process. For the very processes that produce movement and linkages also promote immobility, exclusion, and disconnection. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 6).
This essay aims to examine a more comprehensive view of globalization, that is, an anthropologist's view on the subject.
The essay is divided into three main arguments:
1. The defintion of globalization (an issue of space and time)
2. Cultural dynamics of globalization
3. Limits of global mobility and connection
The Spaces and Times of Globalization
Globalization suggests something much more profound about the modern world than the simple fact of growing global interconnectedness. It implies a fundamental reordering of time and space. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 8)
For the subject of space and time, Inda and Rosaldo have chosen to examine the work of David Harvey and Anthony Giddens. Thus the following paragraphs will make reference to their ideologies.
Speeding It Up
In 1989, Harvey coined the term 'time-space compression'. This is the manner in which the speeding up of economic and social processes has experientially shrunk the globe, so that distance and time no longer appear to be major constraints on the organization of human activity. The process of time-space compression (and hence of globalization), Harvey argues, is not a gradual or continuous occurrence. Rather, it takes place in discrete phases of short and concentrated bursts. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 8). For example, the Fordist to post-Fordist society. Or in general terms, the speed-up in the turnover time of capital is rapidly shrinking the world.
Stretching It Out
Anthony Giddens, like Harvey, considers globalization to involve a profound reorganization of time and space in social and cultural life. However, while Harvey focuses on the general speed-up of economic and social processes, Giddens is more preoccupied with the stretching of social life across time and space. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 10)
Giddens' notion of 'time-space' distanciation' refers to 'the conditions under which time and space are organized so as to connect presence and absence.
For Giddens, then, globalization points to the interlocking of the local and the global; that is, it "concerns the intersection of presence and absence, the interlacing of social events and social relations 'at a distance' with local contextualities". (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 11)
Culture Imperialism and The Homogenization of the World
One of the important issues that the de/territorialization of culture raises concerns the organization of the flow of menaing in the world, or what might be called the cultural economy of globalization. To summarise, this is the sharing of cultures through globalization. The discourse of cultural imperialism offers a highly critical stance towards the globalization of culture. Its primary argument is the dominance of Western culture and the ever-increasing movement towards 'sameness'. The movement is overwhelming.
The discourse of cultural imperialism presents us with at least two specific, albeit interrelated, visions of global cultural uniformity:
1. A new empire, that of America, has come to replace the western European colonial system that had ensnared much of the world since the nineteenth century. This new imperial regime owes its ascendance to economic might, which germinates principally from the actions of US-based transnational corporations, and communications know-how, which has permitted American business and military interests to largely monopolize the development of electronically based systems of communication. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 16). As a result, the American broadcasting system has extended its reaches to the remainder of the globe, particularly the Third World. This sudden surge of American culture is a continuous threat to peripheral cultures.
2. The second vision of global uniformity attributes the synchronization of the world to the spread of western culture more generally. John Tomlinson simplifies this notion in the text: 'the continuous spread of the West's epistemological and ontological theories, its values, ethnical systems, approaches to rationality, technical-scientific worldview, political culture, and so on.'
In other words, globalization entails the dissemination of all facets of the West's way of being: from musical forms, architecture, and modes of dress to eating habits. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 16)
Limits of Global Mobility and Connection
Jonanthan Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo describe globalization in “a world full of movement and mixture, contact and linkages, and persistent cultural interaction and exchange” (2008:4). However they also make refernce to the fact that while movement and connections are vital characteristics of globalization, disconnection and exclusion also shape globalization (Inda and Rosaldo 2008:30). Global flows of economic and social structures are not fluid and constant; they have the power to exclude and immobilize as well as enhance movement and include certain beings.
Conclusion
Tracking Global Flows is a shining example on the study of the effects globalization has on the people living in specific localities. This anthropological text is primarily concerned with the articulation of the global and the local, that is, with how globalizing processes exist in the contxt of, and must come to terms with, the realities of particular societies, with their acummulated - that is to say, historical - cultures and ways of life. (Inda and Rosaldo, 2008: page 7)
List of References:
1. Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R. (2008) 'Tracking Global Flows' in Inda and Rosaldo (eds.) (2008, 2nd Ed.) The Anthropology of Globalisation: 3-46.
Introduction
This essay opens with the presentation of five scenarios, or five examples, of globalization. Globalization refers to the intensification of global interconnectedness, suggesting a world full of movement and mixture, contact and linkages, and persistent cultural interaction and exchange. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 4). According to the text, these stories speak of an intensely interconnected world- one where the rapid flows of capital, people, goods, images and ideologies draw more and more of the globe into webs of interconnection, compressing our sense of time and space, and making the world feel smaller and distances shorter.
At the same time Inda and Rosaldo argue that globalization is an awkward and uneven process. For the very processes that produce movement and linkages also promote immobility, exclusion, and disconnection. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 6).
This essay aims to examine a more comprehensive view of globalization, that is, an anthropologist's view on the subject.
The essay is divided into three main arguments:
1. The defintion of globalization (an issue of space and time)
2. Cultural dynamics of globalization
3. Limits of global mobility and connection
The Spaces and Times of Globalization
Globalization suggests something much more profound about the modern world than the simple fact of growing global interconnectedness. It implies a fundamental reordering of time and space. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 8)
For the subject of space and time, Inda and Rosaldo have chosen to examine the work of David Harvey and Anthony Giddens. Thus the following paragraphs will make reference to their ideologies.
Speeding It Up
In 1989, Harvey coined the term 'time-space compression'. This is the manner in which the speeding up of economic and social processes has experientially shrunk the globe, so that distance and time no longer appear to be major constraints on the organization of human activity. The process of time-space compression (and hence of globalization), Harvey argues, is not a gradual or continuous occurrence. Rather, it takes place in discrete phases of short and concentrated bursts. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 8). For example, the Fordist to post-Fordist society. Or in general terms, the speed-up in the turnover time of capital is rapidly shrinking the world.
Stretching It Out
Anthony Giddens, like Harvey, considers globalization to involve a profound reorganization of time and space in social and cultural life. However, while Harvey focuses on the general speed-up of economic and social processes, Giddens is more preoccupied with the stretching of social life across time and space. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 10)
Giddens' notion of 'time-space' distanciation' refers to 'the conditions under which time and space are organized so as to connect presence and absence.
For Giddens, then, globalization points to the interlocking of the local and the global; that is, it "concerns the intersection of presence and absence, the interlacing of social events and social relations 'at a distance' with local contextualities". (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 11)
Culture Imperialism and The Homogenization of the World
One of the important issues that the de/territorialization of culture raises concerns the organization of the flow of menaing in the world, or what might be called the cultural economy of globalization. To summarise, this is the sharing of cultures through globalization. The discourse of cultural imperialism offers a highly critical stance towards the globalization of culture. Its primary argument is the dominance of Western culture and the ever-increasing movement towards 'sameness'. The movement is overwhelming.
The discourse of cultural imperialism presents us with at least two specific, albeit interrelated, visions of global cultural uniformity:
1. A new empire, that of America, has come to replace the western European colonial system that had ensnared much of the world since the nineteenth century. This new imperial regime owes its ascendance to economic might, which germinates principally from the actions of US-based transnational corporations, and communications know-how, which has permitted American business and military interests to largely monopolize the development of electronically based systems of communication. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 16). As a result, the American broadcasting system has extended its reaches to the remainder of the globe, particularly the Third World. This sudden surge of American culture is a continuous threat to peripheral cultures.
2. The second vision of global uniformity attributes the synchronization of the world to the spread of western culture more generally. John Tomlinson simplifies this notion in the text: 'the continuous spread of the West's epistemological and ontological theories, its values, ethnical systems, approaches to rationality, technical-scientific worldview, political culture, and so on.'
In other words, globalization entails the dissemination of all facets of the West's way of being: from musical forms, architecture, and modes of dress to eating habits. (Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R., 2008: 16)
Limits of Global Mobility and Connection
Jonanthan Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo describe globalization in “a world full of movement and mixture, contact and linkages, and persistent cultural interaction and exchange” (2008:4). However they also make refernce to the fact that while movement and connections are vital characteristics of globalization, disconnection and exclusion also shape globalization (Inda and Rosaldo 2008:30). Global flows of economic and social structures are not fluid and constant; they have the power to exclude and immobilize as well as enhance movement and include certain beings.
Conclusion
Tracking Global Flows is a shining example on the study of the effects globalization has on the people living in specific localities. This anthropological text is primarily concerned with the articulation of the global and the local, that is, with how globalizing processes exist in the contxt of, and must come to terms with, the realities of particular societies, with their acummulated - that is to say, historical - cultures and ways of life. (Inda and Rosaldo, 2008: page 7)
List of References:
1. Inda, J. X. and Rosaldo, R. (2008) 'Tracking Global Flows' in Inda and Rosaldo (eds.) (2008, 2nd Ed.) The Anthropology of Globalisation: 3-46.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Chanel No. 5: An Ongoing Network of Consumption
Introduction
Chanel No. 5 is one of the most famous perfumes in history and sells approximately one bottle every 30 seconds. This famous fragrance was created for Coco Chanel in 1921 by a perfume creator named Ernest Beaux. The perfume was named no. 5 as it was the fifth formula to be presented to Coco Chanel. It was also her lucky number. Despite a significant move towards nature within the fashion industry in the twenty first century, this delectable scent was inspired by the artificial.
“I want to give the world something artificial.... like a dress. Something that has been made.... I want a perfume that is a composition”.
- Coco Channel
In relation to network societies, this product is evidently an active ongoing network of consumption. This particular post will identify the key elements of production, distribution and consumption associated with this product and the relevant nodes, ties and flows in this network.
Production
On researching the history behind the production of Chanel No. 5, I discovered that the fragrance, despite being described as artificial, was inspired by nature. The perfume's creator Ernest Beaux gained inspiration from the midnight sun, the lakes and the rivers of the Arctic circle which he had visited a year previously. The biological makeup of Chanel No. 5 is also organic.
The Scent of Chanel No. 5:
•Top note – Ylang-Ylang and Neroli
•Heart note – Grasse Jasmine and May Rose
•Base note – Sandalwood and Vanilla
Thus when identifying the relevant nodes in relation to this product, one can concur that nature plays a key role. These are the primary resources. The main component of the perfume is jasmine. The original flowers came from the region of Grasse. Chanel formed ties with the region's leading producers in order to assure the constant supply of the jasmine flowers. On a chemical note, Beaux also used aldehyde during the creation of his masterpiece. This enabled the perfume to accentuate every fragrance within the mixture. Jacques Polge, the brand's latest creator, has compared the chemical to adding 'lemon juice to strawberries'.
Chanel and New Media Technology
Nodes
1. Natural resources ie. flowers
2. The laboratories
3. The region of Grasse
4. The consumer
5. Researchers
Distribution
Chanel No. 5 is an iconic brand and it has gained this invincible reputation through the use of glamorous advertising and celebrity endorsement. As quoted famously by Marilyn Monroe:
“What do I wear in bed? Why Chanel No. 5 of course”.
In addition to being Marilyn's favourite scent, Chanel No. 5, like many other iconic brands, secured a place in the art world. In 1959 Andy Warhol, an icon himself, did a series of nine silkscreens of the Chanel No. 5 bottle, once again making it the fragrance to covet. The fragrance reportedly sells a bottle every thirty seconds and is the world's leading perfume. At present, the fragrance is endorsed by actresses Nicole Kidman and Audrey Tautou. The perfume's enchanting advertising campaign further facilitates the fascination and mystery behind Chanel No. 5.
Chanel and New Media Technology
Ties
1. Advertising
2. Celebrity endorsement
3. Transport
4. The media
Consumption
Chanel No. 5 has become the most popular fragrance in the world. The fascination behind its creator has thus increased significantly. In 2009, Coco Before Chanel was released, which documented the life of Gabrielle 'Coco' Channel through film. This factor heightened the perfume's outstanding reputation. In relation to product consumption, Chanel No. 5 is so much more than a perfume. Jacques Polge has described the fragrance as being a balance between 'a presence and a mystery'. This element of classic timelessness is present in their advertising campaign.
Chanel and New Media Technology
Flows
1. Chanel No. 5 perfume
2. A feeling of elegance and beauty
3. An understanding of the history behind the fragrance
The Role of ICT in Relation to Chanel No. 5
Most of the research I undertook for this post came directly from the Chanel website. The website is an outstanding source of information with regards Coco Channel and her product. It is also beautifully designed and entices the viewer to delve deeper into the heart and soul of Chanel. It contains the latest Chanel advertisement, which was directed by acclaimed French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and a documented behind the scenes video.
http://www.chanel.com/en_US/fragrance-beauty/Universe-Chanel-N5--77321/WT.mc_id=2009N5-Universe#/the-film/2-20
Conclusion
Every product is inevitably part of a network. This is most visibly scene in the example described in this blog. Chanel No. 5 rose to fame due to a number of interlinked factors: raw materials, advertising, precision and perfection.
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”
- Coco Chanel
References:
1. http://www.chanel.com/
2. http://beauty-products.suite101.com/article.cfm/icons_chanel_no_5_perfume
Chanel No. 5 is one of the most famous perfumes in history and sells approximately one bottle every 30 seconds. This famous fragrance was created for Coco Chanel in 1921 by a perfume creator named Ernest Beaux. The perfume was named no. 5 as it was the fifth formula to be presented to Coco Chanel. It was also her lucky number. Despite a significant move towards nature within the fashion industry in the twenty first century, this delectable scent was inspired by the artificial.
“I want to give the world something artificial.... like a dress. Something that has been made.... I want a perfume that is a composition”.
- Coco Channel
In relation to network societies, this product is evidently an active ongoing network of consumption. This particular post will identify the key elements of production, distribution and consumption associated with this product and the relevant nodes, ties and flows in this network.
Production
On researching the history behind the production of Chanel No. 5, I discovered that the fragrance, despite being described as artificial, was inspired by nature. The perfume's creator Ernest Beaux gained inspiration from the midnight sun, the lakes and the rivers of the Arctic circle which he had visited a year previously. The biological makeup of Chanel No. 5 is also organic.
The Scent of Chanel No. 5:
•Top note – Ylang-Ylang and Neroli
•Heart note – Grasse Jasmine and May Rose
•Base note – Sandalwood and Vanilla
Thus when identifying the relevant nodes in relation to this product, one can concur that nature plays a key role. These are the primary resources. The main component of the perfume is jasmine. The original flowers came from the region of Grasse. Chanel formed ties with the region's leading producers in order to assure the constant supply of the jasmine flowers. On a chemical note, Beaux also used aldehyde during the creation of his masterpiece. This enabled the perfume to accentuate every fragrance within the mixture. Jacques Polge, the brand's latest creator, has compared the chemical to adding 'lemon juice to strawberries'.
Chanel and New Media Technology
Nodes
1. Natural resources ie. flowers
2. The laboratories
3. The region of Grasse
4. The consumer
5. Researchers
Distribution
Chanel No. 5 is an iconic brand and it has gained this invincible reputation through the use of glamorous advertising and celebrity endorsement. As quoted famously by Marilyn Monroe:
“What do I wear in bed? Why Chanel No. 5 of course”.
In addition to being Marilyn's favourite scent, Chanel No. 5, like many other iconic brands, secured a place in the art world. In 1959 Andy Warhol, an icon himself, did a series of nine silkscreens of the Chanel No. 5 bottle, once again making it the fragrance to covet. The fragrance reportedly sells a bottle every thirty seconds and is the world's leading perfume. At present, the fragrance is endorsed by actresses Nicole Kidman and Audrey Tautou. The perfume's enchanting advertising campaign further facilitates the fascination and mystery behind Chanel No. 5.
Chanel and New Media Technology
Ties
1. Advertising
2. Celebrity endorsement
3. Transport
4. The media
Consumption
Chanel No. 5 has become the most popular fragrance in the world. The fascination behind its creator has thus increased significantly. In 2009, Coco Before Chanel was released, which documented the life of Gabrielle 'Coco' Channel through film. This factor heightened the perfume's outstanding reputation. In relation to product consumption, Chanel No. 5 is so much more than a perfume. Jacques Polge has described the fragrance as being a balance between 'a presence and a mystery'. This element of classic timelessness is present in their advertising campaign.
Chanel and New Media Technology
Flows
1. Chanel No. 5 perfume
2. A feeling of elegance and beauty
3. An understanding of the history behind the fragrance
The Role of ICT in Relation to Chanel No. 5
Most of the research I undertook for this post came directly from the Chanel website. The website is an outstanding source of information with regards Coco Channel and her product. It is also beautifully designed and entices the viewer to delve deeper into the heart and soul of Chanel. It contains the latest Chanel advertisement, which was directed by acclaimed French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and a documented behind the scenes video.
http://www.chanel.com/en_US/fragrance-beauty/Universe-Chanel-N5--77321/WT.mc_id=2009N5-Universe#/the-film/2-20
Conclusion
Every product is inevitably part of a network. This is most visibly scene in the example described in this blog. Chanel No. 5 rose to fame due to a number of interlinked factors: raw materials, advertising, precision and perfection.
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”
- Coco Chanel
References:
1. http://www.chanel.com/
2. http://beauty-products.suite101.com/article.cfm/icons_chanel_no_5_perfume
Friday, February 19, 2010
Defining The Characteristics of Network Societies
According to Van Dijk, the New Media is defined by its characteristics of integration, interactivity, and digital code. This blog endeavours to examine and elucidate these characteristics. As part of the preparation and research of this particular post, I studied Van Dijk's 'Introduction' in The Network Society.
Integration
The most important structural new media characteristic is the integration of telecommunications, data communications and mass communications in a single medium. It is the process of convergence. (Dijk, 2006: 6) It is for this precise reason that Dijk often refers to new media as multimedia. He identifies five main levels in which integration can take place:
1. Infrastructure
2. Transportation
3. Management
4. Services
5. Types of Data
Van Dijk illustrates the process of integration in his Figure 1.2 on page 7 in The Network Society. The figure demonstrates how public and private networks of data-, tele- and mass communication are flowing together to create multifunctional, high-speed networks that have been called electronic superhighways in the 1990s, but that nowadays usually carry the name of broadband (networks). (Dijk, 2006: 7)
According to Van Dijk, the process of integration is enabled by two revolutionary techniques: the full digitalization of all media and broadband transmission through all connections by cable and by air. This is the presence of the sophisticated: almost exclusively digital technologies of networked communication and information management. These technologies form the basic infrastructure for mediating social, economic and political practices. Or, as maintained by Barney, the reproduction and institutionalisation of network as the basic form of human organisation and relationship across social, political, economic configurations. (Barney, 2004: 25)
Interactivity
The second structural new media characteristic of the current communications revolution is the rise of interactive media. In a very general definition, interactivity is a sequence of action and reaction. (Dijk, 2006: 8) In other words, the audience's ability to interact and bring something to the new media. It is a process of individualization. Van Dijk identifies four levels of interactivity. According to Dijk, the levels of interactivity are supposed to be appropriate to define how interactive a particular digital medium is.
For reading purposes, I have decided to outline these levels in point format:
1. The most elementary level of interactivity is the possibility of establishing two-sided or multilateral communication. This is the space dimension. All digital media offer this possibility to a certain extent.
2. The second level of interactivity is the degree of synchronicity. This is the time dimension. This can be separated into two categories: an interrupted sequence of action and reaction, for example, instant messenger, and devices such as electronic mail that allow producing and receiving messages to be done at self-chosen times.
3. The third level of interactivity is the extent of control exercised by the interacting parties. This is the behavioural dimension, or the element of power roles in the process of interaction.
4. The fourth and highest level of interactivity is acting and reacting with an understanding of meanings and contexts by all interactors involved. This is the mental dimension.
(Dijk, 2006: 8-9)
Digital Code
Digital code is a technical media. In essence, it means that in using computer technology, every item of information and communication can be transformed and transmitted in the form of strings of ones and zeros called bytes, with every single 1 or 0 being a bit. This artificial code replaces the natural codes of the analogue creation and transmission of items of information and communication (e.g. by beams of light and vibrations of sound). (Dijk, 2006: 9)
Conclusion
The new media are defined by all three characteristics simultaneously: they are media which are both integrated and interactive and also use digital code at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. (Dijk, 2006: 9) Based entirely on my interpretation of the Van Dijk text, I would agree in saying that media has been divided into that of old and new due to new media technology. Devices such as television and the old telephone may enable interactivity but have failed to revolutionise into digitalization. In contrast, the new medium of interactive television adds interactivity and digital code.
In retrospect, the development of this study on new media has led me to conclude that the future is alight with the ever enhancing possibilities of media technologies. The question still remains whether this increasingly digitalised world is a positive or a negative occurrence. The future will undoubtedly reveal the answer to this question. Until that time, it is essential we do not exploit this growing phenom om, but use it effectively to better our world.
References used in this post:
1. Barney, D. (2004) The Network Society: 1-34
2. Van Dijk, J. (2006) 'Introduction' in The Network Society(2nd Ed.): 1-17
Integration
The most important structural new media characteristic is the integration of telecommunications, data communications and mass communications in a single medium. It is the process of convergence. (Dijk, 2006: 6) It is for this precise reason that Dijk often refers to new media as multimedia. He identifies five main levels in which integration can take place:
1. Infrastructure
2. Transportation
3. Management
4. Services
5. Types of Data
Van Dijk illustrates the process of integration in his Figure 1.2 on page 7 in The Network Society. The figure demonstrates how public and private networks of data-, tele- and mass communication are flowing together to create multifunctional, high-speed networks that have been called electronic superhighways in the 1990s, but that nowadays usually carry the name of broadband (networks). (Dijk, 2006: 7)
According to Van Dijk, the process of integration is enabled by two revolutionary techniques: the full digitalization of all media and broadband transmission through all connections by cable and by air. This is the presence of the sophisticated: almost exclusively digital technologies of networked communication and information management. These technologies form the basic infrastructure for mediating social, economic and political practices. Or, as maintained by Barney, the reproduction and institutionalisation of network as the basic form of human organisation and relationship across social, political, economic configurations. (Barney, 2004: 25)
Interactivity
The second structural new media characteristic of the current communications revolution is the rise of interactive media. In a very general definition, interactivity is a sequence of action and reaction. (Dijk, 2006: 8) In other words, the audience's ability to interact and bring something to the new media. It is a process of individualization. Van Dijk identifies four levels of interactivity. According to Dijk, the levels of interactivity are supposed to be appropriate to define how interactive a particular digital medium is.
For reading purposes, I have decided to outline these levels in point format:
1. The most elementary level of interactivity is the possibility of establishing two-sided or multilateral communication. This is the space dimension. All digital media offer this possibility to a certain extent.
2. The second level of interactivity is the degree of synchronicity. This is the time dimension. This can be separated into two categories: an interrupted sequence of action and reaction, for example, instant messenger, and devices such as electronic mail that allow producing and receiving messages to be done at self-chosen times.
3. The third level of interactivity is the extent of control exercised by the interacting parties. This is the behavioural dimension, or the element of power roles in the process of interaction.
4. The fourth and highest level of interactivity is acting and reacting with an understanding of meanings and contexts by all interactors involved. This is the mental dimension.
(Dijk, 2006: 8-9)
Digital Code
Digital code is a technical media. In essence, it means that in using computer technology, every item of information and communication can be transformed and transmitted in the form of strings of ones and zeros called bytes, with every single 1 or 0 being a bit. This artificial code replaces the natural codes of the analogue creation and transmission of items of information and communication (e.g. by beams of light and vibrations of sound). (Dijk, 2006: 9)
Conclusion
The new media are defined by all three characteristics simultaneously: they are media which are both integrated and interactive and also use digital code at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. (Dijk, 2006: 9) Based entirely on my interpretation of the Van Dijk text, I would agree in saying that media has been divided into that of old and new due to new media technology. Devices such as television and the old telephone may enable interactivity but have failed to revolutionise into digitalization. In contrast, the new medium of interactive television adds interactivity and digital code.
In retrospect, the development of this study on new media has led me to conclude that the future is alight with the ever enhancing possibilities of media technologies. The question still remains whether this increasingly digitalised world is a positive or a negative occurrence. The future will undoubtedly reveal the answer to this question. Until that time, it is essential we do not exploit this growing phenom om, but use it effectively to better our world.
References used in this post:
1. Barney, D. (2004) The Network Society: 1-34
2. Van Dijk, J. (2006) 'Introduction' in The Network Society(2nd Ed.): 1-17
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