Globalization and the Loss of Cultural Diversity

Globalization Leading to Loss of Cultural Identity, Indigenous Languages, and Assimilation of Immigrants to Hegemonic Forces

Introduction

Globalization has begun to consolidate human culture through economics, communication, and technology. This process is homogenizing human culture into a planetary culture rather than individual communities around the world. As people migrate to other countries or regions for economic or political reasons, assimilation to dominant cultures destroys individual identities and subordinate cultures. Languages are also lost in the world of homogenizing cultures and this leads to less cultural diversity and identities.

Global politics and economics are the main reasons for people to become part of the planetary culture. Technological advancement has allowed for greater interconnectedness and allowed geographically isolated areas to become connected to the greater network of human cultures around the world. As isolated peoples become familiar with other cultures, assimilation to other cultures for political or economic opportunity create cultural homogenization with those seen as advantageous. Those who are able to migrate to other countries lose parts of their own culture (religion, language, traditions, activities, ideologies) when assimilating to the hegemonic culture of their host country.

As technology continues to advance, people are becoming more interconnected. Cultural identity is an important role in individual quality of life and identity. With globalization on the rise, homogenization into a global identity will reduce all cultures to a dominant world culture. The danger of homogenization is the loss of cultural diversity and individual communities. Economic and political influence will continue to drive the culture of the world toward those that are economically and politically dominant. By understanding the detrimental effects of globalization, the preservation of culture and the valuation of cultural diversity can protect languages and cultures that may be at risk of fading into obscurity due to global pressure. 

Does Globalization Destroy Cultural Diversity and Reduce Cultural Identity?

Image 1. Multicultural groups in a single location/environment.

Does Assimilation of Immigrants to Hegemonic Culture Cause Loss of Cultural Diversity and Cultural Identity?

Image 2. New immigrants embracing American culture.

Are Indigenous Languages Becoming Lost or Consolidating Due to Globalization?

Image 3. English becomes the dominant language through globalization.


Annotations

Torres, Ella, et al. “Why Exuberant Hong Kong Protesters Are Waving American Flags.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 28 Nov. 2019,   abcnews.go.com/International/exuberant-hong-kong-protesters-waving-american-flags/story?id=67371063  

Ella Torres, Guy Davies, and Karson Yiu highlight the effect that global politics play in exporting American culture to other nations that may not be compatible with the same style of politics. Protestors in Hong Kong wave American flags as Donald Trump passes laws to ensure some of their freedoms in Hong Kong on the back of trade agreements with China. American freedom of speech is spread to Hong Kong through the use of trade agreements and sanctions on the Chinese government which is less sympathetic to political protestors in their own country.

Image 4. Hong Kong protestors rally around American political figures and politics.

Cultural awareness and ideals are spread through technology and political exchanges. The use of economic trade agreements to spread culture is a type of globalization that tyrannical governments may not support especially when protests may arise. Those living under the Chinese regime learn about American freedom and protest the same way that Americans protest against those who stifle civil liberties. American culture is spread around the world in the spirit of liberty and global political pressure changes the culture of other nations.

Sunde, Joseph. “Does Globalization Destroy Culture?” Religion & Liberty Online, Religion & Liberty Online, 9 Oct. 2020,   rlo.acton.org/archives/91015-does-globalization-destroy-culture.html  

Joseph Sunde illustrates the uses of globalization for marginalized cultures to push their own culture, identity, and values onto the rest of the world. Sunde acknowledges that globalization leads to some economic consolidation through big box stores and fast food chains being spread worldwide, but he pushes back with cultural exchange. The Irish people felt a boost in their own economy while still spreading their beer, film, music, and dance. They have also had a revitalization of their language which boosts their own cultural identity.

Image 5. Irish economic expansion due to globalization.

Although there may be a greater global culture being built, minority cultures may still use globalization opportunities to raise awareness and familiarity with their smaller culture. Globalization does not mean complete assimilation into the global culture. There are ways that smaller cultures and communities can still benefit from economic opportunity while still promoting and preserving their individual identity. Globalization can be a way to introduce smaller cultures or identities to the greater world.

Ziyan, Jihane. “Globalization and Its Impact on Cultural Identity: An Analysis.” Medium, Medium, 26 Feb. 2023,   jihaneziyan.medium.com/globalization-and-its-impact-on-cultural-identity-an-analysis-9e531b22f66e  

Jihane Ziyan explains the significant loss of cultural diversity due to the spread of technology and the dominance of Western culture worldwide. She describes the dominance of Western culture through economic and military dominance as a threat to localized, marginalized cultures. Preservation of cultural diversity and identity can be subsidized by the government to ensure the appreciation and recognition of distinct cultures rather than global adherence to a global standard culture. She also points out that distinct cultures have been commodified, weakening the cultural significance of diverse identities in a global culture.

Image 6. Fast Food corporations from Western cultures dominate the global food culture.

As people become interconnected, economic and political power become the driving force for human beings around the world. Globalization destroys the cultural significance of tradition, spirituality, or values in exchange for commercial products and power over the people. Assimilation tends not to be forced when people migrate but rather sought after to ensure economic opportunities and acceptance by the greater community. Globalization forces assimilation for reasons beyond cultural identity. The values of humans boil down to primal factors rather than cultural identity.

Abramitzky, Ran. “What History Tells Us about Assimilation of Immigrants.” Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), Apr. 2017,   siepr.stanford.edu/publications/policy-brief/what-history-tells-us-about-assimilation-immigrants  

Ran Abramitzky shows the patterns of immigration into the United States and the way that immigrants assimilate into the dominant culture. Over time, immigrants tend to pick up the culture of the country they have entered as long as there is no significant pushback against immigrant culture. When the dominant governing force attempts to force assimilation onto immigrants, it is met with more resistance and the immigrants attempt to maintain their cultural identity. When immigrants are valued for economic reasons, skillsets, and education, immigrants assimilate into a more welcoming culture.

Image 7. Immigrant children forced to honor the American flag and American cultural assimilation.

A global culture offers many incentives for assimilation and this is difficult for marginalized people to avoid. There is no global governing body to force assimilation which makes the process and acceptance of global culture more accepted. People assimilate and seek out the culture that is most beneficial regardless of the cultural identity lost by the individual. Individuals are willing to accept a greater culture and dismiss their own in exchange for financial or political benefits.

Bouymaj, Imane, and Renato Telo de Freitas Barbosa Pereira. “Homogenization or diversification? the impact of globalization on cultural identity of the first and second-generation immigrants.” Journal of Globalization Studies, vol. 13, no. 1, May 2022,  https://doi.org/10.30884/jogs/2022.01.06 .

Bouymaj and Pereira provide an in-depth analysis of the impact of globalization in reference to homogenization and cultural diversification. As technology advances and the mobility of people increases over time, people are spreading more rapidly than ever before. Although new cultures are populating novel environments, assimilation and separation are occurring simultaneously. Individuals report being self-aware of their culture in contrast to the new host culture and the creation of cultural enclaves in new places has become common practice. There is a level of biculturalism as well as assimilation to the new culture. The passing of culture to the next generation is not as strong and reduces the need for cultural knowledge in the new environment.

Image 8. Chinatown in many cities around the United States represent cultural enclaves. Although they exist within American cities, they maintain some cultural identity.

Although globalization leads to the spread of people, technology, and culture around the world, there are still enclaves that preserve cultural knowledge and tradition within a new environment. Globalization will continue to occur but traditions and culture can be maintained by communities and spread a new culture within a host nation. Stressors on a subordinate culture in a dominant culture can lead individuals to new levels of self-awareness and cultural identity. Assimilation will continue to impact cultural identity and globalization will impact geographically bound traditions and knowledge.

Luttermann, A. (2014). Linguistic and Cultural Homogenization in the Face of Global Change, a Subarctic Example. In: Freedman, B. (eds) Global Environmental Change. Handbook of Global Environmental Pollution, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht.   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5784-4_85  

Annette Luttermann clearly points out that 50% of the world’s estimated 5,000 - 7,000 languages will be extinct by 2100 due to imperialism, mass migration, conquest, and technology which leads to cultural domination. She points out that this loss of cultural identity is sought after, imposed, or embraced. She connects the loss of the language of indigenous people to the loss of biodiversity as languages have context in the region or culture in which they are spoken. There is knowledge in the languages of diverse populations and to lose them is to lose the habitats in which those people lived.

Image 9. Amount of languages lost over time with projection.

Much like dialects or accents, languages represent a specific place or culture of people in a region. By losing a language, the value and context in which those people live are also lost. Through assimilation into a global community, contextual language, words, and symbols will be lost due to a lack of meaning on a global stage. There is a great loss of languages and cultural identity due to globalization and the continual acceleration of this loss will lead to greater loss of regional and geographical context.

“Globalization, the Bane of Traditional Languages and Skills.” Research & Innovation Office of University of Minnesota, 30 Sept. 2021, research.umn.edu/news/globalization-bane-traditional-languages-and-skills.

The University of Minnesota Research and Innovation Office describe the impact that technology has on traditional culture, language, and knowledge. The people of Papua New Guinea have seen a sharp decline in the native languages and traditional knowledge of the environment from one generation to the next. With 91 percent of native parents being fluent in an indigenous language, only 58 percent of their children carried one of these languages. children have also shown a loss of traditional trade skills such as hunting, fishing, tribal medicine, farming, and woodworking in exchange for technological skills such as phone and computer literacy.

Image 10. Indigenous people from Papua New Guinea wearing traditional clothing with the next generation wearing Western school uniforms.

As globalization reaches all corners of the world, newer generations are being pulled into the amalgam of global civilization and abandoning their own culture. The forced assimilation of secluded people and civilizations comes at the cost of diverse cultures and traditional knowledge. The utility of traditional knowledge and practices is lost when assimilation into a modern global community is needed for success. As people explore all corners of the world and spread technology, connectivity will assimilate indigenous people into the global community and destroy localized cultures.

Interpretation and Conclusion

Globalization is an inevitability that continues to accelerate as technology reaches all communities around the world. Although this brings economic, medical, and political opportunities to minority cultures around the world, cultural diversity is lost through assimilation into the new global culture. The global culture becomes the dominant force that smaller communities want to benefit from. Interconnectedness around the globe is creating a world community at the expense of smaller cultures that are no longer valued. Cultures used to bring people together in their region but people have given this up for a global community. Globalization is homogenizing the world and this is destroying cultural significance and the diversity of culture and language.

Globalization is the community created by the human planet and the way that people have been brought under one umbrella of globalized culture. The idea of specific populations, cultural identity, migration patterns, geopolitics, and world trade are all factors of globalization. This greater topic shows the reduction of cultural diversity and the danger of continued assimilation into a hegemonic culture in the world. People migrate for economic opportunity or political freedom but give up their cultural identity to the global culture. Urbanization is a form of consolidation much like globalization but on a smaller scale. The collectivist benefits of globalization have blinded people to the danger of cultural homogenization and loss of identity, language, tradition, religion, ideology, and differing perspectives.

The Human Planet is much smaller because of globalization. With more homogeneity, human culture becomes more blended and less rich. The problems of consolidation produced through migration lead to a loss of biodiversity and cultural context. This context is found in cultural traditions, rituals, history, and language. These are lost as people move toward economic and political opportunity rather than the traditions of their people. This also introduces a host of difficulties that arise with governmental powers over those that migrate under their umbrella or clashes that immigrants may have with native peoples.

Image 1. Multicultural groups in a single location/environment.

Image 2. New immigrants embracing American culture.

Image 3. English becomes the dominant language through globalization.

Image 4. Hong Kong protestors rally around American political figures and politics.

Image 5. Irish economic expansion due to globalization.

Image 6. Fast Food corporations from Western cultures dominate the global food culture.

Image 7. Immigrant children forced to honor the American flag and American cultural assimilation.

Image 8. Chinatown in many cities around the United States represent cultural enclaves. Although they exist within American cities, they maintain some cultural identity.

Image 9. Amount of languages lost over time with projection.

Image 10. Indigenous people from Papua New Guinea wearing traditional clothing with the next generation wearing Western school uniforms.