Globalization and Its Impact on Hong Kong’s Society and Culture, Reaction Paper Example

Globalization is a recent phenomenon that has changed and influenced all facets of life, from trade and finance to governance and social welfare. It is entrenched in the social and administrative structure of developed and developing nations. As economies strive to fit into a globalized world, they evolve in terms of their core values entrenched in their constitution. These rapid changes, post-modernist concepts, render modernist social theory ineffective by virtue of variation in factors between the era within which the social theory was formulated and the post-modern era.

These modernist concepts are now being abandoned for a post-modern outlook to life. The post-modern world critiques the foundational and grand narratives that have been used to shape our society. A new society emerges at the post-modern stage. At this stage a transformation is realized by how society critically evaluates the foundational ideologies that have been used to create it. The evaluation is founded on factual evidence and reason in relation to the post-modern conditions and factors (Bennett, Mercer, & Woollacott, Popular Culture and Social Relations, 1986). Social and cultural values are redefined they are queried and tested. Values that are found to be irrelevant are either abandoned or altered so as to suit the post-modern conditions.

Globalization is rapidly transforming Hong Kong and its society changes with the changing world. Through globalization, society is exposed to new external factors that create a new environment for society to exist in. In order for society to survive, it responds by evolving according to the conditions it is exposed to. Firstly, society will question the basis and foundation of all ideologies and values that it holds. Secondly, society will debate and evaluate each value or ideology and ascertain its validity and relevance relative to the prevailing physical, social and economic conditions. In the case where an ideology or worldview is found to be irrelevant, it is abandoned.

Owing to the fact that globalization has and is affecting all facets of human life, then it is only appropriate that social theory take into account the different areas through which globalization is vertiginously changing society at an accelerated pace.

The concept of culture, how it has been defined in the literature and in practice, and how it is understood in modern society, is a complex and multifaceted issue that introduced both theoretical and practical analysis. The application of Hofstede’s (1980) definition of culture is a simple and relatively generalised description of the term. Hofstede noted that culture was ‘the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes members of one human group from another’ (Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, 1980, p. 25). In his study the nature of the collective was defined by national borders. Yet, there are many more ways to define culture, both in an anthropological sense as well as a more theoretical understanding of the term. Perhaps part of the difficulty in understanding culture more generally is because of the different layers of culture that exist. While Hofstede (1980) outlined that the national level was a key form of cultural division in global society, it is also apparent that there are many other forms of cultural divisions. These include culture at the gender level, the geographic regional level, ethnicity, religion and also generational.

Clifford Geertz defines culture as “public because meaning is”. In essence he believes that culture is a collective property of any given group that easily relate to or associate with each other. This explains the difference and difficulty in understanding another’s culture other than our own, showing the lack of familiarity with a foreign meaning (Gajjala & Chopra, 2011). Edward Said defines cultures as a fact that spun out of a dialectic of self and other. Where the subject I is a representation of home while you or it being a representation of something foreign and that potentially poses a threat.

Media and Communication

Glory Hill is one of Hong Kong’s most revered rock bands, made up of four members. Their music mostly resonates with the younger demographic in Hong Kong, as well as Japan. While Glory Hill undoubtedly produces some of the best music in it genre within Hong Kong and China, their music and music videos depict numerous aspects of a global culture, an intermarriage of Chinese culture with the culture of the modern world.

This is depicted in the style of music, a pop/rock fusion in their music video Lost. Their style of attire highlights the influence that western fashion has had in Hong Kong. The music video depicts life in a desolate Hong Kong. The city of Hong Kong has been prone to city-wide protests that have left the city streets desolate for a number of days at a time. The band prefers to have their songs in their native Mandarin. This aspect of their music preserves their culture.

Fat Prop is also a fairly popular pop/rock band based in Hong Kong. The band’s music of style is quite similar to Glory Hill’s music style. However, they prefer to have their songs in English. Their style of music as well as the use the English language highlights the globalized culture in Hong Kong, adopting an international (global) language.

The Media; an Essentialist Tool

The media has longed depicted women from Asian origin as Asian women as computer ‘geeks’ and the Latina women as the casual laborers and mail-order brides. This is evident in many advertisements where the cleaning lady is of Filipina origin while the computer whiz at the IT department is the geeky Asian lady wearing the huge glasses. This is considered an essentialist representation of inter-cultural gender (Eide, 2010). This perception of female Asian and Latina women proves the essentialist nature of the media that shapes opinions in society.

Psychology and Essentialism

Feminist psychology and theory have molded psychological study on gender at numerous productive moments (Eide, 2010). Essentialist representation of gender has been criticized to women’s bodies and sexuality (Mahalingam & Leu, 2005)This kind of essentialist approach to feminism can be seen as an ideological device that validates power relations, social essentialism In this argument, women that fit the given racial profile tend to be subject to ridicule and even social segregation, or they are naturally assumed to be perfect for a given kind of job, limiting their opportunities to a progressive career path. The manner in which psychological studies are conducted, prove the essentialist perception is entrenched in society, even in academia.

Apprudrai’s 5 Scapes

The incidences of a globalized Hong Kong culture can be depicted in the two music videos highlighted above. Appudrai postulates that the five scapes influence the idea and information exchange on the global platform. They are constantly shifting and fluid in nature, able to exist in multiple realities (Bennett, Culture, Class, Distinction, 2010). He highlights how mediascapes play a crucial role in shaping, influencing and affecting society. The manner in which ideologies are displayed or portrayed in film provides a narrative of how communities, in this case communities in Hong Kong, live their lives. This creates a perception in the minds of their audience as to how individuals in Hong Kong live their lives. Through this form of media, Hong Kong’s culture is gradually transformed, as its residents ascribe to a certain way of life that is associated with the city or urban areas.

A great deal of the influence that is seen in the music videos comes from western rock music and rock music videos. As media moves through the world, it creates a perception of how individuals from the origin source live their lives. This movement of cultural content from one geographical area to another creates influence (Boyd-Barrett, 2006). As individuals contact such media, like rock music, they would extrapolate the aspects of the culture in question that are attractive. This would create a trend where individuals adopt different aspects of a culture as they perceive through the media they contact.

The media has become the ultimate source of information for the modern-day human being. As economies strive to realize their position in the digital frontier, they become dependent on information. This is owing to the fact that business has become information-driven. An individual’s perceptions, beliefs and values are greatly influenced by the information they expose themselves to. Media has rapidly shaped and influenced people’s perceptions and attitudes towards certain subjects by influencing their thought process. By merely invoking the thought process, mass media has become a powerful tool for globalization.

Communication shapes any given society. This is how they interact amongst themselves and with other individuals. Globalization has created one of the most elaborate communication networks in the form of social media. This has become the primary mode of communication for the modern-day human being (Storey, 2001). However, such technological advancements were not present at the time social theories were formulated. The society that has resulted from the transformation in communication and media cannot be studied using classical social theory. The set criteria and assumptions on the behaviour of society cannot apply to the modern-day society that is exposed to numerous sources of information.

Baudrillard acknowledges this fact by pointing out that media has become the place where real things happen only if they’re screened. Through movies and TV shows, the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred. The creation of a fantasy world where profits are made by juggling fluctuating prices on the screen of computer terminals. This imaginary universe has created a world where politics, public relations and showbiz intertwine to produce an evolved radical within the society (Gajjala & Chopra, 2011). Politics has evolved to become a field where the resolve to change the world and the application of rational critique, has been substituted with the ecstasy of communication. This is in line with ideoscapes as defined by Appudrai.

Castell’s Space of Flows

Castell postulates that space is a dynamic entity that is inherently related to the concept of time. Space is material and physical make-up of social practices that inherently share time. It is made up of a number of aspects, (1) the electronic space, and (2) the technological infrastructure that constitutes transportation channels, telecommunications and formation systems (Stalder, 2006). This theory is line with Benedict Anderson and Mary Loiuse Pratt’s deifinition of culture. Benedict Anderson believed that culture are defined by the style and manner in which they are perceived. It can either be finite and limited, it can be sovereign or fraternal. This is the style in which cultures (nations) are perceived. Mary Louise Pratt’s concept of “the contact zone” is interesting. Shed defines the contact zone as the social spaces where different cultures meet.

Culture is essentially a collective property of a group that is fraternal, i.e. for which people are willing to give and sacrifice their lives for. The contact zone, the space of flows in society in which different cultures clash or meet, have both built and eroded the Chinese woman’s culture. The pockets within society where cultures meet have especially influenced the Chinese woman’s perception of herself as an individual, a concept that concurs with Edward Said’s definition of culture. The Chinese woman’s concept of beauty has been greatly influenced by the contact zone where western cultures interact with the Chinese culture. Through media, the western world’s sense of beauty has eroded the Chinese woman’s perception of culture in terms of self. Beauty standards are now evaluated in terms of the European woman’s look rather than finding true beauty in realization of self.

Mark Edwards Hall introduces a new perspective to culture and its effect and influence within society. His view of cultures is that it molds and patterns human perception of space. This concept was quite difficult to grasp as it required analysis of cultural frameworks that define and organize space, which he believes lead to the eventual failure of communication (Storey, 2001). This discussion was fundamentally rooted on the belief cultural expectations such as the preferred organization of cities, neighbourhoods and streets, are determined and shaped by people’s perceptions of personal space. He also introduces the concept of informal personal spaces surrounding individual. The differentiation of the three kinds of informal personal spaces; (1) intimate space, (2) social and consultative space and (3) public space, was particularly informative (Hall, 1990). It helps understand how different cultures perceive foreign cultures as offensive or too liberal.

However, spaces of flows have played important roles in the understanding of different cultures without necessarily accepting all characteristics about these cultures blindly. They have enabled individuals build bridges essential in solving some of the world’s problems. This is synonymous with Park Chan-Wook’s movie, Joint Security Area. The movie’s highlight of the North Korean and South Korean differences in culture that led to the creation of the DMZ, a security buffer zone is challenged by the development of an unlikely friendship after a near-death experience in the DMZ. They manage to leave out politics so at to maintain loyalty to their countries, a concept echoed in Benedict Anderson’s perception of culture. Through this unlike friendship, a contact zone is created where many least expected it. It even grows to the point where they commit suicide to cover up the potential realization of a fraternization of South Korea and North Korea troops.

Social and Cultural Values

Social and cultural values are largely influenced and affected by the conditions on the social, technological and economic environment of a society. As globalization was accepted and advanced in most developing nations American and European cities between the 19^th and 20^th centuries, social and cultural values were influenced. Concepts such as the class struggle and the emancipation of a human being were born. As technological advancements made possible globalization, the belief in science and rationality was adopted. However, the gradual move to a post-modern state has rendered such concepts inapt. Jean-Francois Lyotard calls this ‘the postmodern condition’.

Lyotard believed that such concepts have long been used as the foundation for legitimizing wars, revolutions, concentration camps and even nuclear arsenals (Loytard, Bennington, & Massumi, 1984). The post-modern state is defined by questioning of prevalent and long-held social and cultural values. Modern values such as as the creation of boundaries and order, universality and classification are replaced by postmodern concepts such as ambiguity, uncertainty, ambivalence and plurality. Social dynamics have become influenced by these concepts leading to the stratified nature of social problems within society (Loytard, Bennington, & Massumi, 1984). These problems are quite different from those experienced 2 centuries ago. As such, the modernist assumptions cannot hold when studying a post-modern society.

In conclusion, globalization is a complex societal process as it affects all facets of the society, in an intertwined and related manner. This process is slowly changing the dynamics upon which social theory is founded on. The assumptions that were held by modern social theorists cannot hold in the post-modern society. In order to understand, study and predict society, it is important that post-modern social theory abandons modernist assumption and take into account the change that is caused by globalization. Social theory can account for the effects of globalization on communication, the social and cultural values held and how the society treats risk in the post-modern world. By incorporating these factors into a post-modern social theory, then we can accurately map, study and predict society.

References

Bennett, T. (2010). Culture, Class, Distinction. London: Routledge.

Bennett, T., Mercer, C., & Woollacott, J. (1986). Popular Culture and Social Relations. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

Boyd-Barrett, O. (2006). Communications media, globalization and empire. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Cantor, P. A. (2012). The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty Vs. Authority in American Film and Tv. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

Eide, E. (2010). Strategic Essentialism and Etnification. Nordicom Review, 31(2), 63-78.

Gajjala, R., & Chopra, R. (2011). Global media, culture, and identity : theory, cases, and approaches. New York: Routledge.

Glory Hill (Director). (2012). Glory Hill Lost [Motion Picture]. Retrieved June 24, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEDfxO5240Y

Hall, E. (1990). Understanding Cultural Differences. New York: Inter-Cultural Press.

Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. California: SAGE.

Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. California: SAGE.

Loytard, J. F., Bennington, G., & Massumi, B. (1984). The postmodern condition : a report on knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Mahalingam, R., & Leu, J. (2005). Culture, Essentialism, Immigration and Representations of Gender. theory & Psychology, 15(6), 839-860.

Prop, F. (Director). (2011). Fat Prop The Die is Cast [Motion Picture]. Retrieved June 24, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK9fW9-vrXA

Stalder, F. (2006). Manuel Castells: The Theory of the Network Society. Cambridge: Polity.

Storey, J. (2001). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. Harlow: Pearson Education.