1. Sociology 2: Class 17: Globalization, Culture, Identity
Copyright © 2014 by Evan Schofer
Do not copy or distribute without permission

2. Announcements Minor changes in week 10 readings Final exam coming up
Updates on current events in Ukraine
Other readings cut…
See course website…
Final exam coming up
Review sheet will be out soon
Final exam review during section next week
Today’s Class: Globalization & Culture
What is culture, and how does globalization affect it?
Is culture/identity a source of conflict?

3. In the news:Russia invades Ukraine
The Guardian: The Russian military presence in Crimea continued to build, with troops massing outside Ukrainian military facilities and Russian forces establishing control of both sides of the Kerch channel separating Crimea from Russia.
US vice president Joe Biden urged Russia to pull back its forces. Medvedev said it was necessary to protect all Russians including those in Ukraine.
Russia has requested a third emergency meeting of the UN security council over the crisis in Ukraine.
The French foreign minister said European leaders could meet as early as Thursday to initiate targeted sanctions against Russian officials “If there is not in the coming hours a very quick de-escalation.”
Russian market indexes plummeted and the central bank sold $10bn in an effort to stop a slide of the rouble.
German chancellor Angela Merkel told US president Barack Obama in a phone call that after speaking with Russian president Vladimir Putin, she feared he may be “in another world.”
The Obama administration came under fire from Washington hawks including Senator John McCain for not displaying what they said would be a stronger posture.

4. Ukraine conflict: Background

5. Ukraine conflict: Background
Ukraine historically sat between Ottoman Empire, Poland, and Russia
Often ruled by Russia; site of several wars
: Ukraine part of Soviet Union
Russia’s socialist empire
1991-present: Ukraine independent
Internal political split: Ties to Russia vs. Europe
: pro-European leaders
2010-present: pro-Russian leader elected
2014: Protest by pro-European groups
Pro-Russian leader deposed; Russia invades.

6. Ukraine conflict: ethnic groups

7. Ukraine conflict: political divisions

8. Issues for this class 1. Hard vs. soft power
People focused on “hard power” see Putin as bold
And, evidence that US has not been aggressive enough
People focused on soft power see Putin as totally foolish, desperate
US needs to take “high ground” and keep Putin isolated
2. The nature of ethnic identity in Ukraine
Some foresee conflict: ethnic Ukrainians vs. Russians
Others see the conflict as mainly political
Ethnic conflict not “inevitable”
3. Does economic globalization make war obsolete?

9. In the news: Ukraine
Ukraine crisis sends Russian stock market tumbling
£34bn wiped off shares listed in Moscow as investors respond to Russia's intervention in Crimea
Russia's financial system punished Vladimir Putin far more swiftly than western diplomacy on Monday, as the Moscow stock market suffered one of its biggest one-day falls in recent years and the rouble tumbled sharply in a first nervous reaction to the Kremlin's gambit in Crimea.
Some £34bn was wiped off the value of companies on the Moscow stock exchange on Monday and the central bank burned through an estimated £10bn of its reserves propping up its currency as investors took fright at the most serious standoff between Russia and Ukraine since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The bank was also forced to raise its main interest rate from 5.5% to 7% – the largest hike since financial crisis ruined Russia in 1998.

10. More on war/conflict next week…

11. New Topic: Cultural Globalization
“Culture” refers to many things:
1. Popular culture: movies, music, clothing
2. Group culture/identity: Shared beliefs, traditions, world-views, way of life
Example: An indigenous that shares a particular religion, language, cuisine, etc.
Example: National groups (e.g., the French)
3. World Society Theory: Culture = common norms, cognitive models, scripts.

12. Globalization and Culture
One obvious trend:
“Western” (i.e., American & European) culture is increasingly dominant around the globe
Ex: English is arguably the primary global language
And, many local languages are dying out
Ex: Western music, clothing are popular everywhere
Other examples from readings? Personal experiences?

13. Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
1. Modernization theory
Dominant view in 1950s and 1960s, now criticized
Prediction: Traditional “cultures” would die out, as everyone became “modern” and “rational”
Modernization theorists thought this was good
“Primitive” cultures were replaced by “advanced” ones
Local identities were replaced by modern social & political identities
“Superstition” replaced by rationality, science, “enlightenment”.

14. Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
2. Marxism / World-System Theory
Argues that power & culture are intertwined
Marx: Ideas of a society are the ideas of the ruling class
Western economic domination is accompanied by cultural domination
Often called “Cultural Imperialism”
Westerners can effectively spread their culture via colonialism, and later via media, advertising
This helps maintain economic dominance
Example: Marketing Coke to supplant traditional drinks…
Non-Western people may reject their own culture, prefer to wear Western clothes, listen to Lady Gaga, and eat at McDonalds.

15. Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
3. World Society Theory
Argues that a key facet of globalization is the emergence of a “world culture”
Embodied, in part, in international associations
Global culture provides norms, scripts, and models that shape the behavior of governments
Consequence: Governments, laws, societies are becoming increasingly “isomorphic”
Contrast w/ World System Theory: World culture may relate to historical dominance of West….
But, culture is not principally a mechanism of furthering the dominance of the West
Rather, it now evolves somewhat independently of the interests of powerful countries
Ex: Environmentalism, human rights…

16. Perspectives: Globalization & Culture
4. Homogenization vs. Hybridization: A view from anthropology
Martell: “Is Globalization Homogenous or Hybrid?”
Homogenization: Becoming similar or uniform throughout
Latin: Homo = same; gen = make
Homogenized milk = mixed up really well so that the fat doesn’t separate out from the liquid
Hybrid: A new breed created by joining two or more varieties (e.g., of plant)
Refers to the mixing or blending of cultures.

17. Homogenization vs. Hybridization
Martell: “Is Globalization Homogenous or Hybrid?”
Issue: “The homogenization thesis”
Also called the “McDonaldization Thesis” (Ritzer)
The idea that global information flows and capitalism will result in cultural uniformity
We all eat at McDonalds, watch the same TV shows
Ex: 1.1 billion viewers of Baywatch in 1990s (p. 91)
Fits with theories we discussed:
Modernization: Everyone modernizes
Marx / World-system Theory: Everyone dominated by global capitalists, Western media
World Society Theory: Spread of global norms/models.

18. Homogenization vs. Hybridization
Criticisms of the Homogenization view
1. Observed exceptions to a single dominant culture
Example: India has a vibrant film industry “Bollywood”
Hasn’t been wiped out by American films
2. Media & consumption are only a part of culture
Watching similar TV or movies doesn’t erase many other cultural differences (beliefs, religious views, etc)
3. Global culture can be seen as increasingly fragmented
More and more cable TV stations
Shift from mass consumerism to niche consumption.

19. Homogenization vs. Hybridization
Criticisms of the Homogenization view
4. Homogenization view treats receivers of culture as very passive
Argument: People don’t just passive absorb culture
Instead: they play an active role…
Accepting some ideas and rejecting others
Example: Even McDonalds, supposedly the source of uniformity, has to adapt to local demands/customs…
5. The dominant culture isn’t “pure”… it reflects influences from other cultures
Asian, Latin American, African cultures influence Western music, media, food, etc.

20. Homogenization vs. Hybridization
Hybridization. Culture & consumption reflect hybridization – mixing and recombining
Also called “creolization”… a new language created by mixing others.
Issue studied by Anthropologists
Locals are influenced by global culture, but also re-interpret it and adapt it to their lives.
“Local cultural entrepreneurs have gradually mastered the alien forms which reach them through the transnational commodity flows and in other ways, taking them apart, tampering and tinkering with them in such a way that the resulting new forms are more responsive to, and at the same time in part outgrowths of, local everyday life…” (Ulf Hannerz). Examples???

21. McDonalds: Homogenous or Hybrid?
McDonalds in Japan & Taiwan
Fried shrimp burger; Chicken rice-cake burger

22. McDonalds: Homogenous or Hybrid?
McArabia!
The idea of hybridization was originally about how local people transformed global culture
But, examples from the West also illustrate the process.

23. Homogenization vs. Hybridization
(If time allows)
Example: Indian film industry
Bollywood – Mumbai
Tamil film industry – Chennai
Clearly reflects local tradition…
Video\Bollywood_Trailer.mp4
But also absorption of Western ideas… but is it homogenization or hybridization?
Video\Endhiran_-_Official_Trailer_-_HQ.flv
Video\Best_action_scene_ever._ever._ever._--_Endhiran_Robot.flv

24. Homogenization vs. Hybridization
Martell’s conclusion:
Homogenization thesis is too simple… but it needs to be “revised rather than rejected” (p. 90)
Hybridization is an important cultural process
But, global homogenizing forces (like cultural imperialism) do exist…
It isn’t “either”/”or”, but “both”…

25. Culture, Identity, & Conflict
Issue: Is conflict inevitable when globalization brings cultures into contact with each other?
Does globalization of Western/American culture generate conflict?
Huntington: Clash of Civilizations
And, more generally: Can ideas like culture, ethnicity, and “identity” explain conflict
Ex: Genocide in Balkans, Rwanda
Ex: Conflict between radical Islamic groups and Western/Christian/capitalist societies
Answer: It depend on what you think ethnicity / identity is…

26. Perspectives on identity/culture
Two views of identity/ethnicity/culture:
1. Primordial view
Culture/ethnicity/identity is “primordial.” It is deeply rooted, fundamental, and enduring
Consequently, cultural differences are difficult to overcome
Conflict often results
This view is common in media, popular culture.

27. Perspectives on identity/culture
2. The “social constructionist” view: Culture/ethnicity/identity are malleable: They change over time and with social context
People exhibit different identities in different contexts
Identities disappear and return (or are “re-invented”)
Ex: Quebecois in Canada
Political processes and social circumstances shape and alter identities.

28. Perspectives on identity/culture
Empirical evidence: Strongly supports the social constructionist perspective
1. Culture/identity is not innate and unchanging
Example: Balkan conflict between Serbs and Croats
Primordialist claim: Hatred is centuries old: “There will always be blood on the Balkan soil”
Evidence: Surveys suggest that trust and intermarriage were very high in 1980s, before political conflict began.

29. Perspectives on identity/culture
2. Culture/identity is often the product (not cause) of political struggle
Example: Balkan political leaders strategically invoked ethnicity, stoked hatreds to gain support
Inflammatory speech about external threat = a powerful frame to garner social/political support
Elites & social movement groups frame selectively, thereby “constructing” the conflict along certain lines
Is fight against Al Qaeda a fight against an Islamic group? A bunch of Saudis? A bunch of oil-rich bourgeoisie?

30. Culture and Conflict
Question: Do cultural differences lead to conflict?
Samuel Huntington: Clash of Civilizations
An argument related to the primordial view
A. There are distinct “civilizations” in the world, with different histories, beliefs, and cultures
Ex: Western, “Confucian”, Islamic, Hindu, Latin American
B. These will become the main “fault lines” of conflict in the future
Replacing the “Cold War” battles over ideologies.

31. Culture and Conflict Why will there be conflict among civilizations?
1. Differences in civilizations are fundamental
Different language, history, religion, beliefs about individuals, families, and groups
“These differences are more fundamental than beliefs about political ideologies and political regimes.” (Reader, p. 28)
2. Globalization: The world gets smaller
Globalization increases and intensifies interactions among “civilizations”.

32. Culture and Conflict
3. Economic modernization is “separating people from local identities” (p. 28)
Local identities are dying out, allowing groups to organize under broad “civilizations”
For him, civilizations are primordial… more so than local identities…
Example: There are many Islamic sects (often in conflict with each other); If those sects unite under “Islam”, the potential for conflict increases
Result: There is greater “civilization consciousness”.

33. Culture and Conflict
Huntington’s prediction: These cultural differences will lead to greater global conflict: A clash of civilizations
Either among civilizations… or “the West versus the rest”
Issue: Sociologists have been very critical of this view:
Sociologists criticize the general idea of coherent “civilizations”… no such thing.
And, they criticize the primordial view of culture…

34. Perspectives on identity/culture
Bowen: “The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict”
Argues against Huntington (But focuses on civil war, not global conflict)
Issue: There are many bloody conflicts raging in developing countries
Westerners often attribute them to enduring ethnic hatreds
Treat them as sad but inevitable
And, many fear Huntington-like conflict of “West vs. the Rest”…

35. Culture and Conflict Bowen: “The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict”
“The very phrase “ethnic conflict” misguides us. It has become a shorthand way to speak about any and all violent confrontations between groups of people living in the same country. Some of these conflicts involve ethnicity or cultural identity, but most are about getting more power, land, or other resources.

36. Culture and Conflict Bowen: 3 mistaken assumptions:
1. Ethnic identities are ancient and unchanging
The is the primordial view of ethnicity… it is widely refuted by sociological research
Instead “ethnicity is the product of modern politics”
Example: Serbs and Croats in the Balkans
Example: Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda.

37. Culture and Conflict Bowen: 3 mistaken assumptions:
2. Ethnic identities motivate people to persecute and kill
Answer: “Less than we usually think, and when they do, it is only after long periods of being prepared, pushed, and threatened by leaders who control the army and the airwaves. It is fear and hate generated from the top, and not ethnic differences, that finally push people to commit acts of violence.”

38. Culture and Conflict Bowen: 3 mistaken assumptions:
3. Ethnic diversity inevitably leads to violence
In fact, most extremely diverse societies peaceful
And, huge conflicts result across groups that are culturally quite similar
Somalia
Rather, the issue is often the relationship between ethnic groups and those in power…

39. Identity Construction and Conflict
“Ethnic Cleansing” in the Balkans/Yugoslavia
Conflict between Serbs and Croats
Primordialist claim: Hatred is centuries old: “There will always be blood on the Balkan soil”
BUT: Surveys suggest that trust and intermarriage were very high in 1980s, before political conflict began
People lived peacefully in same neighborhoods for decades
Balkan political leaders strategically invoked ethnicity, stoked hatreds to gain support
Inflammatory speech about external threat = a powerful frame to garner social/political support
Invoking hatreds and committing atrocities helps consolidate allies and eliminate political rivals
Several leaders stood trial for war crimes at the Hague…

40. Identity Construction and Conflict
The Rwandan Genocide (1994)
Approx. 800,000 people killed
Primordialist claim: Ethnic hatreds led to conflict
Hutus vs. Tutsis
Evidence: Killings were politically motivated
Very complex situation. In a nutshell:
Ethnic identities were first polarized by colonial policies
Recently, one of the Hutu political parties attempted to consolidate power by attacking and demonizing opponents
While it was supposedly an “ethnic” conflict, many victims were Hutus (political enemies of the attackers)…

41. Identity Construction and Conflict
Example: Katangan revolt in the Congo
Typical account: war is result of “tribalism and ethnicity” (p. 131, citing Young)
Actually, Katangans aren’t an ethnic group!
Katanga a province (like a US state) filled with many different ethnic groups
Often, the provincial borders split ethnic groups… which fought on opposite sides
Rather, the war was rooted in economics and politics
For instance: Katanga was wealthy; they wanted to stop people from migrating, taking jobs.

42. Identity Construction and Conflict
Issue: Katangan war did help solidify the “Katangan” cultural identity
People began to be willing to “die for Katanga”
But, it would be a mistake to assume that conflict was caused by strong cultural identities
Even strong identities can dissolve quickly; Or, be replaced by others.

43. Construction of ethnic polarization
Example: Polarized identities in US after 9/11
Issue: Who attacked us?
Saudis? (Most attackers were from Saudi Arabia)
A rich oil baron? (Bin Laden)
Muslim extremists?
An isolated nutcase?
Questions:
Did US leaders seek to polarize identities after 9/11?
Either to consolidate support in US or to build momentum for war?
Could leaders have channeled animosity in a different direction? Or not invoked ethnic/religious identity at all?
Why “muslim extremists” rather than other options?

44. Local Reactions to Globalization
So, if globalization doesn’t inevitably lead to ethnic conflict… what’s up with Al Qaeda?
The general issue: How can we understand reactions against the West?

45. Local Responses to Globalization
Local reactions against Western culture, imperialism:
1. Opt out. Ignore or shun the external culture
Examples: Many indigenous groups, the Amish
Historically most common. Arguably the most “authentically” traditional response to outsiders
Typical outcome: children abandon traditional culture; traditional groups shrink or disintegrate
Many traditional societies do not have strong institutions of social control… can’t compete with Western education, media, labor market.

46. Local Responses to Globalization
Reactions against Western culture:
2. “Reactionary movements”: Social movements that attack the system, offer an alternative
Examples: French social movement against American food, popular culture; Some Islamic fundamentalists.
Note: Some movements attack a specific (or symbolic) part of the dominant culture. Others are total rejections of it.
Examples from readings, personal experience?

47. Local Responses to Globalization
Kurzman reading: “Bin Laden and other Thoroughly Modern Muslims”
Argument: There are two kinds of reactionary movements: “Traditional” and “Modern”
Traditional Reactionary Movements:
Ex: The Taliban in Afghanistan
Mostly fight to get outsiders to leave
Usually organized by actual indigenous people
Participants are usually local
Not very common…

48. Local Responses to Globalization
Kurzman reading: (cont’d)
“Modern” Reactionary Movements:
Ex: Bin Laden & Al Qaeda
Typically organized by highly educated people
More like a social movement
Sophisticated use of media, etc…
Not really a very “local” response at all…
Argument: These are modern social movements.

49. “Modern” Anti-Western Movements
“Modern” anti-Western movements are just like other social movements.
“Grievances” aren’t sufficient to explain them
They rely on:
Resource mobilization: resources, organizational capacity
Political opportunity structure: allies, lapses in repression
Framing: Use of symbols, imagery (often religious).

50. Anti-Western Movements
Example: Radical Islamic fundamentalist groups
Resource mobilization:
Leaders are highly educated
Some even have degrees from American universities
Weapons & resources from US & USSR (cold war) were critical to the formation of many groups
Al Qaeda, for example
Oil rich countries have tremendous resources
It is easy to find donors for any pro-Islamic cause.

51. Anti-Western Movements
Ex: Radical Islamic fundamentalist groups
Political opportunity structure
Radical groups clearly took advantage of friendly regimes (e.g., the Taliban) to train, build capacity
Relative lack of repression in US is an opportunity
Note: Increased security after 9/11 means fewer opportunities for protest/attacks
Note: These groups also attack pro-US regimes like Egypt… but repression is much greater.
Weak unstable countries provide opportunities
Currently: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq.

52. Anti-Western Movements
Ex: Radical Islamic fundamentalist groups
Framing: Use of symbols, imagery
Religion provides a powerful set of images
Enemy isn’t just bad, but “evil” & “satanic”
Another frame: attacking “imperialism”, the “system”
Standing up for the “little guy”, fighting the “bully”
Reactionary movements always claim to authentically represent locals; that they aren’t part of the “system”
Ex: Leaders don’t emphasize educational degrees or wealth; They emphasize the small village they came from.

53. Anti-Western Movements
Issue for reflection: How would strategies for dealing with Al Qaeda differ if we think of it as a modern social movement?
Rather than a “traditional” reactionary movement…