Towards Global Integration: A Blissful Cul de Sac

I believe that the predictions made by Frances Cairncross in her "Trendsetters Guide to New Communication" are no less than a fait accompli as all are already happening now right before our very eyes.

The advent of new media, not to mention the plummeting com­puting expenditures, has already transformed distance, eroded borders and time and realized the creation of a homogenized world. What I really find interesting, however, is her foresight as to how Communities of Culture remain afloat despite the trend for homogenization brought about by the globalization as facilitated by the communication technology. I would even translate such as a solid cognition by the author that that local cultures could and should survive in the midst of globalization, exactly as what one Theology professor at Vidyajyoti College of Theology in Delhi has to say about the issue…

“… homogenization brought about by globalization is superficial and is limited to the material level of the consumer goods used by people and a certain consumer culture that is artificially promoted by the media. It does not radically affect how people relate to each other and how they find meaning and purpose in life. It leaves largely untouched the freedom and agency of the subjects in creating and changing culture, both as individuals and as groups.

Culture is not a static reality. As the adage goes: people make culture, culture makes people… Cultures are constructed by people. People are not mere objects of cultural influences, but subjects who can sift various influences and reject or integrate them…

Since cultures are people, homogenization can only mean the mechanization of the human. Cultural diversities, as expressions of divine and human freedom and creativity, will have to be protected and defended. Pluralism is a value. Homogenization can only be pathological. If we can humanize capitalism and science and technology and make them socially responsible on the one hand, and respect the diversity of peoples and their cultures on the other, then globalization can lead to global community marked by unity in pluralism. It will be built up through dialogue in mutual respect leading to mutual enrichment.”


- Michael Amaladoss, S.J.
Global Homogenization:
Can Local Cultures Survive?


Cultural diversity will remain and the best shot for remaining competitive is to make the adjustments to deal with the realities of operating in a global economy. Precisely why as the economy and the world marketplace become increasingly interconnected, the more the organizations and business entities focus on global workforce development, cultural training and language learning as an investment that brings immediate valuable returns.

Communication Technology: A Catalyst of Revolution

REVOLUTION

The noun REVOLUTION has 3 senses

1.a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving

2.the overthrow of a government by those who are governed

3. a single complete turn (axial or orbital)

The seat of power lies where the monopoly of physical resources is. This, as our world history could attest, has made those nations falling short of expertise, knowledge and wealth become easy target for colonization at least some hundred years back.  The tyrants dictate while the powerless follows. The quest for liberty and equal opportunity even remains elusive for those who have revolted and regained their independence as a nation in the latter years.

Fast forward to this day and age when physical labor slowly becomes minimally important and knowledge creation becomes the source of value and wealth, we have communication technology to thank for the democratization of the world. The new media has made the communication of information more and more participatory in nature and gone are the days when knowledge and control were primarily in the hands of the few. The networking and interactive characteristics of communication technologies has transformed the receivers of information as content providers themselves, literally empowering them to highly influence both local and global governance, culture, media and trade.

In the light of shared and equal access to knowledge resource, communication technology provides platform for historical decolonization process -- giving power to communities and individuals in the overall context of global human, economic, environmental and culturally negotiated spheres. Indeed, the communication technology in its present form deserves to be called revolutionary as it paves way for the shift of power – from the dynamics of powerful versus powerless to a shared universe that is healthy, beneficial and equal footing regardless of class and race.