-Caveat Lector-
05 February 1999 Business day
World not heading for a war of civilisations
The issue of cultural globalisation is complex. Peter Berger looks at the
processes which currently define it
THE term "globalisation" has become something of a clich�. It serves to
explain everything from the woes of the German coal industry to the sexual
habits of Japanese teenagers.
As with most clich�s, this one has some validity. The world has become a
more interconnected global economy, which has vast social and political
implications. The cultural dimension is an obvious consequence of an
increase in global communications. If there is economic globalisation there
is also cultural globalisation.
The issue of global culture is significant, involving both fears and hopes.
The optimists believe that, due to greater unification, a global civil
society may be born. This "global culture" may induce a more peaceful world.
The pessimists predict the opposite: conflicts will be fewer, less
ideological and more "civilisational", with people fighting over religion,
values, culture and so on.
My assumption is that we will move into an age somewhere in the middle of
these extremes. There is a global culture which is primarily of western,
namely US, origin which is spreading through the world. But that does not
mean it is going to have an absolute hegemony. This global culture interacts
with indigenous cultures in a number of ways. The interest lies in how these
processes manifest themselves at the level of personal, everyday life.
If there is to be a dialogue between cultures, it requires a clearer
understanding of all the processes at work, both of cultural globalisation
and of resistance to it. There are at least four distinct processes going on
simultaneously, relating in complex ways to each other and the indigenous
cultures on which they impinge.
Firstly, and arguably most importantly, is Davos culture. This term was
first coined by Samuel Huntington and refers to the culture of the elite and
of those who aspire to join the elite. This culture is globalised by global
economic processes. Its carrier is international business. Participants in
this culture know how to deal with computers, cellular phones, airline
schedules, currency exchange and the like.
They all dress alike, exhibit the same amicable informality, and relieve
tension by similar attempts at humour and, of course, most of them interact
in English.
This culture carries over into the lifestyles and presumably the values of
those who participate in it. There is a yuppie style in the corporation, but
also in the bodybuilding studio and in the bedroom. Notions of costs,
benefits and maximisation spill over from work into private life.
The second process is the faculty club culture. This refers to the
globalisation of western intelligentsia. If the Davos culture tries to sell
computer systems in India, the faculty club tries to promote feminism or
environmentalism there. It is carried not by international business, but by
international academic networks - nongovernmental organisations,
international foundations such as Ford, Rockefeller, Greenpeace and so on.
Like the Davos culture, it is primarily an elite culture with aspirants from
the lower echelons of cultural enterprises.
A wonderful example of faculty club culture is the anti-smoking movement.
The attempt by developed societies to impose their disdain for smoking on
the undeveloped countries of the world, notwithstanding the far greater
health crises faced by those countries, fits well in the globalisation of
the faculty club culture.
There is obvious tension between the first and second processes. Clearly,
the anti-smoking movement collides with the tobacco industry. While the
Davos culture propagates capitalist business in wherever, Greenpeace may
attack that business in the name of environmentalism.
The other two areas are somewhat different, less organised and less visible.
Popular culture is most credibly subsumed under the category of
westernisation, since virtually all of it is western and, more specifically,
American. Young and old throughout the world live and aspire to the American
way of life. They wear the jeans, eat the food and watch the TV programmes.
This is not just a matter of behaviour. It carries a significant freight of
beliefs and values. Rock music symbolises a whole cluster of cultural values
concerning self-expression, spontaneity, released sexuality and the defiance
of the alleged stodginess of tradition.
The people who run the globalisation of popular culture are aspiring members
of the Davos elite. But the consumers are a vastly broader population.
Indigenous reactions vary from complete acceptance to complete rejection.
Complete acceptance generally leads to a clash between the generations which
is presumably an important motive for acceptance in the first place. Young
people set out to enrage their parents. Complete rejection on the other hand
is difficult, even under repressive regimes, as there will always be some
sort of intercultural mixing.
The fourth distinctive process of globalisation is provided by Evangelical
Protestantism, especially in its Pentecostal version. The most dramatic
explosion has occurred in Latin America where it has brought about a
cultural revolution. There have been radical changes in the relations
between men and women, in the upbringing of children and, most importantly,
a far more disciplined approach to work. Despite the accusations levelled at
Evangelical Protestants for their persecutions of Christians in China, this
new type of protestantism is creating a new international culture with vast
socioeconomic and political ramifications.
The western origin of these four processes has given credibility to the
frequent charge that the US and other industrial democracies are practising
cultural imperialism in trying to foist "western" values on societies with
different traditions. This is not the case. The Davos culture is
internationalised. No one forces Japanese youngsters to enjoy rock music.
The alleged difference between "western" and "eastern" values is centred on
the understanding of the individual's place in society. The "west" is
interpreted as exaggerating the autonomy of the individual and being gripped
by a spiritually impoverished materialism. The "east" is seen to have a more
correct view of the individual embedded in the community, valuing tradition
and limiting materialistic acquisitiveness. In this view, a clash of
civilisations is indeed shaping up.
Like all genuine truths, the truth of the autonomous individual cannot be
contained in one civilisation. The struggle is not primarily between
civilisations. The battle lines criss-cross both the geographical and the
cultural maps. This insight may be disturbing; it is also comforting.
The picture that has been sketched is vast and complex. One tentative
conclusion, in response to a call for dialogue between civilisations, is
that this will not just be a dialogue between "the west and the rest", but a
considerably more complicated enterprise.
� Berger is director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture at
Boston University and a senior international associate of the Centre for
Development and Enterprise. The article is based on a recent CDE seminar
http://www.bday.co.za/99/0205/comment/e7.htm
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