Globalisation of Culture in the Context of Globalism/Localism and Homogenisation/Fragmentation Debates

Abstract

Globalisation and culture as well as globalisation of culture are the focus of intense academic debate and discussion. The subject includes themes such as Western domination of non-Western regions and nations by the use of various instruments such as multinational corporations (MNCs), new communication technologies, movement of capital, products and expertise operating in culture related fields. This paper surveys selected literature relating to these themes, identify and discuss relevant arguments with a view to clarify the globalisation of culture process, its changing nature and related arguments. The central questions addressed in this paper are whether cultural globalisation (CG) is leading to globalism and global culture, what happens to localisms or local cultures in the face of CG, and whether CG leads to cultural homogenisation or fragmentation. The main argument advanced here is that if we are to understand cultural globalisation in its changing complexity, we have to adopt frameworks of analysis rooted not only in the changing cultural flows, infrastructures and content but also specific economic and cultural zones as well as localities around the world.