Globalization and Sociocultural Identities

Globalization and Sociocultural Identities

• In the 1990s, the American political scientist Samuel Huntington developed the "clash of civilizations" thesis.
• Huntington argued that cultural and religious identities would be the primary sources of conflict in the contemporary world.
• Unlike those who thought the end of the Cold War would usher in an era of peace, Huntington posited that the great conflicts of the 21st century would occur between peoples with differing cultural and religious identities, rather than between social classes.
• Huntington's perspective, although critically received, does identify ethnic, national, and religious identities as conflict-generating elements.
• This challenges ideas constructed by anthropologist Néstor García Canclini and geographer Milton Santos.

Perspectives on Globalization

• García Canclini defines globalization as an "unidentified cultural object" without a clear consensus on its meaning.
• Canclini locates the beginning of globalization in the second half of the 20th century, stemming from internationalization and transnationalization processes.
• For Canclini, the Age of Exploration and the opening of Europe to the world established internationalization, which paved the way for transnationalization through the creation of independent companies originating from different nation-states.
• García Canclini asserts that new communication flows enabled by information technologies have fostered the construction of global symbolic products.
• Examples of these products include popular Mexican and Brazilian telenovelas, Hollywood films, and new perceptions of time-space relationships.
• The current globalized moment is characterized by fragmentation and the coexistence of multiple narratives.
• Globalization not only homogenizes but also fragments, creating inequalities, and reconfiguring relationships between culture, consumption, and citizenship in ways that aren't always beneficial.
• Globalization isn't entirely homogenizing; it can also be adapted and resisted.
• Access to other civilizational expressions promotes the incorporation of new cultural references, affirming local identity against the global standard.

Image Analysis

• The cartoon identifies economic and commercial dimensions as key elements of globalization from the cartoonist's point of view.
• The comic strip by Carlos Ruas, 2009, alongside García Canclini's ideas, highlights the creation and circulation of products with global symbolism.
• The World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, led the US to declare war on Al-Qaeda, which introduced security into globalization discussions.
• For many, that event confirmed Huntington's hypothesis on 21st century cultural and religious conflicts.