Globalization, “the process of interaction and integration among people and companies of different countries of the world” is thoroughly discussed in Kwame Anthony Appiah article “The Case for Contamination”. At the beginning of the article, he narrates how he was at a ceremony in Ghana where a king was present and people were surrounding the throne, and yet before the ceremony began, people were talking on their phones and wearing suits just like the modern people of today. He explained that this is very normal, and he is a perfect example, since his parents are from different backgrounds, meaning that people from different parts of the world come together and their customs spread across the world. Appiah argues that for some, the process of globalization might be a frightening and unwelcome change, much like contamination, but he claims that globalization brings positive changes to people, and I couldn’t agree more. Not only does globalization give the …show more content…
They believe that such changes will harm more than benefit their current situations. These people think that as globalization expands, their customs and beliefs are going to be replaced by western ones and eventually they are not going to hold their cultures identity. Contrariwise, Appiah explains how globalization doesn’t intend to replace an individual’s culture, it intends to enhance their opportunities and enrich their knowledge about the world. Appiah believes that the universalities that come from globalization can just start at an individual level, rather than changing their country or their entire community, “ The right approach, I think, starts by taking individuals -- not nations, tribes or "peoples”’’, with this he explains how it should be an individual choice to decide if people take the opportunities presented to them through globalization, or if those opportunities are just not for
Individuals of the same ethnic background share the same culture a factor that explains that there, as many cultures as there are ethnic backgrounds across the world. Globalization has, however, led to interaction of people from varied cultural backgrounds. Because of the interaction, globalization has been accused of limiting cultural diversity. It is, however, not the case in reality. The purpose of this paper is to analyze some of the factors that justify that globalization has not limited cultural diversity as its critics say. Thus, globalization should not be viewed as a hindrance to cultural diversity because the best subject of moral concern should be the individual person and not the nation, community or the society.
of people from all shapes, colors, and sizes. They may look different, think differently, wear peculiar clothing, and even speak another language, but as humans, though we may fear it, we find that exciting--experiencing something outside of our comfort zone. With globalization, new technologies and ideologies become prevalent and traditional practices become almost extinct. In the article, Appiah discussed his first-hand experience on the effects of globalization in his home country of Ghana. He attended a ceremony where he assumed traditional festivities would take place, but
In “The Case for Contamination”, the author, Kwame Anthony Appiah uses his article to argue that globalization isn’t always a bad thing and that forcefully preserving cultural institutions does more harm than good. He uses examples to show how the world is being ‘Contaminated’. By “Contamination’, he is referring to the mixture of values, cultures and traditions. Globalization doesn’t always mean assimilation. People tend to fear change. Appiah encourages others to learn more about different culture and traditions, and throughout the article he dismisses the idea that societies changing and adopting cultural practices of other societies are inherently negative. People should be able to choose what they value and what not to value in their
According to Osterhammel and Petersson, globalization “summarizes a wide spectrum of experiences shared by many people” (2). I agree with this statement and would go on to claim that globalization is a group of processes and events, some beneficial and some harmful, that have resulted in the spread of networks across the world. However, this spread of networks did not happen over night. This is in part because not all interactions are transformed into networks, as these require a certain degree of longevity. In order for interactions to become networks, groups must consider the range between each other and their interactions must be important or impactful, intense, fast, durable, and frequent. For the reason that each of these characteristics must be present in order for networks to form, globalization has been in the works for many centuries and is still at work today. Therefore, while the historical events and processes of past centuries have provided the roots of globalization, the modernization of recent decades has built upon these roots to connect the world in a way
Globalization, the technique by which human social requests have turn out to be dynamically related, transcending geographic, monetary, political, and social checks. All the more generally, globalization incorporates the general stream of capital, musings, and information made possible through the climb of present day development and the expansive interchanges, including the Web. Globalization has brought an overwhelmingly beneficial outcome on most countries to the extent economy, society and legislative issues; it moreover has deserted a couple of drawbacks on the same points. Writer Kwame Anthony Appiah has an alternate perspective on globalization, "He contends that there is an in number relationship between singularity as found in progress
Being raised in Ghana, receiving higher education in England and working as a professor in the United States certainly helped Kwame Anthony Appiah receive a fair share of different cultures. Appiah is a recognized philosopher with several published books and an impressive track record of accomplishments. His article The Case for Contamination, which was published in The New York Times, speaks of the topic of how globalization affects individuals in many aspects of their life. He discusses how forcefully preserving cultures can harm a culture more than help it. While the article is lengthy, it goes into great detail about how globalization affects people in countries all over the world, even Ghana. Globalization makes a large impact on the world we see today and cultural groups can benefit from the effects of globalization because it promotes diversity, creates cosmopolitan citizen development, and allows economic growth.
The author of the article named Kwame Appiah who is also from Ghana, precisely analyzed and demonstrates examples of the ways in which the world is indeed becoming globalized. Depending on how one may look at globalization, it may appear as a good thing, or it may appear to come off as a bad thing. It will all be based on that person’s paradigm or personal experiences/beliefs. From the author Kwame Appiah’s standpoint he demonstrated globalization as a positive thing yielding good results.
"The case of contamination" by Kwane Anthony Appiah, analysis in ways in which the world is becoming globalized and contaminated. The article began with a description of a scene in which Ashanti, (the king) was in a ceremony in Kumani and before the king arrived, people were talking in their phones, and others were expressing their ideas on educations, science, technology and other related world issues. Even too many people’s surprise: The king happily announced that he will also be meeting with the head of the World Bank. With all of these, there's only two sides to choose from: those who agree with globalization and those who don’t agree with globalization. Weather people agree with globalization on or not, the truth of the matter is
In “The Case for Contamination” the author Kwame Appiah explains out in different ways how the world is becoming globalized and different at the same time. He uses many examples to show that the world is getting “contaminated”. He uses the term “contamination” to explain how the mixture of all the innovative values and new traditions are damaging what past generations left us as heritage. He also meant that if we continue like this we will destroy them as well. He also describes the gradual transformation of many cultures and different religions to support his points.
The world is not a large and strange place anymore. The world is a place that is interconnected and intertwined. The world has become from a place that each country and their peoples are separate and isolated to a place that each country and their peoples are part of a global network. Thanks to globalization this is occurring. Globalization is the ‘international integration” or ‘de-bordering’ – “a number of highly disparate observations whose regular common denominator is the determination of a profound transformation of the traditional nation-state” (Von Bogdandy 2). Globalization is connecting different people from different cultures and backgrounds together. More and more corporations are entering new foreign markets to sell their
Because of this, many people believe that because of globalization, the older traditions will begin to vanish and the western views will slowly take over. Appiah contrast this statement by saying that because of globalization, cultures are now spread out around the world more evenly instead of just remaining in certain parts of the world (Appiah,6). This gives people a better chance to truly find themselves. Appiah demonstrates that religions are strong enough to disregard anything said or done in society, and stay true to its faith (Appiah, 6). Appiah also counteracts statements said by the UNESCO, a group that acknowledges globalization has a negative effect. UNESCO encourages and supports ideas that are very similar to globalization such
Globalization is the process by which different societies and cultures integrate through a worldwide network of political ideas through transportation, communication, and trade. Generally, globalization has affected many nations in various ways; economically, politically, and socially. It is a term that refers to the fast integration and interdependence of various nations, which shapes the world affairs on a global level. Simply put; globalization is the world coming together. In this essay I will discuss multiple perspectives on globalization through the analysis of these three sources.
Through the lenses of preservationists, culture is authentic, carries traditions that keep historical ancestry alive, and is threatened by “cultural imperialism”. From a cosmopolitan perspective, culture is the freedom of choice, made up of multiple values and ideas that allow individuals to reinvigorate its uniqueness in an ever changing society. In “The Case for Contamination”, published by the New York Times Magazine, Kwame Anthony Appiah addresses the concern regarding the diminishment of cultural identity in poor countries by introducing the idea of cosmopolitanism: being free from cultural preordains and engaging in a pluralist society. Appiah endorses globalization and explains that resisting cultural interconnection will perhaps trap people in a stagnating society and avert it from achieving a pluralistic environment. He claims that cosmopolitanism enables individuals to adopt foreign culture based on how they see fit within their cultural context, and without “structuring the consciousness” and detaching people from traditional beliefs.
Some argue that globalization will, on the long term, bring all cultures as a unique Western, if not Americanized, culture, while others argue that some cultures will persist in order to keep their own essence and therefore avoid the homogenization of all cultures. Alongside pure tradition, global conflicts, contradictory political regimes and the diversity of economic systems, some cultures are bound to face issues when trying to fully fit in a global western culture, and that is why cultures are adaptable to one another, but with some limits that we will express in this essay.
In today’s world, with a few notable exceptions, nearly everyone in every region of the world has access to the same products, information and services. A long-distance relationship is no longer so distant, since each party involved in the relationship can communicate through Skype, Facebook or through any of the vast amount of social media available. A person in Easter Island, one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, can go to the other side of the world and travel to Canada. An economic crisis in Argentina could affect the economic landscape in Brazil. A person in Chile or Peru can buy an Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt because this transnational corporation decided to expand its market to developing countries, or as you might prefer, to emerging economies in South America. Although many of these examples might be trivial, these are the consequences of globalization.