The driving force behind the process of globalization that our human societies are experiencing is capitalism. Since ancient times, trade routes such as the silk road have shaped cultures and written history. In contrast, the modern capitalist economies are interconnected like no other point in history. The speed at which ideas and material goods have been exchanging between distant points on the globe is unprecedented. Capitalism is the main driver behind globalization with mass communication used as the means to propogate the capitalist system. “Globalization gathered momentum with the rise of international news agencies in the nineteenth century, accelerated with the global rise of Hollywood in the 1920s, and then went into reverse when radio and, later, television were shaped into a national mold.”[1] Mass communication is used to transmit the capitalist ideology into the populace and then mass communication is used to maintain the capitalist economic system in place. “Political economists, on the other hand, write about globalization as a capitalist victory that is dispossessing democracies, imposing policy homogenization, and weakening progressive movements rooted in working-class and popular political organizations.”[2]
In my recent trip to Pakistan, I was enamored with the cultural transformation that I saw compared to my prior visits. The recent financial crisis had an adverse effect in Pakistan and I suspect the majority of the world. The cultural transformation I saw was that traditional relationships whose strength was based on relatedness and cultural values was significantly replaced with a sense that one’s worth was determined by that person’s monetary value. I saw greed captivate the populace. People with money are respected, whereas in the past it was one’s adherence to cultural values that earned respect. Another instance of globalization in action that I noticed was that third-world countries feel the blunt of market forces before the rest of the modern world. Food prices have risen enough in Pakistan over the past year that has it has sent millions into starvation, yet this significant rise in food prices has come to the foreground in the major international markets now. “In a globally deregulated world, all economies are subject to the pressure of market norms and behavior. The power to resist, and the power to support values and social arrangements that reflect the will of the people through the democratic system, have been diminished everywhere.”[3]
[1] Curran, James/Park, Myung-Jin (eds.): De-Westernizing Media Studies. London, New York: Routledge 2000, p.10
[2] Curran, James/Park, Myung-Jin (eds.): De-Westernizing Media Studies. London, New York: Routledge 2000, p.11
[3] Curran, James/Park, Myung-Jin (eds.): De-Westernizing Media Studies. London, New York: Routledge 2000, p.10
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