Globalization is Challenging the Preservation of Local Culture

Zhou Chunyu, Masters of Public Administration student at the School of Government and Society at the University of Birmingham in England, has an interesting take on this issue. He says that while globalization is a huge influence on our world today, including in the area of culture, traditional and local cultures can co-exist with globalization.

“Local culture is an important element of peoples’ roots, and is very difficult to be changed,” says Chunyu. “Local culture can be influenced by globalization to some degree by way of local peoples’ behaviour and attitudes. Although globalization might change people’s lifestyles to some extent, traditional culture can’t be replaced by external cultures, and it dominates the local populations minds and hearts.”

“Local culture can be preserved and can’t be replaced by other cultures, while globalization as a driving power has been instrumental in shaping lifestyles of local residents in some ways.” Chunyu adds that there could be a difference if someone was born and raised away from their native country or culture from a young age. In this case, their original roots and culture could be replaced or dramatically influenced by the culture and experiences they were immersed in growing up.

Chunyu also believes that globalization is a form of progress and is positive on the whole, in that it facilitates the global movement of people, ideas, money, and materials, and also creates a greater respect and understanding between different cultures around the world, as it diversifies the world’s culture.

Canada is an interesting example of globalization because of its image as a patchwork quilt of cultures (contrasted to the so-called “melting pot” of the United States). Especially in larger cities in Canada, such as Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver, the cultural diversity Chunyu mentions is especially evident.

An hour-long streetcar ride through Toronto, for instance, can take you through areas representing different cultures, including Chinatown, Korea Town, Little India, and more. On one hand, this can be seen as a positive effect of globalization, because there are people from different backgrounds and societies co-existing in the same city–sharing beliefs and ideals and lending bits of their cultures to each other.

However, it is argued by some that these pockets of culture within a city are a form of self-segregation of people into their own cultures. For example, we can look at Chinatown (in any major city), which, for the most part, comprises of Chinese people congregating in shops and other businesses, speaking their native languages, and attracting visitors who are also Chinese.