Global versus local

Is global culture a threat to local culture? According to the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, the answer is – Yes. The Chief Justice of India on Friday said global culture is emerging as a serious threat to local culture, symbols, and identities. He was delivering the 82nd convocation lecture of Osmania University in Hyderabad when he made this statement. Moreover, he said that driven by the winds of globalization, more and more people are moving toward a global culture, and that as a global culture engulfs the world, the need of sustaining diversity assumes greater and greater significance. The Chief Justice is one hundred per cent right. It is a fact that the media – and especially social media, television and pop culture – has glamourized a particular way of life. This in turn has easily influenced the common people, who, according to Justice Ramana, are blindly aping the same. The result is that instead of celebrating and taking pride in the distinct local heritage and culture, the majority of people are allowing the rich local identities to be wiped out. The Chief Justice of India has rightly pointed out that with rapid globalization and massive developments in science and technology, several cultures and identities are interacting with each other with increased frequency. But then, since globalization is also often exclusively associated with worldwide economic integration and the emergence of a borderless global market, the process is also causing sweeping changes in the social, cultural and political terrains across the globe. The power of the economy in turn is helping the culture of powerful economies to wipe out the cultures of the weaker economies. Moreover, the successful expansion on a global scale of certain particular localisms of social, economic, and political organizations, which are neo-liberal and capitalist in character, has converted globalization into a hegemonic process. The outcome is that the typical and distinctive cultural characteristics of smaller groups and communities are beginning to be wiped out. This is not only affecting festivals, rituals and traditions, but also minute areas. One small example is the terms used by various local communities to mean and address relatives. Take the example of 'uncle' and 'auntie' –; these two words have almost wiped out beautiful local terms in various languages, cultures and communities of the world.