Culture vs Globalisation

Is globalisation robbing us of our culture?
Some thoughts on the topic so far...

I am a white, female, 20 years of age. I am South African according to my passport but I am not black. My grandparents comprise of English, Dutch, Portuguese and Irish decent. I speak English and dress in Western clothing. I use Google, Facebook, Skype and a mobile phone. But what is my culture? An outsider would describe me as a Western girl but I am not American nor are my origins in the West. Born and bred in South Africa amongst rich and diverse cultures from Xhosa and Zulu to the rugged Afrikaans voortrekkers. But if you ask me what my culture is, I couldn’t tell you. I speak basic Afrikaans; I know a few Zulu and just as many Portuguese words. I eat pap en vleis and on Saturday afternoons I socialize around the braai. I am a hyphenated self brought about by colonisation and exploration and now I find myself in New Zealand – I am a product of globalisation. Just one person amongst billions who don’t realize that they are affected by this metamorphosis of the Earth into one global village.

Globalisation is a phenomenon that is hitting us hard – aided by the internet, affordable and easy flight travel, social networking and the list goes on. All to have been developed in the last 30 years or so. And on an economical, political and business level it makes sense – but what about the culture? Stop and really think about the ramifications of such and event. Yes, we can now live our dreams see the world, do business in China Saudi Arabia and Canada all at the same time without even leaving our desks but it has also aided immigration, a merging of what seems to be a predominantly Western culture.

Many people find this change and the effects of immigration toiling on their emotional self – everyone wants to belong somewhere. People come across lack of ‘belonging’; a wish to be accepted into a community. And that’s where globlisation fails unless you identify purely with your hyphenated-self and the adoption of fragments of others’ cultures you never seem to truly belong. I live in a building that houses mainly international students and some local. The Germans and the Swedes all flock together, the Americans all sound the same and hang out, the locals all know each other and I am the South African. No, I’m not saying that everyone is unfriendly and have formed cliques but I am highlighting that it is natural for people to be attracted to what they know. Familiarity. Belonging.

I have now been in New Zealand for four months. And I am becoming apart of the globalised culture – an even further hyphenated self. And I am belonging in a place I have no ties to. Cultures are merging and adapting, they are ever-changing. An example – and I hope she wont mind me using her – is a friend I have here. She is Indian by ethnicity, South African born and Kiwi in living and all of these are evident in the person she is today. Mixed and created a hyphenated-self. Globalisation may lack traditional canon of ones origins but it definitely carries a far more mixed and rich blend.

But what is the future of our cultures? As eye-opening as human cultural adaption is, does the world want to be made up of hyphenated-humans. One just needs to look at the effects colonization had on Aborigines and American Indians to realize that globalisation may also cause eradication of a culture. Granted that – in the first world countries at least – we are not all running around trying to eradicate another’s ethnicity but adapting and mixing also cause dilution and perhaps one day the world could be one pot of mixed peoples.

Yet, I am still undecided as to what my culture is for it is influenced and changing everyday.