ABSTRACT
Globalization is not a one-dimensional phenomenon, but a multidimensional process involving domains of activity and interaction. Scholars defining globalization in terms of a multidimensional process (Axford, 1995; Waters, 1995; Friedman, 1999; Halliday, 1999) draw their analytical frameworks from the social sciences, namely sociology, economics, and political science. Some of these frameworks tend to view culture as the driver for global economic and political interdependence. The world has experienced successive waves of what we now call globalization. These periods have all shared certain characteristics: the expansion of trade, the diffusion of technology, extensive migration, and the cross-fertilization of diverse cultures — a mix that should give pause to those who perceive globalization
narrowly, as a process nurtured strictly by economic forces. Indeed, any analytical account of globalization would be woefully inadequate without an examination of its cultural dimension. A number of prominent scholars have emphasized the centrality of culture to contemporary debates on globalization. As sociologist John Tomlinson puts it: ‘‘Globalization lies at the heart of modern culture; cultural practices lie at the heart of globalization’’ (Tomlinson, 1999, p. 1). Indeed, the understanding of globalization as involving several dimensions including cultural issues is now common (Hall, 1991; Axford, 1995; Robertson, 1992). Giddens (1990) sees cultural globalization as a fundamental aspect of globalization. In 1994 he stated that ‘‘Globalization is not only, or even primarily, an economic phenomenon; and it should not be equated with the emergence of a ‘world system’ ’’ (pp. 4-5).
