ABSTRACT
We are living today in an age of rapid globalization.1 Its pace has accelerated in the past several decades, particularly since the end of the Cold War. The main thrust for globalization came from the West, but in most recent times important impulses also came from elsewhere, particularly East Asia and India. But while globalization involved a high degree of Westernization, it by no means resulted in homogenization but everywhere produced diverse responses to the West rooted in indigenous cultures. In fact, we have witnessed homogeneity resulting from processes of globalization and at the same time increasing heterogeneity. Globalization thus is extremely complex and variegated, on the one hand indeed leading to high degrees of homogeneity in economic organization, technological and scientific developments, and even lifestyles following Western patterns, on the other hand to marked divergences from Western outlooks and practices and even to pronounced resistance to Western influences.
