Glocalization?

"It just makes me pissed off!" - random classmate

Thursday's class was certainly a heated one. I believe that if our professor, Rob Burton, was to allow the students, there might have been a small brawl. Now while that may have been an exaggeration, the class of Multicultural Literature at Chico State was ready to get into the thick of it. Although I am usually quieter in class, I found myself thinking a smörgåsbord of thoughts on the subject of Globalization.

Globalization is an issue that has become a hot topic for the press as well as many Americans today dealing with the weak economy. There are two sides to this debate: one side wishes for the expansion and integration of cultures and their economy. The other side however, wants to stop the expansionist and capitalistic theories and keep cultures segregated in favor of cultural traditions.

Thomas Friedman, a supporter of Globalism and author of many books supporting this theory, produced a mini-documentary on his experience in India and the companies associated with out-sourcing jobs to this country. In his travels, Friedman visits major corporations such as Dell, Honeywell, and HP. At most of these business buildings, thousands of Indian workers are clustered together working at a call center providing customer service. For many of us Americans, most of us can say that we have dealt with talking to an Indian on a phone that is related to a technical or sales question.

I commonly hear from people how frustrating it is trying to talk to a person who's accent is so thick they can't understand hardly anything they're saying. I too have had experiences of frustration when I called Dell's help center and I couldn't understand what the person was saying. In any case, the service that Indians are providing for Dell is still to be appreciated since I would suppose that many Americans would not want to take a job like this. So when I hear that they're taking away our jobs, I stop and think that people who say that are not even willing to work that job, let alone hold any value for it.

On the other side of the camp of Globalization is Naomi Kline, author of No Logo, defends her position against the expansion of capitalistic enterprises. According to her theory, global integration of societies, strips citizens and of their heritage and historical traditions. She also states that mass consumerism creates a socio-economic divide as well as satiating a need in the mind of the consumer for more and more. Much of Western society she says, has permeated the region, causing a lack of identity in many young and impressionable Indians.

For me, this issue is complex and multi-faceted, I don't think that there is any "correct" answer. I personally do not favor Globalism because I believe that it diminishes cultures and societies into a lump sum. There are too many valuable things to be learned from different societies and styles of living that saying their is "one way" to live is downright stupid. I'm also in favor of keeping employment high, thus making sure Americans have jobs is vital to our economy. However, international trade can be profitable for the countries involved in the process. To me, I believe India must make the decision as to whether or not they want to participate in this process of globalization. The delicate balance of keeping their society intact while increasing profit of international trade must be worked out. Not all of the responsibility rests of India though, because while there country is struggling to figure out their economy, America is dangling the carrot in front of their face.