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Review of related literature about cultural diversity
Review of related literature about cultural diversity
Review of related literature about cultural diversity
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Analysing The West Unique, Not Universal
Throughout history, Western civilization has been an emerging force behind change in foreign societies. This is the concept that is discussed in the article the West Unique, Not Universal, written by Samuel Huntington. The author makes a very clear thesis sentence and uses a variety of evidence to support it. This article has a strong very convincing point. The thoughts expressed in this article can be related to a lot of events throughout history.
The thesis of this article is that Western culture in itself is a unique and diverse culture, but it is not nor will it ever be the culture of the rest of the world. Two theories are introduced, the Coca-colonization theory and the modernization theory.
However the Coca-colonization theory is disreputation as the true meaning of culture is revolved around religion, language, societal customs, and moral values. The next theory is the modernization theory, this is the basis for the rest of the essay. The modernization theory is that since the West lead the push to modernization, many components of Western culture is embedded in modern society.
“ As the first civilization to modernize, the West is the first to have fully acquired the culture of modernity.”
This theory also heavily relies on the idea that in order to modernize, the country must Westernize and lose their traditional culture. It is then proposed that although in present day many societies are modern, its does not mean they are all the same.
“Modern societies have much in common, but they do not necessarily merge into homogeneity”
There are many different ways that this article can be perceived. In my opinion, the argument is very convincing that Western culture is not the culture of the world. There are many cultures around the world that are highly functioning with Western influence and the author does an excellent job of incorporating examples of these societies into his argument. Countries such as Japan are experiencing what Huntington describes as cultural
Many societies who viewed Western culture as parasitic were forced to adapt to Western culture for survival. For China, the Americans made the Chinese dependant on them for supplying Opium. When the Chinese fought against the sale of Opium, the America 's superior military defeated them and forced them into an unfair treaty. This created a Western presence in China, pushing Western laws, values, religion, and language on the Chinese. The embarrassing defeat of China directly influenced Japan to voluntarily accept Western culture. Both Japan and China adopted bits and piece from Western culture and adapted it to their traditional culture rather than becoming Westernized. The Boxer Rebellion is proof to China’s refusal to accept Western culture in particular for of Christianity. The slaughtering of practicing Christians, both Chinese and Western, is a very distinct rejection of Western
The western worldview grew out of ideas that were brought about by the Black Death, the humanist movement, and religious reform. The Black Death killed most of Europe’s population, opening spots for jobs and spots to move in the feudal system. This caused people to think out of the box, it also helped people see that everyone had something in common king or serf. The humanist movement also had a key role that helped people see the bigger picture. Last but no least the religious reform also played a key role. After new ideas came from the humanisms people questioned things they hadn’t before. These are the three main topics for the growth of the western worldview.
...taken the form of universalization of those same structures across the world through reforming measures or through discourses in the Muslim world, thus creating conflicts as noted by Majid. The main weapon of this power relationship is observing and differentiating between good and bad, thus ingraining binary oppositions with the western values at the superior end. Thus, the western hegemony is like a beauty myth which is an unattainable western standard which is not only undesirable but harmful for the non-west. Still, they are coerced to adopt this standard due to a constant gaze and pressure from the West. Therefore, there is a need to revert this gaze and dismantle the western hegemony and power structures through the proliferation of ideas; ideas that take root not merely from the power elite or existing structures but stem from individual and provincial needs.
Perry, Marvin, et al. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society. 4th ed. Vol. I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.
In the middle of the 19th century, despite a few similarities between the initial responses of China and Japan to the West, they later diverged; which ultimately affected and influenced the modernizing development of both countries. At first, both of the Asian nations rejected the ideas which the West had brought upon them, and therefore went through a time period of self-imposed isolation. However, the demands that were soon set by Western imperialism forced them, though in different ways, to reconsider. And, by the end of the 19th century both China and Japan had introduced ‘westernizing’ reforms. China’s aim was to use modern means to retain and preserve their traditional Confucian culture. Whereas Japan, on the other hand, began to successfully mimic Western technology as it pursued modernization, and thus underwent an astounding social upheaval. Hence, by the year 1920, Japan was recognized as one of the world’s superpowers, whereas China was on the edge of anarchy.
As the author in Chapter 9: Culture and Education mentioned, “culture is not a given, but a human creation”. Culture can change over time through human activities. People interact with people from other cultural groups to share their own languages, skills. Therefore, we, as a value, have the ability to be producers of culture. However, Nieto considered culture can be influenced by social and political elements.
The Indian Mutiny (1857-1858) and Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) were a result of Britain’s desire for a global empire. This desire is called globalization and is defined by John Darwin in his work as, “The growth of global connectedness.” With the help of new technologies and appealing goods, Britain was successful in connecting their world to the Asian world during the 19th Century. For a long time, the British wanted to move deeper into the India and China to improve their global influence. Merchants disliked restraints on trade, missionaries wanted to convert more people to Christianity, and sailors demanded more ports for docking. Once India and China were influenced by the British Empire, they reacted to the globalization in two specifically different ways that also had many similarities. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the Indian Mutiny and Chinese Taiping Rebellion as indigenous reactions to globalization in the following areas: British influence, religion and education, economics and socio-politics. Both the Taiping rebellion and the Indian Mutiny were reactions against globalization in the form of British imperialism, but the Taiping rebellion took its inspiration from Western ideas and attacked Chinese traditions, while the Indian Mutiny was an assault on British invasion and an attempt to preserve their traditional culture.
Ideology, Knowledge and the escalation of new ideas led to a better life and society that made positive impacts on Western Civilizations. There were many idea’s that were explored and implement into the daily lives of the people and for the most part it turned out to be a good impact. Although there were some bad ideas that caused suffering to the society at the time. They learned from what they witnessed and created something that would work better for the most part. In this essay I am going to use some primary sources that support my idea that society benefited from the new “ideas” but I will also use an example to explain how it caused a negative impact too.
The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P. Huntington interprets contemporary and projected conflicts, implying that the clash of civilizations will create the sustenance for all conflict to follow. He advocates that prior warfare and conflict advance from the work of monarchies, to the stuff of nation states, to the result of ideological differences. In conclusion, Huntington predicts that civilization divisions and misunderstandings will encourage all debates to come.
Since the origin of times, influences have been made; merging, converging, and transformation have happened, giving birth to new cultures all over the world. Transculturation has played a huge part in these unions since it a “give-and-take process” (Chasteen 71). Furthermore, hegemony also helped the merging of different cultures, taking in account that hegemony is “a kind of domination that implies a measure of consent by those at the bottom” (Chasteen 66). These two processes tried to impose uniformity among the cultures uniting, since they need to let go of certain traditions to accept the new ones brought by the other...
Griswold, W. (2013). Cultures and societies in a changing world. (4th ed.). United States of America: SAGE publications Inc.
Perry, Marvin, Myrna Chase, James R. Jacob, Margaret C. Jacob and Theodore H. Von Laue. Western Civilization: Ideas Politics and Society: Volume II, Sixth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Through this perspective a capitalist society as viewed as modern due to their rapid technological and economic development. Traditional Societies are viewed as underdeveloped due to their inability to keep up with the growing technological advances. The latter countries need to adopt Western technologies, Institutions, and belief systems to improve their economic conditions. There are four main components to modernization theory.
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.
Globalization is becoming one of the most controversial topics in today’s world. We see people arguing over the loss of a nation’s cultural identity, the terror of westernization, and the reign of cultural imperialism. Through topics such as these we explore the possibilities or the existence of hybridization of cultures and values, and what some feel is the exploitation of their heritage. One important aspect that is not explored is that such influences can also be more than just a burden and an overstepping of bounds. These factors can create an educational environment as well as a reaffirmation of one’s own culture.
Western people influenced Japanese people to follow the American culture. The western culture had a huge impact in the Japanese people because American’s were in Japan’s territory so they decided to follow the western culture. ‘’After Japan surrendered in 1945, ending World War II, Allied forces led by the United States occupied the nation, bringing drastic changes. Japan was disarmed, its empire dissolved, its form of government changed to a democracy, and its