Glocalization

Real Love Has No Boundaries? - Dating Reality TV Shows between Global Format and Local-Cultural Conflicts

by Motti Neiger

In A. Hetshroni (Ed.) Reality Television: Merging the Global and the Local (pp. 123-136). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers

In Pursuit of the Vikings - An anthropological and critical discourse analysis of imagined communities

by Sanna Fridh

Pretty much finished copy.

Globalization is a phenomenon that is hard to capture, and many scholars have written about how subject. Of importance... more Globalization is a phenomenon that is hard to capture, and many scholars have written about how subject. Of importance for this thesis is Arjun Appadurai’s theory of the imaginary and how he attempts to frame globalization through the imagined, creating a world where various aspects of culture are interconnected in both simple and complex ways through the various scapes. This thesis will approach globalization in a similar manner, and focus on some specific subgenres of heavy metal called Viking metal, folk metal, pagan metal and national socialist (black) metal (collectively henceforth referred to VPFNS metal) as a form of case study, by examining how global structures of common difference take upon different local forms.
By interviewing fans of the music, attending concerts as a form of participant observation and by analyzing lyrics using critical discourse analysis, it became obvious that a sense of belonging was created thanks to the imaginary, where rituals help to maintain the neighborhood. These rituals include but are not limited to clapping hands, cheering, bands touring over the world, holding stage banters, people participating in the mosh pit, doing the devil sign, singing along the lyrics, wearing similar clothing by adhering to a typical heavy metal aesthetic, reading lyrics, talking about music with friends, seeking out new music and so on and so forth. All these actions or lack thereof exemplify a person’s ability to possess cultural capital, which in turn marks whether one is “in” or “out”, thus helping to build specific social discourses that define the scene and sets it apart from other subcultures.
These discourses are in turn situated in larger social contexts and fans of VPFNS metal also position themselves in relation to these discourses in various ways. Examples include the prevalent homophobia, racism and sexism found within the scene, and how there appears to be a reproduction of an archaic and romantic form of masculinity that rejects the feminine as abject. This rejection of femininity can be understood as VPFNS metal being situated in a highly phallocentric global context, seeing how patriarchy is often the dominating discourse.
The focus on a cultural historical past can also be understood as the rejection of modernity itself, and all my respondents cite the importance of cultural history being one of the defining features of VPFNS metal. This play with the past and the creation of a hypermasculine discourse within the scene allows people to imagine something beyond themselves and create a sense of stability in a world that is considered to be ever-changing. To conclude, even though religion is slowly being forced into the private sphere and mass media may be considered to be the new opium for the masses, imagination is not dead. If anything, thanks to new technology people are capable of imagine in ways not previously possible by being united through the various scapes and VPFNS metal stands as a good example of the beauty of human imagination.

Tsotsitaal, global culture and local style: identity and recontextualisation in twenty-first century South African townships.

by ellen hurst

2009 Social Dynamics,35:2,244 — 257

Tsotsitaal is a linguistic phenomenon which is inseparable from a style adopted by many youth living in urban... more Tsotsitaal is a linguistic phenomenon which is inseparable from a style adopted by many youth living in urban townships in South Africa. The style is signalled by the unique and innovative lexicon of Tsotsitaal, and additionally indicated by clothing and other identity markers. Features of the style are ‘urban-ness’, consumerism (in terms of brand names) and cultural iconography, such as music and sports. While many of these items are influenced by, or even drawn from,global cultures (particularly in the diaspora), they are transformed into uniquely South African cultural currency by a process of recontextualisation in township spaces and between individuals. There has been a dialogue between the Tsotsitaal style and the global since at least the 1940s, which should put to rest fears that increased global influence since the end of apartheid will diminish the integrity of local South African cultures.

Dietary Heterogeneity among Western Industrialized Countries Reflected in the Stable Isotope Ratios of Human Hair

by Luciano Valenzuela

PLoS ONE

Although the globalization of food production is often assumed to result in a homogenization of consumption patterns... more Although the globalization of food production is often assumed to result in a homogenization of consumption patterns with a convergence towards a Western style diet, the resources used to make global food products may still be locally produced (glocalization). Stable isotope ratios of human hair can quantify the extent to which residents of industrialized nations have converged on a standardized diet or whether there is persistent heterogeneity and glocalization among countries as a result of different dietary patterns and the use of local food products. Here we report isotopic differences among carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope ratios of human hair collected in thirteen Western European countries and in the USA. European hair samples had significantly lower δ13C values (-22.7 to -18.3 ‰), and significantly higher δ15N (7.8 to 10.3 ‰) and δ34S (4.8 to 8.3 ‰) values than samples from the USA (δ13C: -21.9 to -15.0 ‰, δ15N: 6.7 to 9.9 ‰, δ34S: -1.2 to 9.9 ‰). Within Europe, we detected differences in hair δ13C and δ34S values among countries and covariation of isotope ratios with latitude and longitude. This geographic structuring of isotopic data suggests heterogeneity in the food resources used by citizens of industrialized nations and supports the presence of different dietary patterns within Western Europe despite globalization trends. Here we showed the potential of stable isotope analysis as a population-wide tool for dietary screening, particularly as a complement of dietary surveys, that can provide additional information on assimilated macronutrients and independent verification of data obtained by those self-reporting instruments.

Key words: Hair protein, stable isotopes, Western Europe, dietary heterogeneity, glocalization, globalization.

'LOCALIZING' INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION: INSIGHTS INTO ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA

by Antonio Taglialatela

published in “Englishes”, 44-45/2011, Rome: Pagine, pp. 39-48. ISSN 1593-2494

The growth of the use of English as the world’s primary language for inter-national communication has been long... more The growth of the use of English as the world’s primary language for inter-national communication has been long debated. Even if native speakers are still regarded in some contexts as the custodians who are granted rights of control over the development of the English language, it cannot be denied that a language in contact with a notable proportion of the world’s languages cannot maintain its peculiar features, with new varieties constantly emerging, through which individuality or nationality can be expressed.
This paper aims to investigate how crucial it is to start local to go global and aims to highlight, as Facchinetti et al. (2010) argue, that «being aware of every culture[’s] specificities avoids cultural mistakes and misunderstandings which give rise to miscommunication» (2010: 8). With this regard, we wish to stress that English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is to date definitely part of a more general process called “glocalization” and as such, we are witnessing a reshaping of the English language, as it naturally adapts to the new values and relations in global communication.

Ökosoziale Glokalisierung: Egalitäre und elitäre Tendenzen des Konzepts der Urban Governance

by Christof Brandtner

Conference paper for Momentum 2011: Equality, October 2011

Die Globalisierung hat soziale und ökologische Herausforderungen mit sich gebracht, die sich auf lokaler Ebene... more Die Globalisierung hat soziale und ökologische Herausforderungen mit sich gebracht, die sich auf lokaler Ebene unterschiedlich manifestieren. Städte spielen durch ihre ständig im steigen befindliche wirtschaftliche, politische und demografische Bedeutung eine wichtige Rolle in der reflexiven Wechselwirkung des Globalen und des Lokalen, die Robertson (1995) als Glokalisierung beschreibt. Dieser Beitrag diskutiertunter Berücksichtigung des Konzepts der Urban Governance die Veränderungen, die für den politischen Steuerungsmechanismus von Städten damit einhergehen undstellt sich die Frage nach dem Potential für eine
ökosoziale Glokalisierung. Er kommt zu folgenden Schlüssen: (1) Globale Entwicklungen bringen isomorphe lokale Veränderungen mit sich. (2) Institutionelle Veränderungen verlangen einen Perspektivenwechsel zur Betrachtung städtischer Steuerungsprozesse als Urban Governance. (3) Urban Governance hat zuallererstelitäre Tendenzen – das Dogma der unternehmerischen Stadt hat Fuß gefasst. (4) Urban Governance hat aber auch egalitäre Tendenzen im Gepäck – die inklusive Stadt ist das konzeptionelle Pendant der unternehmerischen Stadt. (5) Es gibt in den Städten ein window of opportunity für eine ökosoziale Glokalisierung

Glocal Imaginaries

by Lindsey Moore

Glocale: pensare locale e agire globale per valorizzare e creare sviluppo (2009)

by Cettina Santagati

Restuccia F., Galizia M., Santagati C (2009), Glocale: pensare locale e agire globale per valorizzare e creare sviluppo, Gambardella C., Martusciello S. Giovannini M. (editors) Atti del sesto forum internazionale di studi “Le vie dei mercanti, cielo dal Mediterraneo all’oriente", Capri 5-6-7 giugno 2008, Collana Rilievo è/o progetto n. 14, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane ISBN 978-88-495-1838-2 pag 757-767

Il contributo di Cettina Santagati è individuabile al paragrafo: Strumenti per la conoscenza dei beni culturali tra... more Il contributo di Cettina Santagati è individuabile al paragrafo: Strumenti per la conoscenza dei beni culturali tra globale e locale

Ross, H., & Lou, J. (2005).Glocalizing Chinese higher education: Groping for stones to cross the river. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 12/1, 227-250.

by Jingjing Lou

Focuses on the globalization and localization of higher education in China. Background on interrelated trends in... more Focuses on the globalization and localization of higher education in China. Background on interrelated trends in Chinese higher education, as of January 2005; Role of the Chinese state in the decentralization of higher education; etc..

The glocalisation of heritage through tourism: Balancing standardisation and differentiation

by Noel B. Salazar

Salazar, Noel B. 2010. The glocalisation of heritage through tourism: Balancing standardisation and differentiation. In S. Labadi & C. Long (Eds.), Heritage and globalisation (pp. 130-147). London: Routledge.

Heritage destinations worldwide are adapting themselves to the homogenizing standards of global tourism at the same... more Heritage destinations worldwide are adapting themselves to the homogenizing standards of global tourism at the same time as trying to maintain, or even increase, their local particularity. While local and national tourism authorities and tour operators package and sell so-called ‘authentic’ cultural landscapes or ‘traditional’ cultures, what counts as heritage – be it material or intangible – and the way it is interpreted is increasingly defined and controlled supralocally. This chapter sketches the broad picture of global heritage tourism in the 21st century and illustrates the general trends with examples of ongoing ethnographic research on cultural heritage tourism in central Java, Indonesia.

From local to global (and back): Towards glocal ethnographies of cultural tourism

by Noel B. Salazar

Salazar, Noel B. 2010. From local to global (and back): Towards glocal ethnographies of cultural tourism. In G. Richards & W. Munsters (Eds.), Cultural tourism research methods (pp. 188-198). Wallingford: CABI.

Researching cultural tourism, covering the gamut from global standards of hospitality to dyadic host-guest... more Researching cultural tourism, covering the gamut from global standards of hospitality to dyadic host-guest interactions, is a fascinating but challenging endeavour. Since travel-for-leisure is a multi-layered phenomenon, many studies fail to understand and explain it adequately. Using a research project in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, as an example, I demonstrate how a “glocal ethnography” approach helps to capture the details of the local cultural tourism scene while at the same time it pays attention to how that lived reality is firmly embedded in and continuously interacting with supralocal processes. Cultural tourism offers many possibilities for glocal ethnographies, especially where international tourists meet local manufacturers, retailers, and service providers in the production, representation, and consumption of glocalized tourism goods and services. I illustrate the potential as well as weaknesses of the methodology with ethnographic examples on cultural tour guiding. For those researchers wanting to conduct in-depth studies, glocal ethnography offers a valuable innovative methodology. By engaging in a genuine holistic approach, tourism scholars have a great opportunity to take the lead, thereby demystifying the common stereotype that all they are able to do is applied quantitative research.

Paradoxes of the ‘glocal’ self in the new world (dis)order: the national identity project

by Faiz Sathi Abdullah

Published as:
Abdullah, F. S. (2008). Paradoxes of the ‘glocal’ self in the new world (dis)order: the national identity project. In F. S. Abdullah, M. H. Abdullah & B. H. Tan (Eds.), Critical perspectives on language and discourse in the New World Order (pp. 38-70). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Contemporary identity politics concerns the considerable dynamics that are inherent in much of the socio-political... more Contemporary identity politics concerns the considerable dynamics that are inherent in much of the socio-political activity and theorising based on the lived and shared realities of social groups in the “era of globalisation” and the “New World Order”. “Glocalisation”, quite obviously a hybridised term from economics, refers to the production of goods or services intended for the global market but which are (re) packaged for a local culture. Hence, discourses on “glocal” identities tender the construction to mitigate “endist” arguments about the effects of global pressures on economic autonomy, privacy, democracy, and the sovereignty of the nation-state, its national language, culture, ideology and most certainly, its identity. Given the centrality of language in neo-capitalist discourse, emergent terms in the new lexicon (e.g. “fragmegration” as a conflation of “fragmentation” and “integration”) are at best essentially reflective of the contestation of the “third space” as the globalisation project moves inexorably forward in the dominant bipolar discourse of pax Americana, its putative “coalition of the willing” and the coterminous formation, renewal and realignment of geopolitical allegiances. Hence, whither goes national identity? How do the national collective and the citizens thereof seek meaning as social actors in the new epoch? Using a broad critical discourse analysis framework, this paper explores a range of issues related to identity politics and the discourses of globalisation and world order to present descriptive hypotheses about the paradoxical nature of hybridised identities within the ambit of the historic Malaysian national identity project and the salience of “Bangsa Malaysia” (Lit. “Malaysian Nation”) as the Vision 2020 ideal. An interdiscursive analysis of a sample text is incorporated to explicate the related dialectics of identity construction such as identity/difference, localisation/globalisation, colonisation/appropriation and narrative/ metanarrative.

Where are the Public Service Media in Latin America? : Citizen Media and National Development in a Glocalized Environment

by Thomas Tufte

Tufte, Thomas. In: The Nordic Countries and the World : Perspectives from Research on Media and Communication : a book for Ulla Carlsson. red. / Torbjørn Broddason ; Ullamaija Kivikuru ; Birgitte Tufte ; Lennart Weibull ; Helge Østbye. Göteborg : Institutionen för journalistik, media och kommunikation, Göteborgs universitet, 2010. s. 291-304 (Göteborgs studier i journalistik och masskommunikation; 61)

Emerging Dimensions of Decentralization Debate in the Age of Globalization

by Chanchal Sharma

Juventude, Comunicação e mudança social: negociação, navegação e narração da vida de jovens em uma realidade glocal

by Thomas Tufte

Tufte, Thomas. Juventude, Comunicação e mudança social: negociação, navegação e narração da vida de jovens em uma realidade glocal. In: Intercom. Revista Brasileira de Ciências da Comunicacão, Vol. 33, Nr. 2, 2010, s. 51-72.

The Challenge of the Glocal

by Thomas Tufte

Hemer, Oscar & Thomas Tufte. The Challenge of the Glocal. In: Media and Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development. red. / Thomas Tufte ; Oscar Hemer. Göteborg, Sweden & Buenos Aires, Argentina : NORDICOM, 2005. pp. 13-24

Neiger, M. (2011). Cultural Oxymora: The Israeli Idol Negotiates Meanings and Readings. Television and New Media. 12(6)

by Motti Neiger

This article provides a close reading of the Israeli version of the Idol format. Using the concept “cultural oxymora,”... more This article provides a close reading of the Israeli version of the Idol format. Using the concept “cultural oxymora,” contradictions that serve to negotiate meanings, the analysis examines the case through six lenses: pluralism (stressing the institutionalized pluralism by auditioning in Israeli and Jewish communities outside the country), performance (songs that are associated with the Jewish State’s bereavement rituals while adding a counterhegemonic vocal presentation), patriotism (nationalism and the military in the transnational format), periphery (exposing its ethnic richness while using stereotypes), participation (manufacturing consumers’ “democratic” election), and promotion (national media event of coronation with ordinary characteristics). The conclusions suggest that cultural oxymora may explain the appeal of reality TV since they support a complex inclusive interpretation of the shows that maintain a dialogue between neo-Marxist readings, emphasizing a critical view on the show’s commercial-hegemonic structure, on one hand, and reception-centered readings, stressing audiences’ gratifications and pleasures, on the other.

Islamophobia in the construction of British Muslim identity politics

by Yahya Birt

in Peter E. Hopkins and Richard Gale (eds.) Muslims in Britain: Race, Place and Identities (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009), 210-227.

Koutsogiannis, D. & Mitsikopoulou, B. (2007). Greeklish and Greekness: Trends and Discourses of “Glocalness”. In Danet, B. and Herring, S. (eds). The Multilingual Internet. Language, Culture and Communication online (142-160). Oxford: Oxford University (see also: Journal of Mediated Communication Discourse, 9 (1) [http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/]

by Dimitrios Koutsogiannis

Within the context of the new communication ecosystem, attitudes towards computer-mediated discourse (CMD) practices... more Within the context of the new communication ecosystem, attitudes towards computer-mediated discourse (CMD) practices have not been extensively investigated. This study explores social attitudes towards "Greeklish," a specific discursive phenomenon of CMD, which involves the use of the Latin alphabet in Greek online communication. It approaches Greeklish as a glocal social practice, and investigates attitudes towards Greeklish as they are represented in the Greek press. Three main trends are identified in the corpus. The first, a retrospective trend, views Greeklish as a serious threat to the Greek language; the second, prospective trend, approaches Greeklish as a transitory phenomenon which will soon become negligible due to technological advances; the third, resistive trend, points to the negative effects of globalization and relates Greeklish to other communication and sociocultural practices. Adopting a critical discourse-analytic perspective, this study attempts to map the discourses which permeate each one of these trends in order to reveal different, often heterogeneous and conflicting representations of Greeklish in Greek society at a specific historical moment.

The glocalization of US sports in South Korea.

by Younghan Cho

” Sociology of Sport Journal (2009, Vol. 26, No. 2, June, 320-334) *

*** Reprinted in Richard Giulianotti (eds.), Sociology of Sport. LA, London & New Delhi: Sage Publications. (August, 2011) ISBN: 978-0-85702-919-5.

This study uses the lens of glocalization (Robertson, 1995) to explore how the expansion of U.S. sports in South Korea... more This study uses the lens of glocalization (Robertson, 1995) to explore how the expansion of U.S. sports in South Korea since the late 1990s influences the de/reconstitution of the national among local sports fans. I specifically look at how the impact of global sports such as Major League Baseball transforms structures of the national among Korean sports fans. I conclude that the term “individuated nationalism” best explains the ways that fans rationalize national fandom of Major League Baseball in terms of their personal tastes.