I learned about globalization in high school, but never about the different types. Our class discussion and lectures on this topic helped me better understand the ways in which our modern, interconnected world functions. Economic globalization, political globalization, and cultural globalization all fall under the umbrella of the globalization that we refer to when we discuss these ideas.
I placed this reflection under the “Knowledge” tag because I believe it’s important to understand the role globalization plays in our society. As a 21st century child, I’ve never known anything besides a globalized world, so I do not have a frame of reference for how intercultural communication functioned before globalization. Interestingly enough, technology facilitates such communication and the growth of international corporations.
Moreover, I thought our hypothesis activity was interesting when we looked at globalization through the lens of Americanization. In many ways, the global economy and culture is dominated by the West. Perhaps it’s less of Americanization and more so Westernization. As an American, I have only ever been a part of the “dominant” culture, but I’m very always fascinated to learn how people in other countries view the U.S. — especially people from non-Western nations. In some ways, it feels impossible to ever truly understand the extent of the U.S.’s impact from an American perspective, because we’ve been influenced to be biased towards our country from birth. I sometimes consider how my world view would be different if I came from a different culture that was less “dominant” on a world-scale. Does being American perhaps give me an inflated sense of self or of what I’m capable of doing in the world? In my AP U.S. History Class, we talked about the idea of American Exceptionalism and the ways in which Americans often view themselves as unique or entitled to certain powers or just the state of uniqueness itself. This very much ties into globalization, especially when we consider all the global corporations launched into the world by the U.S. and the dominance this country has in terms of media as well (social media, popular culture — i.e. music, TV, film, etc.)
