The emerging globalization propelled by new technology and mass media in the ‘80s and ‘90s exemplifies the thrust of postmodernism. In the postmodern era the boundary between global versus local becomes blurry. Featherstone (1990) contends that postmodernism is both a symptom and image of the global culture enriched by diversity, a variety of local discourses, codes, and practices. In a similar vein, Hannerz contends that the world culture is marked by an organization of diversity rather than by a replication of uniformity(p. 237). On the other hand, globalization also becomes a catalyst for the emergence of third cultures and a unified world culture. Thus, the dialectics between globalization and localization and the ramifications of an emerging global culture warrant our attention. The extent to which a unified world culture affects cultural diversity and the maintenance of local identity should be carefully examined.
The dialectics between global and local culture can be exemplified by Hannerz ’s (1990) observation: the world culture is created through the increasing interconnection of varied local cultures. Appadurai (1990) posits that the central problem of globalization is the dialectic tension between cultural homogenization and heterogenization. However, Dezalay (1990) argues that globalization is for the most part an Americanization (p. 281). The Americanization of a global culture via technology and mass media might lead to political hegemony, cultural imperialism and intellectual colonization, and consequently diminish local identity.
This paper seeks to explicate the dialectic contradictions between localization and globalization. The author examines the implications of a unified world culture as the consequence of globalization, as well as the homogenization and heterogenization of local cultures. The foci of the paper include the dialectical process of cultural integration, cultural disintegration, and the effects of an emerging transnational culture, global culture, and a third culture.