Tom Schrader – Experiencing Globalization – 2/6/2012

            I think that all the articles this week touched on the idea of “What is an authentic culture” and what is the affect of globalization. Starting with Theodore Bestor’s article “How Sushi Went Global,” I was surprised by the interconnectedness and complicated nature of the blue fin tuna trade. In one way, the world’s oceans have been cut up into small little sections, one section belonging to one fishing group while water one-hundred yards away could be the fishing grounds for a completely different country. As Bestor explains, “…the sudden globalization of this industry has brought fishers into contact and often into conflict with customers, government regulators, and environmentalists around the world” (Bestor 2000:2). I would also include the individuals in this group of competitors. Bestor mentions how “a Massachusetts fisher’s livelihood can be transformed in a matter of hours by a spike in market prices halfway around the globe or by a disasters at a fish farm across the Atlantic” (Bestor 2000:4). At the end of the day, many who fit in the chain of hands that touch the tuna on journey to restaurants are left helpless as exchanges and deals are made a half-a-world away! Fisherman must deal with “unfamiliar exchange rates for cultural capital and must trust businessmen and others they will never meet.

             I thought it was an interesting take to refer to culture as a “franchise.” The pure prestige of labeling food “Japanese” can bring with it, a whole positive and superior perecetion- meaning that distinguishes it from all other Asian cuisines. While biases and labels have helped the sushi/food business, they also seem to purely define Japanese culture in the eyes of many, mostly the elite of the West who consume sushi in high-end restaurants. I cannot say if labeling is necessarily bad because it has helped this industry grown tremendously in North America.

            James Watson’s article on “McDonald’s in Hong Kong” really had me wondering how to differentiate between what is inherently considered a local part of a culture and what is not. Furthermore, I began to wonder if it really mattered that a traditional culture is changing with the globalization happening around the globe. Watson focuses on the “invasion” of a Western industry through transnationalism. He questions if the roaring success of McDonald’s and its rivals in the fast food industry mean that Hong Kong’s local culture is under siege and if food chains are helping to create a homogeneous, “global” culture better suited to the demands of a capitalist world order.

            I think what was most interesting was how McDonalds could not conduct its business in the same way it had in Western areas. I would say it was a cultural exchange in some ways. It too had to adjust the cultural norms and expectations of Hong Kong. Today, McDonalds had largely been integrated into local institution in the urban landscape. More positively, it raised customers’ expectations of sanitations and cleanliness in restaurants and even in the home. Similarly, it has been credited with enforcing queuing, and thereby helping to create a more “civilized” social order. At the same time, the business has had to adjust to Hong Kong traditions. McDonalds began as a provider of snacks because families traditionally ate at home together for dinner prior to the late 1980’s. Waiters are expected to be direct, not overly friendly. People eat longer and tend to not wait in lines.

            Hong Kong itself is very much the creation of the world capitalist economy; therefore McDonalds is only one of HUNDREDS of transnational corporations running there. I wonder if one looked in others places outside of Hong Kong, where the company stands out as a very environmental and community focused business, what sort of reputation has it achieved.

            I think that what Watson touches on, and Aaron Koh expands on in “Disciplining Generation M,” is the idea of “intergenerational distress” (Watson). This seems to be one of the biggest sources of anger and distress among older generations. In Singapore, many adults and even the government worry that the opening up of Singapore’s economy has had a deleterious effect on the national identity and the attendant concerns about youth. The majority of Singapore media sources seem to associate the youth with deviance and a great generational dilemma. The identity crisis is based on “a background assumption that identity formation and stability is entirely dependent on a notion of unchanging ‘tradition.’ I can’t help but feel that in a place, which is tied so economically to the rest of the world, one cannot fault youth for not being knowledgeable enough or for wanting to leave the country. It some ways, it feels like the new educational system to trying to isolate youth from globalization instead of helping youth construct a complex identity pulling from multiple intermingling sources.

            But what is an authentic culture and who determines what it is? According to Timothy Taylor in “Strategic Inauthenticity,” it seems the West will do anything it can to ensure cultures maintain their authenticity, and perhaps even define the authentic qualities of the culture for their own use.  The African musican N’Dour that the author talks about has music roots in mbalax but has moved to more pop/rock sounds. I think N’Dour is very smart in how he talks about criticisms that he is selling out. Maybe his in no longer the epitome of pure African sounds that Westerns love to integrate into their music to sound different and worldly. “When people say that my music is too Western, they must remember that we, too, hear this music over here. We hear the African music with the modern" (Taylor 1997:135). I think that is an unfair and unrealistic expectation of many to pigeonhole certain cultures so that they must remain pre-modern while the rest of the world moves on into a more postmodern culture.

            And just as youth around the world are establishing new, complex identities, and expanding their identities in their home cultures there are dangerous backlashes as we read in the New York Times Article by Somini Sengupta (2009). I still struggle with understanding what one can do when such resistance exists, not that all things associate with the West are great. I just am conflicted as too how such conflict can be remedied. Is there a right answer?