CONTROLLING CULTURAL AUTONOMY

“While American movies, music, and television programs are important parts of the U.S. global
pop culture, they are not the whole of it. The values, ideals, mores, attitudes, behaviors, norms,
and rituals that embody life in the United States can be found embedded in a host of other
artifacts” (195). Crothers goes on to say that American culture is also ingrained in a series of
consumer products that have worldwide reach. For example, take the notion of a franchise. A
franchise is a brand that is controlled by a company, and that company can sell an individual (s0
the right to use their brand (through selling of that product) (Crothers). When one looks at the
number of franchises that have over a thousand locations outside of the country of origin where
that business was created, one finds that there are many American companies who are on that
list. Whether they are clothing brands, car companies, or restaurants, American companies
have a large global reach. In fact, looking at a 2011 list of top number of franchises for a
company, the top five companies are McDonalds, 7-Eleven, KFC, Subway, and Burger King
(Franchise Times, 2011, in Crothers, 2012).”

CULTURAL HOMOGENITY
Globalization might lead to more cultural homogeneity if people’s tastes converge. If everyone
wears jeans, learns English and watches Hollywood movies we may lose precious cultural
practices and languages. Some critics of globalization worry that it’s creating a monoculture.

DEMISE
First of all, demise of the traditional festivals is the major effect. In the process of globalization,
with the expansion of the cultural exchange and spread of western culture is like the flood into
China. However, the reality tells us that as the western festival culture was introduced into
China, more and more Chinese people have a special liking to those foreign festivals, and some
traditional festivals of China’s national culture are possible, even forgotten. Such as Double
Seven Festival and Valentine’s Day is similar but many Chinese people know how to do in
Valentine’s Day, do not know to do in Double Seven Festival. Because of this blind obedience
and discomfort, which leads to the process of globalization, the traditional festival in the Chinese
culture is facing great danger, and even some traditional festivals towards a decline.

AUTONOMY
Next is limiting our cultural innovation. In the process of globalization, we in the production of a
large number of advanced high-end technologies imported from abroad. But too much reliance
on foreign science and technology, we will actively introduce embodied in, and less on their
work in the digestion and absorption. Such as, too many products we just copy this not to learn
its specific principles. So we just followed the footsteps of other countries did not go beyond
those. These are reflected in the process of globalization, the culture shows lack of innovation.