The Contemporary World

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Global Media Cultures

Global Media Cultures

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Explain the importance of Global Citizenship

2. Explain the importance of Informationalism to globalization

Informationalism

Globalism is tied to the notion of networks. For Castells (2000), “Networks

constitute the fundamental pattern of life, of all kinds of life” (p.3). It was
previously mentioned that in the present even in the past, the world is
connected. The difference between globalism and globalization is the speed
and thickness or intensity of connections. People are connected with one
another regardless of community.

The question now is about the type of connection that exists and begins to
increase in the contemporary world. The answer lies on the growth of
information as the binding force among people, things, and places around the
globe. This technological standard, associated with computer science and
modern telecommunication, replaces industrialism is called
informationalism (Castells, 2004). These are technology, the media and the
internet. This is not to say that we do not need to produce materials goods
such as factories, clothes and food; Exchanging information and knowledge,
which is clearly immaterial goods, becomes central in the contemporary
world (Hardt&Negri, 2000). This is due to the “three of the most cutting-edge
aspects of the social world in general and globalization in particular” (Ritzer,
2015, p.134), technology, media, and the Internet.

Course Module
Once mentions online social networking, spam and computer viruses, it is the
Internet that binds them all. The Internet is a mark of the contemporary
world. According to Ritzer (2015), “The Internet has prompted a flat world
thesis; anyone can be involved in it theoretically” (p.150). Computer in our
workplaces, schools and homes and accessing the internet in our cellphones
allow us to be connected with the rest of the world. We can gain information
about ourselves that we share is also exposed. In order to control Internet
access and use, there are mechanisms such as personal passwords or in the
case of Chinese government, the “Great Firewall”.

While globalization permitted the extension of data, access to present day

advancements is certifiably not a general issue that is accessible to each
individual around the globe. The web and different advancements are
restricted by a specific hindrances. These boundaries incorporate absence of
power, lack of education, feeble monetary frameworks, and government
directions.

Global Citizenship

Citizenship is related with rights and commitments, for example the

privilege to vote and the duty to pay taxes. The two rights and commitments
connect the person to the state. It likewise needs to do with our states of
mind. We should to be willing to engage and spend time and effort to the
community of which we feel part of. Community has traditionally been
regarded as something local.

Global Citizenship does not automatically entail a single attitude and a

particular value with globalization. We must remember that globalization is
not a single phenomenon; rather, there are many globalizations. While some
need to be resisted, others are welcomed. They are bound to be multiple
futures for multiple globalizations. These globalizations created enemies
because according to one broad view, globalization failed to deliver its
promises (Cohen, 2006). The so-called bottom billion lacks infrastructures
 The Contemporary World
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Global Media Cultures

and has been disenfranchised. The opponents of globalization blame either

Westernization or global capitalism.

The Three Global Economic Resistance, a)Trade Protectionism-includes

precise government intercession in remote exchange through duties and
non-levy boundaries keeping in mind the end goal to support local makers
and keep their outside competitors(McAleese, 2007), b)Fair Exchange –
moral and evenhanded worldwide monetary framework in which, cost isn't
set by the market; rather, it is arranged straightforwardly by the two
makers and customers, c) Helping the last billion (in light of Collier 2007) –
expanding help is just a single of the measures that are required. Worldwide
standards and models can be adjusted to the necessities of the last billion.
The decrease of exchange boundaries would likewise lessen the financial
minimization of these individuals and their countries.

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals
1. Chapter 3 of the book: The Contemporary World”: Aldama, Prince Kennex, pp. 70-75
2. May 28, 2018

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