College of Education

Part 1 of the 2 part series Globalization and Cultural and

Globalization
Globalization is the process of interaction and integration between people,
business entities, governments, and cultures from other nations, driven by
international trade and investment and supported by information technology (Levin
Institute, 2017).

To better illustrate this, consider two people from different countries, for
example, the Philippines and South Korea. Let us say they meet in college and
become good friend, so that the Korean comes to be treated like a member of the

Filipino’s family. After some time, the Korean returns to her own country, but something has changed —she noticed
an aspect of her culture that she finds herself wishing to be more Filipino. She knows very well that she cannot change
Korean culture as a whole, so she decides to change herself. She does not change everything, of course —just a little
thing here and there; she is still obviously Korean, but she just does a few things differently from those who have
never been to the Philippines.

Now suppose a little more time passes and the Korean is very happy with the changes she has made to her life that
make it just a little more Filipino. Let us say some of her colleagues notice how she does some things differently and
they become curious, so she tells them about her experiences in the Philippines and how that in some ways, she wishes
to do things the way the Filipinos do. Her colleagues decide to give it a try, and they find that they like this different
way of doing things, too.

Now let us say that when we look at the person from the Philippines, something similar has taken place: the Filipino,
while still being Filipino through and through, has made a few changes in her life as a result of her experience of
Korean culture through her friend during their years in college. Some of her friends have also noticed it and have made
similar little changes in their own lives.

Because our exposure to the concept of globalization has largely been through an economic lens, it is tempting to limit
globalization as something that concerns economists and businessmen. But globalization and its effects go beyond
import or export and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Notice that in our illustration, the friends of the two people in
question were affected by their interaction, even if they themselves had never been to Korea or had not met a Filipino.
Now scale this up to the point where it is not just two people from two different nations interacting, but millions of
people, from nearly two hundred different countries, where we are no longer integrating just languages or mannerisms
or food recipes, but everything from styles of clothing, forms of entertainment, education, technology, manufacturing,
ways of doing business, ideas, and whole worldviews. This is globalization as we know it today.

Globalization as a phenomenon is not new. Nations and cultures have been interacting and integrating with one another
for millennia. Consider that how ancient Greek culture was so widespread across the Mediterranean that even the
Egyptians could speak their language, and how Rome was so inspired by Greek culture that they adopted it wholesale.
Consider how so much of the Chinese, Arab, and Indian cultures have become part of our own; these interactions and
subsequent integrations did not happen recently, but even during centuries before there was even a political entity
known as the Philippines.

What is different now, however, is the speed at which globalization is happening, its overall scope, and its effects on
the lives of ordinary people. Not only are we interacting with, learning from, and integrating knowledge gleaned from
other cultures and nations at and unprecedented rate, there is now also a sense that no matter where one lives or how
limited is one’s face-to-face interaction with members of another nation or culture and how limited one’s time is spent
online, globalization and its effects are inescapable. Even remote villages will be exposed to the latest KPOP hit, if
they have access to a radio. If they produce rice, they will also feel the effects of more affordable rice imports from
Thailand and Vietnam. If they have access to a kerosene stove, they will feel the effects of the fluctuations in oil prices
originating from Arab nations. All these things take place without having to know anyone from or anything about
Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, or the Middle East.

The Effects of Globalization

The effects of globalization are multi-dimensional. As shown earlier, they range from economic to cultural, on both
national and individual levels. Meyer (2000) summarizes the effects of globalization as follows:

E conomic, political, and military dependence and interdependence between nations;

Economic Dependence/ Interdependence

When the term globalization entered the Philippine public mindset in the early 90’s, it was popularly
understood to be a mainly economic phenomenon, and a negative one at that. The idea that foreign-owned business
could come into the country and freely “set-up shop”, thereby choking-out local industries was not a welcome thought,
even though it was erroneous.

While Philippine society has come to realize that this early perspective represented a shallow understanding of
globalization, the fact of the matter is that globalization has brought economic development to our society as a whole.
By attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), new technologies, employment opportunities, and money have come
into the country. The phenomenon of a taxi driver owning multiple smartphones to browse social media while stuck in
traffic because of the rise of the number of vehicles on our roads is testament to this fact.

This does not mean, however, that there have been no negative effects of globalization. Kentor (2011) notes that
foreign capital dependence increases income inequality in four ways: (1) It creates a small, highly paid class of elites
to manage these investments, who create many but usually low-pay jobs; (2) Profits from these investments are
repatriated, rather than invested in the host country, therefore inhibiting domestic capital formation; (3) Foreign capital
penetration tends to concentrate land ownership among the very rich; and (4) Host countries tend to create political and
economic climates favorable to foreign capital that in turn limit domestic labor’s ability to obtain better wages. In
simple words, “the rich become richer, and the poor become poorer.”

Hout (1980) observes that international dependence (another word for globalization) tends to suppress adult wages,
which in turn perpetuates the role of children as economic necessities (the familiar saying “Kapag maraming anak,
maraming katulong sa hanapbuhay”), leading to explosive population growth.

In a chain reaction of negative effects, this explosive population growth creates a larger sub-sector of society that is
insulated from economic development yet competes for resources with the rest of the population. Coupled with the
economic inequalities in which this society is couched, this encourages political instability, resulting in policies that
favor the redistribution of income, which in turn discourages investment, which then slows economic growth.

Political and Military Dependence/Interdependence

A survey conducted in late 2018 found that three in five Filipinos believe that the United States would intervene on
behalf of the country in case of war (Viray, 2018). Despite the current very conservative stance of the US on its
foreign policies, this can be taken as evidence of the Philippines’ dependence on both the political and military power
of the US in order to maintain its sovereignty as a nation-state in the Southeast Asia region. Similar things can be said
of Russia and the many communist nations throughout the world.

The point is that where there are some forms of economic dependence/ interdependence, political
dependence/interdependence is not far behind, as the participating nations strive to protect their investments and
interests in one another.

Expanded Flow of Expressive and Instrumental Culture

Expressive culture, as the term suggests, deals with how a particular culture expresses itself in its language, music,
arts, and the like. Globalization encourages the monetization of these cultural artifacts and their import/export among
participating cultures; the increased consumption of which changes the consuming culture. Case in point, KPOP music
and culture was a relatively niche occupation ten years ago, with very few people aware of its existence, let alone
actual fans. Today it is practically ubiquitous in Philippine society, alongside the consumption of all things Korean,
from skin-care products to instant noodles.

Instrumental culture, on the other hand, refers to “common models of social order” (Meyer, 2000) —that is, models or
ways of thinking about and enacting national identity, nation-state policies both domestics and foreign, socio economic
development, human rights, education, and social progress. A simple example is the Philippine education system:
Closely patterned after the American educational system, education leaders in the country closely follow the
educational trends in America and select European countries, perceiving them to be the global leaders in the field.
While this has served us to an arguably satisfactory degree thus far, it is interesting to observe that the problems and
difficulties in American education eventually show-up in Philippine education, albeit five to ten years removed.

Expanded Flow of People among Societies

The fact that globalization encourages the movement of people between nation-states should come as no
surprise to us. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimates that there were 2.3 million Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs) during the period of April to September 2017, who were responsible for up to 205.2 billion pesos in
remittances (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2018).

Meyer (2000) observes three reasons for this: socio-economic migration, political expulsion, and travel/tourism.

Socio-economic migration explains the Philippines’ OFW phenomenon. Filipinos travel abroad to find better economic
opportunities for themselves and their families for lack of said opportunities here.

Political expulsion, on the other hand, has more to do with trying to escape the political climate of a particular country,
thereby forcing an individual to seek asylum (and ultimately, resettlement) in another more favorable country.

Travel for the sake of leisure (i.e., tourism) is a strong indicator of economic development as more and more Filipinos
are able to finance short-term travels abroad, fueled by curiosity that is fed by social media and enabled by
globalization.

Abella, Rea Jane C. PROFED09

PCED-03-501P ACTIVITY#4

Questions:

1. What makes a person a Filipino? Explain your answer.

- It makes a person a Filipino by their looks and physical. Filipino has many words to describe. I will
say Filipinos are so unique and wise person, even in ups and down situations they are not be surrender
to face the challenges. Filipinos are a person that has hospitality to everyone. Sharing their cultures
 and belief are proud to know everyone. I believed that Filipinos are a person that never be shame of
what they are, knowing that Filipino is proud to be as he is.

2. If a person has a Filipino parents but is born in another country, is she /he still a Filipino?
Explain your answer.

- Yes because they born by a Filipino citizen even they are in other country. She/he from a Filipino
person no matter what. They born in a other place but you have a blood of being a Filipino and
citizenship. You bring the pride of a Filipino so be proud of being a Filipino.

3. What about if a person is born and raised in the Philippines, is he/she Filipino? Explain your
answer.

- I will say maybe, because they raised in the Philippines they know about what is being Filipino. They
knew the culture and traditions in the Philippines. They cope to their self to be a Filipino. Raised in
our country is so proudly to flexing because in the Philippines you will be Filipino even your blood is
not a Filipino but your heart and soul you want to be a Filipino.

Reflection:

About this activity, I realize of what is being a Filipino person. Yes I born as a Filipino. Filipino is a
fighter and never affecting of what challenges in life. I learned this activity of how we be proud as a Filipino.
That some people want to be a Filipino even they are not Filipino. So we as a Filipino we need to be proud
of our citizenship even we have different behaviors and attitudes. Beacuse being a Filipino is unique in every
aspects in our lives. Others person does not Filipino saying that Filipinoes are so cool and friendly. You see
their face smiling even in hard situations, ready to help even in same crisis in life. So be proud being a
Filipino raised the flag and name of being a Filipino.