LESSON 4: CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF CONNECTIVITY

UNIT 1: Religion and Globalization

Introduction

Religion is one of the binding forms of networks that have intensified people‘s sense of
community across the world. The study of religion involves the study of religious practices,
customs, beliefs, and rituals in the context of social structures such as -religious institutions,
education, community, and family. The class will learn how the distinct belief systems
embedded in distinct forms of religion bind people together across different areas of the world. It
is a significant phenomenon to examine since it illustrates how globalization has transformed
the contemporary world through these forms of connectivity.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this unit students must be able to:

1. Understand Religion as a social system that binds people together

2. Explain how globalization affects religious practices and beliefs
3. Understand how globalization changes the religious landscape of the contemporary
world

Sections of the Unit:

1. What is Religion
2. Connection between religion and economic structures
3. Religion and Globalism and its realities
4. Religion and Globalization
5. The Global Religious Change Landscape

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What is Religion

According to Emile Durkheim, ‖ religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices

relative to sacred things, i.e., things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite
in one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them.‖

There are three elements in defining religion.

● · Beliefs that some things are sacred, set apart from the ordinary things
● · Practices (rituals) centering on the things considered sacred
● · A moral community (a church) resulting from a group‘s beliefs and practices.

There are two types of church: The literal church (the structure), and the Church with one moral
community.

Durkheim has three main findings in his study of Religion.

● That the world‘s religions are so varied that they have no specific belief or practice in
common.
● That all religions develop a community centering on their beliefs and practices.
● That all religions separate the sacred from the profane

What is Sacred and Profane

● Sacred represented the interests of the group, especially unity, which were
embodied in sacred group symbols, or totems. An aspect of life having to do with
the supernatural that inspire awe, reverence, deep respect even fear.
● Profane, on the other hand, involved mundane individual concerns or aspects of
life that are not concerned with religion or religious purposes but, instead, are
part of the ordinary aspects of everyday life.
For example: CASE STUDY: India‘s Sacred Cow.

In India they treat cows as sacred, why? They used Cow as a main source of living, killing a
cow is a taboo especially female cow. It gives them livelihood. Cow serves as a symbol of
wealth, strength, and abundance.

Read ―India‘s Sacred Cow‖ by Marvin Harris

Connection between religion and economic structures

In the book of Max Weber, Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber
(1904/1958) theorized that the Roman Catholic belief system encouraged followers to hold on to
their traditional ways of life, while the Protestant belief system encouraged its members to
embrace change. Roman Catholics were taught that because they were Church members they
were on the road to heaven, but Protestants, those of the Calvinist tradition, were told that they
would not know if they were saved until Judgment Day. Uncomfortable with this, the Calvinists
began

to look for a ―sign‖ that they were in God‘s will. They found this ―sign‖ in financial success, which
they took as a blessing that indicated that God was on their side. To bring about this ―sign‖ and
receive spiritual comfort, they began to live frugal lives, saving their money and investing it in
order to make even more. This, said Weber, brought about the birth of capitalism (Henslin,
2015). Protestant ethic as to describe the ideal of a self–denying, highly moral life
accompanied by thrift and hard work and Spirit of Capitalism Weber‘s term for the desire to
accumulate capital—not to spend it, but as an end in itself—and to constantly reinvest it.

Religion and Globalism

Religion has the most difficult relationship with globalism. Globalism as widespread
belief among powerful people that the global integration of economic markets is beneficial for
everyone, abides by human made laws and Religion as a divine commandment. Religion is
concerned with our sacred beliefs and globalism on our material wealth.

Religion Globalism

• A Divine Entity that defines and • A globalist is not worried whether he

judges‘ human action in moral will end up in hell or heaven.
terms, what is good or bad.

• Religious people are less • Globalism deals with how much of

concerned with wealth and all that human action can lead to the
comes along with it. highest material satisfaction and
subsequent wisdom that this new
status produces

• When a religious person aspires to • The globalist trains to be a shrewd

be a saint. businessperson.

• Religious people are ascetic • Globalists deal more in the seal

because they avoid anything trade, raise the profits of private
material for simplicity. From what enterprises, improve government
clothes should be worn and food to revenue collections, protect the
eat. elites from being excessively taxed
by the state and naturally enrich
themselves.

The main duty of Religious person is to live morally upright to be assured of a place other than
this world ( ex: Heaven) and the globalist values politics and humanity as both means and ends
to open up further the economies of the world.

As religion and globalism clash, Religious evangelization itself is a form of globalization.

For example, how Islam and Christianity spread their words to the world.
The religious are concerned with spreading holy ideas globally, while the globalist wishes to
spread goods and services.

Realities in Religion

Peter Berger argues that the contemporary world is … furiously religious. There are veritable
explosions of religious fervor, occurring in one form of another in all the major religious traditions
like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and in many places‘ imaginative
syntheses of one or more world religious with indigenous faiths. `

Religions are the foundations of modern republics, for example, in Malaysia the government
places religion at the center of the political system. Also, Religious movements do not hesitate
to appropriate secular themes and practices, like in Indonesia, the moderate Muslim association
Nahdlatul Ulama has Islamic School where students are taught not only about Islam but also
about modern science, the social science, modern banking, civic education, rights of women,
pluralism, and democracy.

Religion has been at the very center of all great political conflicts and movements of
social reform, from independence to abolition, from nativism to women‘s suffrage, from
prohibition to the civil rights movement, religion has always been at the center of these conflicts.

Religion and Globalization

Globalization less as an obstacle and more as an opportunity to expand and spread to

reach all over the world. Globalization has freed communities from the constraints of the nation-
state but in the process, it threatens to destroy the cultural system that binds them together. For
example, Religion as a form of solidarity, as Ferdinand Tonnies analyzed the fundamental shifts
in relationship, Gemeinschaft as type of society in which life is intimate; a community in which
everyone knows everyone else and people share a sense of togetherness, sharing similar
beliefs and practices, has a traditional ties in the community. And in contrast, Gesellschaft, a
type of society that is dominated by impersonal relationships, individual accomplishments, and
self-interest. Religion seeks to take the place of these broken ―traditional ties'' to either help
communities cope with their new situation, a Gesellschafts type of society or organize them to
oppose this major transformation of their lives and remain Gemeinschaft type of society.

Religion can provide the ―moral codes‖ answering problems like people‘s health and personal
happiness. Religion is not the regressive force that stops or slowdowns globalization, it is a pro-
active force that gives communities a new and powerful basis of identity. It is an instrument with
which religious people can put their mark in the reshaping of this globalizing world.

Religious fundamentalism may dislike globalizations materialism, Fundamentalism as a form of

religion that upholds belief in the interpretation of scripture. But with globalization it continues to
use the full range of modern means of communications and organizations that is associated
with economic transformation, which enabled the spread of almost promiscuous propagation of
religious forms across the globe in all sorts of directions. Religious Fundamentalism is the result
of the spread of globalization; both find ways to benefit or take advantage of each other.

The Global Religious Change Landscape

• Muslims are the fastest-growing major religious group, largely because they have
the highest fertility rate and the youngest population. As a result, the Muslim
population is expected to increase from 1.6 billion people (23% of the world‘s
population as of 2010) to 2.76 billion people (30% of all people in 2050). At mid-
century, Muslims will nearly equal Christians – the world‘s largest religious group –
in size.

• The share of the world‘s population that is Christian is expected to remain steady
(at about 31%), but the regional distribution of Christians is forecast to change
significantly. Nearly four-in-ten Christians (38%) are projected to live in sub-Saharan
Africa in 2050, an increase from the 24% who lived there in 2010. And the
percentage of the world‘s Christians living in Europe – which fell from 66% in 1910
to 26% in 2010 – will continue to decline, to roughly 16% in 2050.
• The number of religiously unaffiliated people, also known as religious ―nones,‖ is
increasing in places such as the United States and Europe, and we project
continued growth. Globally, however, the opposite is true: The unaffiliated are
expected to decrease as a share of the world‘s population between 2010 and 2050
(from 16% to 13%). This is attributable mostly to the relatively old age and low
fertility rates of large populations of religious ―nones‖ in Asian countries, particularly
China and Japan.

• In the United States, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters of the
population in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050, with corresponding rises of religious
―nones‖ as well as Muslims, Hindus and others. At mid-century, Judaism will no
longer be the largest non-Christian religion in the U.S.: Muslims are projected to be
more numerous than people who identify as Jewish based on religion.

• Buddhists, concentrated in Asia, are expected to have a stable population (of just
under 500 million) while other religious groups are projected to grow. As a result,
Buddhists will decline as a share of the world‘s population (from 7% in 2010 to 5%
2050).

• Indonesia is currently home to the world‘s largest Muslim population, but that is
expected to change. By 2050, the study projects India to be the country with the
largest number of Muslims – more than 310 million – even though Hindus will
continue to make up a solid majority of India‘s population (77%), while Muslims
remain a minority (18%). Indonesia will have the third-largest number of Muslims,
with Pakistan ranking second.

• The farther into the future we look, the more uncertainty exists, which is why the
projections stop at 2050. But if they are extended into the second half of this
century, the projections forecast Muslims and Christians to be roughly equal in
number around 2070, with Muslims the slightly larger group after that year.

With all the changes in Religion because of Globalization, between religious and globalist,
differences, and struggles, one is true that Religion is here to stay, it is within society and every
one of us. As changes take place, Religion remains.

ACTIVITY 2

Instruction: In this section of the module, your general knowledge and understanding of
the subject so far will be tested.

1. Essay ( 500 words) In your own understanding in Religion and Globalization, what is
the current state of Religion in the Philippines. You can use your observation in your
religion as an example.

2. Essay (500 words): Using the Pew Research Center‘s research, explain how the
changing religious landscape expresses the condition of the globalizing world.

Supplementary reading/material (optional):

 Read ―India‘s Sacred Cow‖ by Marvin Harris

 Watch Why Are Cows Sacred in India?

(Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvjle50pByg) and Do Hindus Worship
Cows? - Hindu Beef Taboo Explained (Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ReneZkyGHI )

 .Read: The Changing Global Religious Landscape by Pew Research Center (Link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1luwz3R_y6F2V_uOc3LNhU6lIrUiZlO_6?usp=
sharing
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LESSON 4: CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF CONNECTIVITY

Unit 2: Media and Globalization

Introduction:

In the previous lessons, it is given that globalization is a process which is currently

occurring as of now. On its impact, it is easily seen in culture and technology. With the movies
from Hollywood and Pop songs from South Korea that circulates across the globe, people now
can explore various cultures and way of living in the world. The development of technology even
made way for more accessible in food industry. Foods from the other country is not anymore
exclusive to them such as McDonalds from United States dominates the world food chain and
the obsession to South Korean‘s Samgyeopsal. In this lesson, we tackle more of the
development of media and culture in the globalizing world.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this unit students must be able to:

1. Analyze how global integration form through various media
2. Explain the process between local and global cultural production
3. Derive cultural consumption and consumer pattern from the impact of globalization in
media

Sections of the Unit:

1. What is media?
2. What is global village and imagined community?
3. Impact of globalization in media and culture

What is Media?

It can be true that globalization fueled the spread of values culture, but it can also be
true that via media, globalization was pushed through. By any means, such as oral, script, print,
electronic, and digital, media influenced globalization and even the way of living of the people.
With the invention of the television, people start sitting around their homes just watching the
pictures and stories across the globe. The global village, an imagined community, emerged
merely because of the television. People start seeing how other people live, eat, or work as if
we knew everyone without seeing each other face to face. They imagined themselves acting the
things other people do. Since then, the interaction of cultures have intensified more than ever
before. Lule (2012) claimed that we cannot imagine globalization occurring without the media
which is crucial to human life.

Media, as defined by Lule (2014), is ―a means of conveying something, such as a

channel of communication‖. Medium is the plural word; it is the technologies of mass
communication. As we have mentioned above, globalization enabled the large amount of
interaction of cultures and it tends to influence each other. In the Globalization and Culture:
Global Mélange of Jan Nederveen Pieterse (2004: 41–58 cited in Lule, 2014) argues that there
are actually three aspects to consider the influence of globalization on culture:

• Cultural differentialism - suggests that cultures are different, strong, and resilient. It can
suggest that cultures are destined to clash as globalization continually brings them
together

• Cultural convergence - suggests that globalization will bring about a growing sameness
of cultures. A global culture, likely American culture, some fear, will overtake many local
cultures, which will lose their distinctive characteristics.

➔ ‗cultural imperialism‘, in which the cultures of more developed nations ‗invade‘

and take over the cultures of less developed nations. (homogenized)

• Cultural hybridity – suggests that globalization will bring about an increasing blending or
mixture of cultures.
With the greater amount of interaction of cultures due to globalization, the term glocalization
existed. It specifies for the media and globalization as the facts of life in local cultures (Lule,
2014).

Media’s role in glocalization

o Site – i.e. American Idol

o Agents – i.e. KPop music spread globally through television, radios and magazines,
Philippine starts producing girl/boy band group

Korean song‘s fame from Psy‘s Gangnam Style craze

Surely, local culture was the result of multiple interactions with the other previous culture.
Influencing the local culture, in the times of globalization, is inevitable.

How media affect societies?

• Extend and amputate human senses – dulled our capacity to remember because of
digital development; with this development, people can now communicate easily but with
lesser intimacy.
• Creation of ―global village‖
• Homogenization of culture – as culture tend to homogenize, the spread of dominant
culture (e.g. American hegemony could create cultural imperialism where their values and
culture is spread and even manifested in consumer patterns nowadays as if it was dictated
by the Americans to them.)

❖ Cultural imperialism is criticized because consumers/audiences are active

participants and stressed that they are not passive thinkers in accepting/watching
media messages. Also, not all of the popculture refers to American culture, such as
Hello Kitty, Pokemon, and Korean novelas, this was due to Renewed strength of
regional trends in the globalization process.

• Democratization of access – knowledge can now easily access even using a smart
phone.
• ―Cyberbalkanization‖ – eco chambers (e.g. people tend to make their own world by
hiding some post from their news feed. With this, people prevent other users from
listening to or opinions and information that challenges their viewpoints, thus, making
them more close-minded as if they are placed in a chamber. This can even manipulate
political events manifested in the film The Great Hack which discussed how the Trump
organization influenced voters through Facebook algorithms.

SELF TEST 5

Instruction: In this section of the module, your general knowledge and understanding of
the subject so far will be tested.

ESSAY (150 words): Has McLuhan's ideal of a ‗global village‘ become a reality?

 Supplementary reading/material (optional):

o The Globalization of K-pop: Korea‗s 1 Place in the Global Music Industry by
Ingyu Oh (2014)
https://journals.ateneo.edu/ojs/index.php/aiks/article/view/2008
o KPop Explained in Netflix