IN TUNE WITH THE LOCAL –

CONNECTED TO THE WORLD

MEETING OF YOUTH FROM THE EUROPEAN REGIONS,

Wiesbaden, Hessen (D),

23-25 November 2008

A few decades ago, it was still possible to leave

home and go somewhere else.

The architecture was different, the landscape

was different, the language, lifestyle, dress and values were different.

That was a time when we could speak about cultural diversity.

But with economic globalization, diversity is fast disappearing.

The cities are becoming identical too: cars, noise, smog,

corporate high-rises, violence, fast food, Mc Donald’s, Nikes, Levis, Barbie dolls, American

TV and films.

All places are starting to merge.

Every place is every place else.

What’s the point of leaving home?

SOME NOTIONS OF

GLOBALISATION• Worldwide integration in virtually every sphere

• Stimulates economic growth and social improvements for some, while at the same time it lays economic burdens on

many people, disrupts human development and destroys

local culture

• Refers to the compression of the world

• The harms and benefits of globalization are not evenly

distributed either among nations or within them

WHAT DOES GLOBALISATIO

N INVOLVE?• Hegemonic situation• Free capital markets

• Cultural homogenisation• Increased communication

• More intensive travels

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO GLOBALIZATION•Huntington’s clash of

cultures

•Mc Donaldization

Sometimes we are tempted to treat local cultures as

museum pieces, vulnerable to destruction when we try to

add to it some new elements

We cannot see that a new harmony needs to be worked out between the demands to change the culture creatively and to make it more relevant

to a global society

BUT…

SO IF WE TRY TO GO BEYOND TRADITIONAL

STEREOTYPES? - Can we actually have

modernization without any values?- How to avoid over-generalizations

and bring about a greater appreciation for the particularities

within different local contexts? - How to value the micro over the

macro?

IS GLOCALIZATI

ON A SOLUTION?• Can localities develop

direct economic and cultural relationships to

the global system bypassing and subverting

traditional power hierarchies like national

governments and markets?

• Can we creatively adapt the local to the global?

• How to promote local values on an international

stage?

TO CORRECT SOME

MISUNDERSTANDINGS WE HOLD

ABOUT GLOBALIZATION• Globalization should not

only be evaluated in terms of material wealth• Globalization is also based on moral values• Softer skills are

increasingly important in the era of automation• There is a demand for

meaning in the age of abundance