The Aftermath of Globalization on African Identity

doi:10.4236/ojpp.2013.31A029

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Open Journal of Philosophy

2013. Vol.3, No.1A, 174-177

Published Online February 2013 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojpp) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpp.2013.31A029

174

The Aftermath of Globalization on African Identity

Bonachrist us Umeogu

Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

Email: [email protected]

Received August 6th, 2012; re vise d Sept ember 10 th, 20 1 2; accepted September 23rd, 2012

The rope nations and people have held on in order to climb up to a better life, is now threatening to draw

them back into a pit of oblivion. What will it profit a nation to become civilized and lose its identity in the

process? How will people of today look in the face of future generation and fumble at excuses to explain

why they are not regarded as a cultural group of its own? This paper tries to show how globalization has

led to the loss of cultural identity in Nigeria.

Keywords: Culture; Identity; Globalization; Identity Loss

Introduction

Anthony Giddens saw globalization as the intensification of

worldwide social relations which links distant localities in such

a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring

many miles away and vice versa. That is to say that globaliza-

tion is a compressing and unifying force that binds the world

together. Be that as it may, there is more to globalization than

meet the eyes. No matter how promising the prospects of glob-

alization looks or appeals to a nation, there is always a price. In

some cases, morality or ethics might be the price. However,

most often than not, the price is loss of identity amongst other.

If a nation loses its identity, what does it become? This paper

tries to mirror how globalization results to loss of identity.

The position of this paper does not contest the fact that glob-

alization has upgraded the life of countries and nation. This

paper through review of articles will explore the areas that

globalization in the course of bettering the lives of people have

resulted in the loss of cultural identities and heritage.

There are so many concerns of globalization as it affects

education, politics, sports, economy and even information. That

notwithstanding, this paper tries to look at globalization as it

affects cultural i d e n ti t y of a developing country like Nigeria.

Globalization

From time immemorial, man has always evolved some form

of interaction with his surroundings. Man as a social being has

always had the need to interact with others and with his/her

environment at large. By nature, man has also been a curious

being with the insatiable need of knowing about neighbors. It is

then of little wonder why he is seen as a social animal. Again,

man’s needs are insatiable which had led to a form of depend-

ency and interdependency among men. Globalization stepped

into the gap to address man’s insatiable thirst.

By way of explanation, Wikipedia sees it or refers to global-

ization as the “process or processes of international integra-

tion”. In the process of interaction between nations and coun-

tries; ideas, religions, language, arts, and other aspects of cul-

ture are interchanged, upgraded or modified.

Who would have ever imagined that the existence and rele-

vance of traditional modes of communication will ever be

threatened by the modern media? How did English language

become the official lingua franca of many countries including

Nigeria? How was Christianity introduced into a highly tradi-

tional society like Nigeria? There are so many “how’s”, but all

has one answer which is through civilization that came through

globalization.

Coming to definition of globalization, it has many opera-

tional definitions as there are researchers because each person

defines it within the context of his/her study. That notwith-

standing, we will try to look at some definitions.

Roland Robertson (1992) saw globalization as the “compres-

sion of the world and the intensification of the consciousness of

the world as a whole”. In a similar vein, Albrow & King (1992)

saw it as “all those processes by which the peoples of the world

are incorporated into a single world society”.

For Dukor (2010: p. 135), globalization ideally,

Is the philosophy of a cosmopolitan city that benefits all

races; no center and periphery nations, where every race

match up and down without fear or favour in the global

ways and village. He also saw it as a process by which a

network of cultural, political and economic advantages

and interests of different peoples of the world work natu-

ralistically for their mutual benefit.

In all the definitions, one striking similarity that can be de-

duced from them is that globalization is the manifestation of the

global village predicted by Marshal McLuhan in 1964. That is,

it is the overall result of miniaturizing, summarizing and com-

pressing the world into McLuhan’s “global village”. If not how

else will you explain a scenario where,

Business people on different continents now engage in

electronic commerce; television allows people situated

anywhere to observe the impact of terrible wars being

waged far from the comfort of their living rooms; aca-

demics make use of the latest video conferencing equip-

ment to organize seminars in which participants are lo-

cated at disparate geographical locations; the Internet al-

lows people to communicate instantaneously with each

other notwithstanding vast geographical distances sepa-

rating them, Scheuerman (2010).

B. UMEOGU

Identity

As regards identity, globalization has contributed to the

alienation of individuals from their traditions. Identity here is

all about cultural identity; what distinguishes one culture from

another. It can be seen as the traits, characteristics, qualities,

beliefs that make a group stand out among many. Ogugua 2007

in Ogugua & Oduah (2007: p. 5) submitted that “culture is a

mark of identity; it separates man from the animals and at the

same time divides societies … globalization distorts the culture,

changing people’s pattern of editing, dressing, talking etc.”

Capturing this was Dukor who poignantly asserted that,

… in globalization, the identity of minority ethnic groups

among nations is as important as the identity question of

races among races … In a globalized world, ethnic iden-

tity is mostly one unique element that is usually under

threat. All ethnic groups, be it so called majority or mi-

nority, easily identify their ethnicity by their cultural val-

ues which are sacrosanct to them. In other words, ethnic

group identities find meaning in their cultural forms, so-

cial situation, history and kinship system that make up

their social intercourses Dukor (2010: p. 140).

Culture distinguishes a group of people from others. It is so

unique to a group that it is meant to be guarded jealously. It is

that “thing” that will make you say that; this person speaks like

a South African or she dresses like an Igbo woman. By way of

definition, Umeogu & Ojiakor (2012) saw “Culture as the cus-

toms, beliefs, art, music, and all other products of human

thought made by a particular group of people at a particular

time. This culture is what distinguishes one culture from an-

other, or a kind of identification which when exhibited reveals

or gives inkling to where you came from”. Can the African

cultural identity stand in the face of cultural globalization?

Globalization and Cultural Identity

To address the Socio-cultural impacts of globalization on na-

tional identity, I must say that it is two legged in that one can-

not eat one’s cake and still have it. Every society that has been

touched by globalization has had its identity changed either

positively or negatively. National identity according to Burton

is “the shared beliefs and behaviours of a group, which form the

basis for creating meaning for the persons who count them-

selves to be a part of the culture”.

One of the impacts and which happens to be the thrust of this

paper is that people have become confused of who they really

are. They have confused their beliefs with the western ones and

the behaviors of foreign countries have become the yardstick

for measuring acceptable and current behaviors. The bitter truth

is that our culture and its identity have been lost under the

overwhelming influence of foreign culture. Foreign here means

cultures that were not adopted from other African countries that

have similarity in ways of life.

Most if not all cultures have been undergoing changes within

the context of the current variety of globalization, so the likeli-

hood of cultural change within the range of just the culture’s

needs is quite remote. There has been a drastic change in the

mode of dressing, the popular language of communication,

eating habits, and to the extent of sexuality. These changes have

been either in the negative or positive. There are forms of

dressing that identify a particular country like the Indian sari,

the South African skin, the Igbo wrapper and what have you.

Nowadays, jeans, pants and suits have replaced all this. There

has been a mix up that in some cases, it is the skin colour that

tells people apart.

Also, there is technological advancement especially in the

area of communication, connectedness. According to Burton,

“The main tool for the transfer of cultural values from one

country or location to another is through various communica-

tion channels such as the media, the internet, other telecommu-

nication tools and trade”.

To contextualize it, globalization has given minorities a

sense of belonging in the sense that one can be here and be

updated of what is happening there. Again, physical contacts

have been heightened because travelling especially by air has

been made affordable even to the common man who wants to

experience the world from above. Globalization has also helped

people to relax in the sense that people have come to realize

that life is managed. This has led to a situation where people go

on vacations to unwind and destress for a longer and healthier

life. Be that as it may, let us concentrate on the effect on cul-

tural identity.

Coming to globalization and cultural identity proper, one

may say that Globalization has had disastrous consequences on

the governments and people of the African continent. We begin

this section with the words of Dukor (2010: p. 135) that, “there

has been a historical erosion of African identity and authentic-

ity through the process of colonialism, neo colonialism and

imperialism”. That is, there is the tendency of loss of cultural

identities by the one thing that is meant to work for us.

With regards to the relationship between globalization and

identity loss, Ugwueye submits that,

Africans risk losing their cultural heritage in the face of

globalization, not because their heritage is obsolete or in-

ferior but because people have been so taken in by what is

western. This sort of cultural imperialism, which seeks to

enslave the African mind, has left in its wake a cultureless

or culturally disoriented people … Ugwueye (2007: p. 109).

Why won’t the people be taken in by westernization when

the only readily available form of cultural program is the West-

ern ones? Globalization has always had a great impact on cul-

tural identity. “Today, in an age when discrete cultures them-

selves are under threat, the question of cultural identity be-

comes newly problematic and takes on new urgency. The rea-

son for this importance lies in the preservation of the tradi-

tional cultures and values that are carefully being sewn into the

entanglements of globalization” Malgaj (2009).

How did globalization become so powerful to the extent of

threatening national identities? The answer is in the massive

flow of cultural products from developed country so much so

that there is little or no room for indigenous cultural products in

the cultural market. The resultant effect is cultural synchroniza-

tion which invariably leads to identity loss of the recipients.

The picture of identity loss was captured by Umeogu & Oji-

akor (2012) in the following words:

Who am I? Who are we? This is the type of question that

subsequent generations will ask if the rate of cultural de-

pendency on foreign material is not checkmated. This

situation will be an aftermath of the elimination of culture.

When a country consciously or unconsciously loses its

identifying traits, what will they become? If “A” ceases to

B. UMEOGU

be “A” or blends into “B”, what happens to “A” when it

comes to sovereignty and location?

Explaining the reason for the above scenario is Okunna who

observed that:

Whether through their importation of western media cul-

ture or through the barrage of western television culture

which flows into their countries through Direct Broadcast

Satellite (DBS) over which they have no control, devel-

oping countries are at the receiving end as alien cultures

which are alienating their peoples from their own coun-

tries” (Okunna, 1999: p. 145).

Another contribution was from Chinnammai, S. (2005: p. 1)

who asserted that … It (globalization) reflects the effect on

culture and brings about a new form of cultural imperialism.

The rise of new cultural imperialism is shaping children, the

future citizens of the world into “global citizens”, intelligent

people with a broad range of skills and knowledge to apply to a

competitive, information based society.

One of such skills is the mastery of English language at the

detriment of local languages. According to Malgaj (2009),

… what helps these processes is the global dominance of

English. This factor has a big importance in the issue of

cultural identity and globalization. The current era is one

in which corporations are the central producers and dis-

tributors of cultural products. The vast majority of these

products originate within the USA and other western

countries. It is clearly the availability of cheap and rapid

communication and knowledge of one common language

that permits the phenomena of integration of international

capital market. Knowledge of English gives people that

chance to communicate with other human beings around

the world.

Have you ever witnessed a scenario where the children of

nowadays visit the villages? Communication is virtually im-

possible because they cannot understand what the villagers are

saying and vice versa. There was this particular case where a

grandmother told his son to take his children back to the city

because there was no form of communication since the children

only speak and understand English language. Any form of

communication was possible if their parents were there to play

an interpretative role. It sounds funny but that is how obsolete

our native language is becoming.

Non Appreciability of Culture

Non appreciation of culture leads to loss of identity amongst

other reasons. Identity shoots out from cultural beliefs and

practices. In other words, when there is loss of cultural values,

there is loss of identity. If that is the case, when one loses

his/her identity and takes on another one, is it still a case of

identity loss since there is something to be identified with? The

question is vividly answered by Umeogu & Ojiakor (2012) who

submitted that “If ‘A’ c eases to be ‘A’ or blends into ‘B’, what

happens to ‘A’ when it comes to sovereignty and location? ‘A’

will no longer be in existence”.

The truth is that many people especially the younger genera-

tion are not proud of their culture. It is not contestable that civi-

lization has bettered the lives of people, but however, greed,

materialism and inferiority complex is now threatening to

drown our culture.

Look at a country like China, in the face of globalization;

they are still proud of their dressing, food, language, mode of

life. So much so that many Universities has created Confucius

Institute where Chinese is learnt. If they were not proud of their

identity, others will not have longed to be part of that heritage.

Capturing the Chinese experience is Dukor, though referring to

Africa, submitted that “across the length and breadth of Afri-

can and African communities, there is that conscious and in-

exorable desire by the people to preserve their aboriginal cul-

tures, retain their identity and live the authentic life…” (2007: p.

vi).

Sadly, “in virtually every third world country, mass media

audiences consume large quantities of foreign media culture. It

is feared that this massive exposure to foreign culture could

distort and displace native cultures in developing countries,

Okunna, 1999 in Umeogu & Ojiakor, 2012).

Well, it is no longer feared because it has finally happened.

This thirst has done Nigerians more harm than good. There has

been increase in crime, immorality, vices, lack of respect for

elders and ways of life. In fact, Globalization is our doom. In

the process of tearing down barriers in the areas of culture and

economic, it also tore down the walls of morals and have

thrown morality to the dogs. Immorality in the name of being

compliant or westernized has become the order of the day. The

bottom line is that the vices of the developed world have been

imported into the developing world by globalization. Thomas

Larsson states that globalization “is the process of world

shrinkage, of distances getting shorter, things moving closer. It

pertains to the increasing ease with which somebody on one

side of the world can interact, to mutual benefit, with somebody

on the other side of the world”. What mutual benefits have

Nigerians gotten from globalization as regards culture and

identity?

In the original Nigerian culture, armed robbery, indecent

dressing, single parenthood, prostitution was frowned upon, but

in this borrowed robes we call westernization or civilization, it

is seen as a way of life. Seeing such vices as a way of life could

be traced to what is gotten from the media. As Okunna rightly

observed;

… because mass communication is such a powerful vehi-

cle for the dissemination of culture, there has always been

fears that massive flow of foreign mass media contents

into societies other than those in which such contents are

produced, will negatively influence local culture (Okunna,

1999: p. 142).

The Aftermath

With the speed that Nigeria is fast losing her identity, what

will be the fate of generations unborn? What will be taught

during history lessons?

What will be our pride in the nearest future? Ugwueye (2007:

p. 104) asserts that “Africans today, can rarely define the rules

and regulations of their economy, production, credits and ex-

change of goods and services due to rampaging menace of

globalization”. That is of today, what will be the situation in the

next decade?

Another aftermath is the impoverishment of the people. Infe-

riority complex, greed and materialism have led to a situation

where locally made goods are not appreciated at all. The result

176

B. UMEOGU

is a situation where the local firms and entrepreneurs are run

out of business where foreign ones boom the market. Thereafter,

the poor get poorer as there is no equal playing ground to com-

pete with the foreign firms.

How do we even begin to talk on morality? Vices like mate-

rialism; disrespect for human life and dignity; organized crime;

and Sexual perversion have become the order of the day all in

the name of exercising fundamental human rights. Did our fore

fathers not exercise their rights when it came to morality? They

did. Nowadays, the definition of morality is quite distinct from

what is now obtainable. And that is the reason why this paper

maintains that the vices of the developed world have been im-

ported into the developing world by globali zation.

Conclusion

This paper does not mean to paint globalization as a monster.

Rather, we wanted to point out that globalization, which ideally

is meant to give people options and ideas to update their culture,

has turned to be the fall of many cultures. This is because of the

inequality in power structure among the global players; coun-

tries like Nigeria now found themselves at the receiving end

where they are forced to join “them” since they cannot beat

“them”. The situation is worsened by the quantity of foreign

cultural products consumed by the people; thereby further

weakens their resolve sending the original cultures of the peo-

ple into oblivion.

Every individual, society or nation is blessed and endowed

with special qualities that should not be allowed to fade into

oblivion because of the desire to homogenize with another cul-

ture. The fact that as it has been said that all fingers are not

equal, so it is that all men, nations, societies are not equal. Ni-

gerians in particular and African in general should understand

that the fact that we are not equal with the western giants does

not make us less a “finger”. No matter our size and footing

globally we should be proud of who we are.

This paper advises that people slow down in the consumption

and thirst for foreign products and life so as to salvage our cul-

ture, our identity, our pride.

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