Globalization and Culture

About

Globalization is one of the most talked about words in the contemporary world and dominates discussions in the media, academics and everyday life. Cultural theorists have used the term to refer to political, economic, social and cultural transformations that have occurred in the last decade of the twentieth century. It appears that everyone on the planet is affected by globalization but not in the same way. Yet most people have only a fuzzy understanding of what globalization means because of the number of things it means to a wide variety of people. The different dimensions of globalization such as the rise of global capital and markets, new media and communication technologies, dissolution of political borders, and growth of consumerist culture cannot be seen in isolation from one another. But people tend to examine them separately or through the compartmentalized frames of different disciplines.

The course has three main objectives:

To provide a thorough grounding in the philosophical and theoretical debates on globalization

To examine the economic, political, social, cultural issues covered by the debate and their impact on contemporary cultures, particularly in the developing world

To enable students to understand competing definitions of globalization and to show that globalization’s effects are felt differently by different people

Intended audience: B.Tech/MSc/MA

Prerequisites: Good command over English language Interest in Humanities and the Arts