An In-Depth Exploration of Globalization's Impact on African Culture

This essay critically analyzes the multifaceted impact of globalization on African culture. It examines how globalization, driven by the exchange of ideas, trade, and information, has led to significant cultural shifts across the continent. The essay explores the influence of Western education on African value systems, highlighting the tension between traditional beliefs and modern practices. It delves into the erosion of traditional morals, the rise of materialism, and the transformations in family structures and religious beliefs. Furthermore, the essay discusses the impact of globalization on African economies, the adoption of global trends in fashion and entertainment, and the challenges posed to communal values. The author concludes by suggesting measures to promote globalization while mitigating its negative effects on African cultural heritage.

RUNNING HEAD: The Impact of Globalization on African Culture
The Impact of Globalization on the African Culture
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Hi, the topic I have picked is an extension of the below link from the ‘Assignment 2 Annotated
bibliography’ I have made the relevant changes
Article 2
“Precious, O. (2010). Globalisation and the future of African culture. Philosophical Papers and
Reviews, 2(1), 1-8.”

Impact of globalization on African Culture
I have researched in more details concerning the given topic in order to build up on the initial
concept. Some of the references I have used are from the topic samples in the annotated
bibliography. The impact of globalization in most African countries is similar, however I have
explained some unique cultures within the paper.
The Impact of Globalization on the African Culture
Globalization has had a tremendous impact on the economy, culture, and development of
a nation. As the nations interact as a global marketplace in the exchange of trade, ideas,
information, and capital, cultures, behavior, and norms are also being transfused. This has
resulted in the existed of a global culture which has been very controversial. (Pichler, 2012). The
phenomenon of behavioral and system belief mutation has been happening since the colonial era.
The common feature according to Precious, (2010) is that the culture of the developed and
dominant superpower is normally and continuously being adopted by the developing or
underdeveloped states. The culture of developed states and in particular the colonizing nation
becomes appealing since it is associated with power, superiority, and development. This is the
cultural atrophy with the African states being the most affected. At the most extreme effects,
Africa’s culture is at risk of becoming extinct. Culture is the way of life of people. These are the
values and norms that people uphold. It is an aggregation of the religious beliefs, language,
customs and practices, festivities, dressing codes, their food. However, culture is dynamic and
changes are gradual rather than abrupt. Therefore, it is quite evident that in as much as
globalization has revolutionized the global economy, there is a disadvantage in the erosion of the
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Impact of globalization on African Culture
unique cultural heritage of different communities (Crowder, 2013). Globalization, as it has been
used by many, has been equated to the interaction and integration of countries and people is not
alien to the African states. The ancient colonization of African states in a closer view would have
the same impact of the current era globalization. The focus of this paper would be to critically
analyze the impact of globalization on African Culture.
The over dependency on Western education as a result of colonialism has brought about
the distortion of the value system. Though education would boost skills and avail opportunities
for the people, it has an impact of opposing some of the cultural beliefs and religious practices.
The Western education that has been standardized and infiltrated into the African states has not
taken into account the different surroundings (Cleveland, et al, 2016). The Western education
that was introduced during the colonial era has not taken into account the prevailing African
Culture, the African religious beliefs, the available resources and opportunities for jobs in the
African environment, the socioeconomic status and the job types available. The different context
and environment would act as a limiting factor to the effectiveness of Western education in the
African states (Frankema, 2012). The purpose of an education system is to empower, however
failure to take into account the context would lead to irrelevant information and unnecessary
skills. As a result of Western education, a person’s intelligence is equated to how fluent and well
they can converse in the English language. In extreme cases, African native languages are
viewed as inferior and associated with a lack of civilization. The aged in the African societies
referred to as elders are deemed to be inferior and are dismissed based on the fact that they lack
the Western education. However, they are the pillars of African culture and traditions. Such
values can’t be learned in the classrooms. This has led to many young people in the African state
living in self-denial of their cultural roots.
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Impact of globalization on African Culture
Globalization through the colonial education system has adversely transformed the
attitude of the educated towards rural life and agricultural activities. The current African
generation is slowly moving away from manual farming activities. Local farming activities
became a reserve for the unskilled and uneducated. The agriculture sector has then
revolutionized into cash crop production as opposed to the traditional subsistence farming. Such
trends have led to instability and food insecurity. The aggregate agricultural produce is less than
the population demand. (Sriramesh, & Verčič, 2012). The preference is on white collar jobs and
clerical work. The educated would not want to engage in manual labors since it is viewed as
demeaning and enslaving. This had led to widespread unemployment among the population. The
rationale is that the available white collar jobs lack the capacity to absorb the large proportion of
the state’s population that is being released into the economy by the education sector. The
educated are aligned towards urban life and agricultural activities are deemed to be inferior.
However the education system independently is not anti-rural, rather the overall contact with the
European and American states is responsible. Such states are developed and urbanized, unlike
the prevailing African states which are either developing or underdeveloped (Hedberg &
Haandrikman, 2014). This in effect has caused congestion in the major cities of African states.
Globalization is steering erosion of good morals in the African states. The African values
are anchored upon hard work, modest dressing codes, and the virtue of sharing and communal
ownership of resources, honesty and respectful speech. (Cleveland, Laroche, & Hallab, 2013).
With the prevailing globalization, scanty dressing has been on the rise in the local African States.
Nudity and promiscuity have become a common phenomenon. In the 18th century, such
tendencies were highly condemned by the African group of elders. Notably was the respect the
young people had to the elderly. For instance, in Nigerian culture, the elderly greet the younger
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Impact of globalization on African Culture
people by tapping them on their head as they are bowed on the ground. Vulgar expressions have
infiltrated the African scene, through the entertainment industry from the globalized
marketplace. This has been transferred through the content created and transferred locally such
as the music, movies, and social media content. (Chen, 2012). Materialism has eroded the virtues
of sharing and communalism. African people are becoming more capitalistic in their endeavors.
Family and marriage as a pillar of the society have been greatly threatened. Traditionally,
African marriage was a community affair, celebrated by society and nurtured by the community.
It was viewed as a uniting factor between two families and sexual purity as the foundation of
marriage. Sexual relations outside the context of marriage were an abomination in the
community and was deemed to bring a curse upon the land. In contrast, the current phase of life
as a result of massive interactions with western culture is gradually accepting same-sex
marriages. Gay marriages are infiltrating the fabric of African culture. The young African
generation is sexually active and is at liberty to engage sexual habits even outside marriage
terms. (Mair, 2013). The culture has been adopted to the extent that measures such as
contraceptives have been put in place for protection and safety. The traditional values of
marriage characterized by the total submission of the wife to the husband are viewed as archaic.
The extended family has been narrowed down into the nuclear family. The societal coexistence
was a source of security and traditionally there was no need for an external security team. This
has propagated division and conflict in society.
Globalization has linked prestige to formal education. The result has been the
competition for higher learning institutions in pursuit of prestige and status in society (Altbach,
2015). The higher the level of education, the more esteemed and productive you’re deemed to be.
In contrast, productivity is not necessarily tied to formal education. In some employment cases,
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Impact of globalization on African Culture
higher learning may increase a person’s earnings with the same productivity level. With such a
busy life in pursuit of prestige, recognition and social status, some Africans are opting to be
single parents since a smaller family is easier to manage or even delegate parenting duties. Single
parenthood was a phenomenon linked to the American society. Children are no longer viewed as
a heritage, rather as an obligation and responsibility. (Tomlinson, 2012). More families are
adopting to raise fewer children as opposed to the African custom of having many children.
Communalization and socialization have become a challenge and the socialization trends are
aligned to electronic means. There is a pattern of behavior whereby people chat more via
electronic means as opposed to facing to face communication. Individualism is the most
predominant feature that goes against the African cultural heritage (Ogihara, & Uchida, 2014). In
the perspective of religious beliefs, Christianity introduced by the colonialists challenged the
traditional belief systems.
In conclusion, globalization had a tremendous impact on the African culture, ranging
from social norms, family virtues, education system, and religious beliefs and in many other
aspects. Globalization has both positive aspects and negative aspects. It is recommended that
measures be taken to promote globalization while putting checks and controls on globalization
effects on African culture.
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Impact of globalization on African Culture
References
Altbach, P. (2015). Higher education and the WTO: Globalization run amok. International
Higher Education, (23).
Chen, G. M. (2012). The impact of new media on intercultural communication in global context.
Cleveland, M., Laroche, M., & Hallab, R. (2013). Globalization, culture, religion, and values:
Comparing consumption patterns of Lebanese Muslims and Christians. Journal of
Business Research, 66(8), 958-967.
Cleveland, M., Rojas-Méndez, J. I., Laroche, M., & Papadopoulos, N. (2016). Identity, culture,
dispositions and behavior: A cross-national examination of globalization and culture
change. Journal of Business Research, 69(3), 1090-1102.
Crowder, M. (2013). Colonial West Africa: Collected Essays. Routledge.
Frankema, E. H. (2012). The origins of formal education in sub-Saharan Africa: was British rule
more benign?. European Review of Economic History, 16(4), 335-355.
Hedberg, C., & Haandrikman, K. (2014). Repopulation of the Swedish countryside:
Globalisation by international migration. Journal of Rural Studies, 34, 128-138.
Mair, L. P. (2013). African marriage and social change. Routledge.
Ogihara, Y., & Uchida, Y. (2014). Does individualism bring happiness? Negative effects of
individualism on interpersonal relationships and happiness. Frontiers in Psychology, 5,
135
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Impact of globalization on African Culture
Pichler, F. (2012). Cosmopolitanism in a global perspective: An international comparison of
open-minded orientations and identity in relation to globalization. International
Sociology, 27(1), 21-50.
Precious, U. (2010). Globalization and the future of African culture. Philosophical papers and
review, 2(1), 1-8.
Sriramesh, K., & Verčič, D. (Eds.). (2012). Culture and public relations: Links and implications.
Routledge.
Tomlinson, J. (2012). Cultural globalization. The Wiley
‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of
Globalization.
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