There is the denigration of what believers know as wisdom. But when all of reality is reduced to what can be empirically measured, serious problems follow. Globalization has been possible because of scientific and technological advances that, in themselves, can be considered a blessing for the human race.
The list of negative effects of economic globalization is long. For all these reasons the growing tension between the developed countries of the North and the developing countries of the South remains the critical issue of contention at the United Nations."2 "This is evident throughout the world in vast pockets of poverty (both urban and rural), the agricultural breakdown of small scale and organic farming, the widespread creation of imagined needs through advertising, the rampant waste and emptiness of mindless consumerism, and the relentless deterioration of the global environment.
Mary Evelyn Tucker, a professor of religion at Bucknell University, sums up these inequities succinctly: They have even invented the word "glocalization" to express this complex reality.Ī study of the cultural and social dimensions on the local level reveals the considerable inequities that exist in so many countries. Globalization and localization go hand in hand. There is no such thing as a one-world culture. Many scholars today emphasize that it is impossible to separate culture from globalization. Bryan Hehir sees this definition as inadequate because it does not address other aspects of human life such as the social and cultural dimensions. "Globalization is the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide caused by the increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services and international capital."1įr. The International Monetary Fund uses this definition: All of this is possible because technology has created multiple connections through electronic communications such as the Internet and has made it possible for one to travel long distances in a relatively short time. In the broadest sense, globalization refers to world-wide connections, growth and maintenance of transnational institutions and agreed upon ways of acting for what is perceived as the good of the planet. Globalization: liberation or exploitation? What role will the church play, and what are the implications for the inculturation of the liturgy in a rapidly changing world? Globalization, driven by new technologies and economic expansion, is underway with both positive and negative impacts.