Modernity and tradition: the effects of globalization on the Chinese Culture in the 21st century

Thèmes abordés

China, Modernization, Globalization, Cultural Change, Westernization

Résumé du document

Globalization is one of the world's main concerns nowadays. Ever since the end of the cold war and the beginning of this new era in international economics and politics, the « globalization phenomena » has been at the heart of all preoccupations. In this context of globalization, in which Beijing takes full part, western influences have become frequent in the country, as it has been for many other countries. In three decades, China has become a major player in the world's economy and greatly takes part in globalization. Featured by an extraordinary opening to capitalism and the new adherence to free trade, globalization in China really changed worldly logics in economy and international trade.

Extraits

[...] It is a paradise for the aspiring middle class, and immigrants come from all over the country hoping to get a share of the treasure. The architecture of the city illustrates very well this struggle between past, present and future and the local urbanism is very interesting to study. From the ultra modern Pudong to the relics of the last centuries in Nanxi there is everything is Shanghai. The preservation of the Shanghainese architectural patrimony was not obvious as many monuments and neighbourhoods were bulldozed down in the development of the city. [...]

[...] Dora Borrione - Chinese Culture and Society - Fudan University - June 2010 Modernity and tradition: the effects of globalization on the Chinese Culture in the 21st century Introduction Globalization is one of the world's main concerns nowadays. Ever since the end of the cold war and the beginning of this new era in international economics and politics, the « globalization phenomena » has been at the heart of all preoccupations. In this context of globalization, in which Beijing takes full part, western influences have become frequent in the country, as it has been for many other countries. [...]

[...] Once the elementary needs were satisfied, culture was once again brought forward as a new issue. This question of culture is a basic issue of popular identity and came back as a revival of a traditional culture shunned by the political power ever since 1949, but slowly brought back by the new authorisation of cults in the 80s or the restoration of Buddhist monasteries. Opposition to change and evolutions The ideology of progress and western values are taking over the world, through economical and cultural globalization and oppositions arise. [...]

[...] The Chinese culture is meeting occidental traditions and values: changes and alterations are coming and it is difficult to predict how they will affect the Chinese society in the next years. What if this strength of the Chinese culture and the rise of the PRC as a superpower were to create a wholly new situation and generate a renewal of collective values and counterbalance the influence of western cultures? A brief overview of china's « modernity » Chinese « modernity » goes back to the middle of the 19th century: it can be divided in 3 main periods. [...]

[...] Today in China, a strong movement to promote a cultural nationalism to rehabilitate traditional Chinese culture is developing. It is the logic of identity-related resistances that spring from the advance of westernization in many countries. Many consider that it would be too difficult to combine Chinese culture with western values: as Zhou Ning4 says, “what china wants is modernization, and not westernization; but modernization is itself a sort of westernization. Consequently, the modernization movement in china has to deal from the start with an ontological contradiction. [...]