Globalisation: Cultural Imperialism or New Individualism?

Abstract

The article is a voice in the discussion on globalization and attempt to answer the question whether it is neutral in terms of cultural description of the geopolitical realities of the 21stcentury, or normative vision of some form of life? The statement was constructed on the basis of a critical review of contemporary social theory, in which globalization is seen as a process of transforming not only the institutions and organizations, but also the very fabric of identity and personal life. In conclusion, we formulated the thesis of the two ways in which globalization has made in the sphere of culture. The first is the homogenization, where it promotes the same for all values, the same patterns of consumption. The second is diversification, feed to the extraction and creation of nationalism, the search for individuality, identity building (often constructed based on the tradition). Individual culture reconstruct their specificity, endemising transnational cultural forms, and therefore should pay attention not only to the global institutionalization of worldly life, but also the location of globality. The task of the future of social theory is, therefore, critical examination and analysis of the social conditions in which the global media can both strengthen and weaken national culture and identity.