#globe1a03

[danielyanesalvarenga]

Blog Post #4 – Kyle Rittenhouse in Connection to Globalization and Violence 2.0

Jacob Blake, a black man who was shot seven times in the back by a white police officer was left partially paralyzed in Kenosha, Wisconsin (Morales, 2021). This event sparked national outrage, with racial justice activists flooding the streets to protest, especially in the town of Kenosha. After days of protesting, the BLM protest became very violent and on the third night after riots erupted, it significantly changed the narrative of this racial injustice story. A 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot three men during the riots, he killed two victims and left the third seriously injured. Rittenhouse was charged with several accounts of homicide but pleaded non-guilty based on self-defence (BBC NEWS, 2021). As the heated court case proceeded, the final verdict acquitted Kyle of all charges. This event significantly speaks to the connection of Globalization and violence, more specifically the global phenomenon of white supremacy. The local racial injustice that affected Jacob Blake produced mass influence amongst individuals on a global scale. This mass influence was created and worked through the channels of Globalization that provided the interconnection amongst racial activists. This interconnectivity connected activists and gave them the agency to act and bear responsibility to their fellow human beings, as per the core values of global citizenship. While activists were protesting on behalf of racial inequality and demonstrating cosmopolitanism ideals, this led to a series of horrific events with Rittenhouse. This event can arguably be connected to white supremacy. Rittenhouse involved himself in the BLM protest to protect ‘local businesses’ while armed with a group of other men. This group originated on Facebook, an event was posted to propagate participation for this extremist movement that Rittenhouse participated in. This online group allowed for white supremacists to radicalize each other and have a sense of shared purpose and community amongst themselves. These people were able to actively coordinate a deadly event with each other that was ultimately produced by the circuits of Globalization. Thus, one can question the future of global citizenship and the implications Globalization creates. Global citizens tried to pursue the core values of global citizenship, but three global citizens were shot and two died. If this is the case, the global phenomenon of white supremacy is significantly obstructing and obliterating the idea of global citizenship. Rittenhouse murdered two global citizens and was let go while being praised by right-wing individuals. White supremacy is ever evolving through Globalization, creating disastrous implications for the global world as evident in the verdict of Kyle Rittenhouse. Arguably, Globalization has further ingrained white supremacy in society and has escalated the problem globally for all people, especially global citizens.

[danielyanesalvarenga]

Blog Post #3 - Hybridization in Maluma Concerts

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a concert. It has been my first concert since the COVID-19 pandemic had started. I attended Maluma’s Papi Juancho Tour in Toronto which can speak to the greater topic of cultural globalization. Maluma is one of the biggest Latin artists in the world, born in Medellín, Colombia, he sings a variety of Latin music which often crosses into the Western world. Maluma sings in Spanish which alone holds its own cultural dynamics, thus the idea of “hybridization” can better describe this example of cultural globalization. Latin music is a cultural force that is enabled by global Latin artists like Maluma. This artist was able to have a world tour with shows across the United States and Canada, as well as preparing to tour across Europe next year. Spanish is not widely spoken in Canada or Europe so the fact that Maluma is touring to areas where most people speak English, and many are not Latin, showcases how Maluma is a force of cultural hybridization. The artist spreads his Colombian, Latin culture to the world in the form of music and concerts, further providing more channels for cultural exchange to occur. This exchange allows for great influence from outside cultures resulting in new hybrid cultural artifacts. Maluma has exemplified this, he is influencing Western culture and demonstrates that people do not need to speak Spanish to enjoy his music or attend his concerts. However, Maluma is also influenced by other cultures, more specifically Western culture. He has collaborated with well-known western artists like Madonna, The Weeknd, Black Eyed Peas, and Jason Derulo. With his artist-list evolving, Maluma incorporates traits from Western culture in his music, he is very much influenced on the way his music is produced. For example, Maluma and The Weeknd created the hybridized cultural product of “Hawái (Remix)”. This was produced by the combination of Maluma’s Colombian local cultural elements and external Western influences like The Weeknd. One can argue that this allows Maluma to expand his fan base globally thus becoming an increasingly powerful force of cultural hybridization. The key theme of interconnection plays an enormous role in this process as the cultural product and the overall process of Maluma’s hybridization is made possible by the powerful interconnectivity of globalization. Maluma ultimately illustrates the ongoing fluidity of culture and hybridization, from his small town of Medellín, Colombia to the world.

[danielyanesalvarenga]

Blog Post #2 - The Connection Between Facebook’s New Future and Globalization

On October 28, 2021, a major social media company announced it would change its name in an effort to rebrand the company and what it represents. This company was Facebook, now currently known as Meta. The name change represents CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ideas and entire company focus on a new platform called the “metaverse”. This will be a virtual space for people to come together in virtual reality. The online realm will allow individuals to have a virtual life, including creating a virtual avatar to allow for a space for playing games and having a virtual home space to relax in. While Facebook and its other parent companies like Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. provided a way for people to be connected, Zuckerberg argues that the metaverse will transform this already established interconnection amongst people and provide new opportunities to connect the world globally. With new connections between people and communities worldwide this will have an increasing effect on globalization and how it will be enabled by the metaverse in the future. Under the metaverse the already established space-time compression and social acceleration that encompasses globalization will provide the global world with greater interconnectivity. With VR hardware coming in the future, the metaverse will create the illusion that we are no longer in the real world but in a virtual world we are embedded in. We will be ultimately fostered by the ways we virtually interact with people in the metaverse. Virtual games, interactions or even hang outs will create shared experiences amongst people worldwide. This will further develop the global consciousness and the “GLOCAL” events we already experience, while creating more partial conditions for global citizenship. However, this will affect society greatly and the hardware expected to release will be very sophisticated and expensive. The already released Oculus Quest 2 starts at $399.99 and the price is only expected to increase as the metaverse unfolds. Therefore, the new opportunities of interconnectivity will be limited to only certain people who can afford it. This further reinforces elitism arguments that only the already affluent and privileged have the capacity to be global citizens. Elites will be the only people who benefit from this new level of interconnectivity. This further reflects existing socio-economic gaps between people in society and may continue to divide them, disregarding the core goals of global citizenship. However, this virtual space is still in the early stages of development as Zuckerberg explained it and will likely not become mainstream for another five to ten years. In this case, the connection between the metaverse and globalization is still very much in the air with many of its effects being unknown. With globalization spreading around the world and effecting the lives of people globally, ideas and arguments for globalization will only have an increasing impact. This will affect people worldwide especially if the metaverse is set to provide new distinct interconnections amongst people in our globalizing world.

[zzztblog]

Globalization in Daily life

[danielyanesalvarenga]

Blog Post #1 - A Global Playlist

Currently while writing my first blog post, I am listening to music as many people do. For me, music is a big part of my identity as it is something I frequently listen to. In a certain way, the music I listen to influences me and shapes my experiences living in society. Music varies from generation to generation, but more importantly it ranges globally. My daily playlist on Apple music is a product of globalization. I like to listen to hip-hop and pop usually from North American artists, however, K-pop and reggaeton from Korea and Latin America are also genres I love to listen to. It is evident that these music genres originate from all over the world, however this has not stopped music from having an increasing influence on people globally. If anything, music from different parts of the world have only helped in developing a unified experience with humans globally. Globalization is enabled by technology and communication. Platforms like music streaming services are available globally, thus allowing people to listen to and discover music from different global genres. This also provides a way for artists to communicate with people globally no matter where they are in the world. There is a great sense of interconnectivity here, as people are connected with music worldwide. As popularity of music increases, artists globally gain more popularity and dominate billboard music charts. We see artists like Bad Bunny and BTS cross over into the Western music industry and demonstrate that music has no borders. I personally have no idea what BTS sings about as I do not speak Korean, but I love their music, and it is very obvious that their fan base is diverse. Not only is BTS the biggest boy band in Korea, but they are also the biggest boy band in North America, commonly being nominated for music awards alongside popular Western artists. A common song that I’m sure many people remember is “Despacito”. As annoying the song may be now, it was loved and is still known worldwide. This is a result of two artists who shared Puerto Rican culture all around the world and ultimately expressed the Latin-X community globally. The song has billions of views on YouTube and has brought more recognition to the Latin genre worldwide. Latin artists like J Balvin and Karol G continue to spread Latin music which creates a global consciousness among people. Music continues to intensify connections all over the world, unifying people. People are brought together by appreciating music worldwide, proving that globalization continues to affect all elements of contemporary life.

[fallingin2me]

Black culture and ‘internet slang’

The internet is becoming a main actor in the hybridization of culture worldwide. We have never been able to share ideas and connect across borders in this form: instant and easy. However, with this intensified worldliness comes issues with cultural appropriation. Cultural artifacts are misused and misrepresented all across the globe, all because someone saw it online and thought it was cool. This is prevalent in the discussions surrounding the appropriation of Black culture on social media.

Have you ever noticed that a lot of people use a certain voice or specific mannerisms when trying to be funny? There’s nothing wrong with a little dramatization for effect, but the problem lies in when these actions appropriate and bastardize the culture of a marginalized group. For a lot of non-Black people, African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and other Black dialects are synonymous with ‘internet slang’. You see Black people tweeting, using words you’ve never heard before, and you think it’s the norm for online etiquette. This is the problem with the hybridization of internet culture. People fail to realize that Black people talk like that in real life, and it’s not just a funny internet persona; they get called unintelligent and unprofessional for speaking that way. This is an example of how the context of cultural items is lost in internet spaces. Non-Black people will then go on to turn AAVE into a joke and get tired of it after a while, never understanding the meaning behind their words nor the intricacies of the dialects they appropriate. This further marginalizes Black people. The racist undertones of this type of behavior is not lost on us. To me, it feels like people put on a mask online, using Black dialects to look cool, and then take it off when they log out, never experiencing the struggles of actually being Black. I’ve heard people describe this phenomenon as ‘digital blackface’ or ‘digital minstrelsy’. This shows how the impact of hybridization and appropriation on the internet has the power to isolate people, even in our growing interconnectedness.

[fallingin2me]

COVID-19 and its impact on women

Fact: Our lives changed about one year ago. I’d been thinking about how much COVID-19 has taken from me in the past year. With a situation like this, I’m hyper-aware of how much my experiences are not unique. And as International Women’s Day approaches, I decided to look into how COVID has impacted women around the world. 

I knew that women have been left in a precarious place due to the upheaval that came with restrictions, lockdowns, and the like. I expected some of what I saw, including statistics that noted how domestic abuse and sexual violence against women have risen due to the pandemic. On the economic side of things, women were faced with three times more hours of unpaid housework than their male counterparts on average. There have been global trends regarding the diversion of resources to reproductive health, including lack of access to contraceptives. It’s sad that another universality of this global pandemic has been the rise of gender-based violence.

The United Nations has stressed the importance of governmental policy making that addresses women’s disadvantages since April 2020. Women make up 70% of the health workforce globally, putting them at higher risk for the virus. In Canada, more than half of all COVID-related deaths have been those of women. 

The economic ‘bounce back’ that so many countries are working towards is an unattainable dream for so many women on a personal level. The way the pandemic brought a halt to our lives has repercussions that disproportionately leave women in poverty, uneducated, and unemployed. 

COVID-19 has reshaped the fight for women’s rights; NGOs have had to essentially re-evaluate their goals in light of the unforeseen events. The pandemic has had paradoxical effects: people are physically farther than ever, and yet the interconnectedness and shared consciousness of this ordeal has fostered a global sense of community and responsibility.

Links: UN statistics COVID & women in Canada

[cosmopolitanaffairs21cen]

Public Health Outbreaks in a Globalizing World

Public Health and Globalization go hand in hand!

In a Globalized World, public Health is making quite headlines on social media. The diversity of issues in the field needs to be understood and addressed for better handling. Accordingly, the more we have access to information and knowledge about living in a globalized era, the more we sense our surroundings, and the more is attained.

More Public Health attention than any other century before!

Sadly, such modern interconnectivity in a natural state of progress is undoubtedly bringing a diverse new challenge on the agenda. Outbreaks like Swine Flu, Ebola and Corona Virus are just a few of the flares in the 21-century due to the whole wave called Globalization.

We are all interconnected!

As observed, such topics like Public Health and Globalization grow as one. Moving forward, our attention toward the discussed matter is pivotal. We need to acquaint ourselves and have a good grasp of information on both the impact and the outcome of Globalization. Remember, Public Health is part of the whole picture.

Overwhelmed health workers speak out!

Many health practitioners worldwide speak out on various media channels about the actual situation dealing with a pandemic behind closed doors throughout the coronavirus spread. Public Health Global Crisis is natural and occurs more often than before. Such occurrences need to be taken seriously and identified a long time before a pandemic rise.

Alternatives are possible!

A healthy global consciousness and a shared learned experience can help our health system deal with a future pandemic event like coronavirus. We need supportive governments that understand Globalization for proper conditions to be created and spoken openly about. Hence, our global citizens and universal agencies can accumulate new knowledge and adapt to any future possible pandemic episodes.