At its core, Globalization is the result of advances in the world’s technology creating a more interconnected planet with trade and information. Almost every corner of the world has been, and is increasingly being, affected by globalization. America and China have benefited greatly on globalized trade and now are two of the most profitable nations on the planet greatly due to these advances. Europe continues to benefit from globalizational effects on travel as 6 of the 10 most visited countries in 2016 are on their continent.
Indonesia, however, has not experienced the same effects that other nations in this globalizing world have. On an economic standpoint, according to the CIA’s World Factbook, in 2016 Indonesia did not even rank in the top 30 nations in imports despite having the fourth largest population in the world. This shows that they still rely strongly on local industry and have not fully succumbed to the insatiable westernized consumerism that in many ways drives the heart of globalization. According to forbesindonesia.com though, Indonesia’s global trade value is experiencing a much faster growth than the rest of the world. This does hint to Indonesia experiencing drastic globalized economic shifts in its future. Culturally, Indonesia experienced effects of early globalization with the spread of Islam absorbing the majority of the population, ending many local religions and marginalizing the few others remaining that had influenced much of Indonesia’s cultural landscape. While this happened long before the word globalization even existed, it is definitely an effect of advances in technology that allowed for more efficient travel. This more efficient means of traveling helped the Muslim religion to travel across the Indonesian archipelago and spread its belief system. Another cultural effect of globalization is monolingualism, which frightens many people that the world may someday lose its language diversity. Indonesia currently has over 700 different dialects amongst hundreds of different spoken languages. While the nation has resorted to one official language, Indonesian, many other languages remain strong and English is also becoming more widely spread without households sacrificing their native tongue. While fears of monolingualism persist, there are studies that are showing that globalization can actually be helping the problem that it seemed to have originally caused when it comes to language. A report released on yale.edu found that there is a growth in speakers of endangered languages connecting with others around the world who also speak their language. With help of Skype, YouTube, and many other ways to connect, several languages that might have died by now remain alive. Ultimately, globalization is near impossible to avoid completely, especially if you live in a developed country. While Indonesia has kept itself relatively clear from heavy globalization, you can still find a McDonalds’s restaurant on Jakarta street corners. Also, Indonesia bought over six billion dollars’ worth of exports from the United States in 2016, and the U.S. only ranks as Indonesia’s 5th largest source of imports. Indonesia is on a much slower globalization path, but they most assuredly are on the path. While I personally find globalization to produce more good than bad, I am aware of the dangers that can come from it. Indonesia, in this respect, seems to have the right idea...invite globalization in, without letting it change what makes your country unique. This gradual approach should allow their nation to adjust properly, and protect their cultural identity. Sources: http://forbesindonesia.com/berita-1273-globalization%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2s-impact-on-indonesia.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/globalization-helps-preserve-endangered-languages https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/southeast-asia-pacific/indonesia
3 Comments
Lauren Labrum
3/14/2018 12:52:34 pm
I thought it was interesting and so crazy that even though Indonesia has the fourth largest population, they didn't even rank in the top 30 nations in imports. It's also interesting to learn that their global trade value is growing faster than the rest of the world. There's so many things to look at when learning about globalization and it's different from nation to nation. I agree with what you said about globalization being pretty much impossible to avoid. And even though Indonesia is slower on the globalization path, they are still on the path so that was a good point made. Thank you for your blog posts!
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Garrett Glapion
3/21/2018 12:55:18 am
Great article! I loved how you introduced the aspect of Indonesia having the fourth largest population in the world and yet has a severely lacking economy. Also, as for the rate of growth in your country of study. how does your country rank as far as growth when compared to other developing countries.
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3/28/2018 10:21:54 pm
One thing that I thought was very interesting about your post on globalization was your viewpoint on how globalization could benefit the preservation of native languages in a country. With technology and the internet more people are speaking more languages, and they no longer fear the loss of their language.I agree that globalization is good and should be gradually introduced so that the uniqueness of the country and people are kept.
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