Week 2 - Flows: making the world grow smaller

As a self-confessed gamer and technology enthusiast, one could argue that I have been a beneficiary of the positive effects of globalisation. Rapid technological advancement - particularly in communication and entertainment technologies - has been one of many side effects of a significantly advanced global culture. Time space compression has removed barriers present throughout history that may have marred communication between countries, and even within our own local communities.

It is really only within the last 35 years that academics such as Appaduri (1990) have begun to explore what globalisation truly means, and its effect in reality. This has been the topic of much academic debate ever since. According to Rockefeller (2011), Appaduri was one of the first to refer to globalisation in the context of ‘flows’. This term is flexible and used in many different contexts related to globalisation, including cultural flows, physical flows, informational, media and even capital flows. 

This blog post will focus particularly on physical and informational flows. Physical flows refer to the physical movement or migration of people around the world. Informational flows refer to changes in the ways that information is now ‘moved’ a relatively recent example being a transition from the domination of physical printed media, to the modern digital-focused age featuring the blogosphere that we as consumers, or in more recent terminology ‘prosumers’ participate in (Rantanen, 2005; Appaduri, 1990).

I conducted an informal interview with my father Phillip regarding the impact that physical and informational flows have had on his life. Phillip was born and raised in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. At age 17 he participated in an Australian government initiative called “The Big Brother Movement” that enabled young British boys to migrate to Australia to work for a minimum of two years.

This link is provided for those interested in researching this organization as they exist today: 

Big Brother Movement Website

This video details some of the early history of this organization, complete with fantastic black and white koala footage:

Australian Diary - Big Brother Movement Guides Young Migrants

I was intrigued to note a lack of media involvement in my father’s decision to migrate. We now live in a society so pervaded by the media that it is difficult to comprehend its lesser impact on earlier generations. As Rantanen (2005, p.18) states when outlining the purpose of his research, “it does not claim that media and communications are the only things that matter”. So whilst acknowledging the key role that these factors play, we can see that the physical flows of globalization have existed far longer than the term globalization itself!

My interest in technology and gaming stemmed from my father, as he introduced me to personal computers at an early age. I believe that home computers in part came about due to opportunities provided by globalization. My father's comments reflect some of the research into the impact of globalization on communications. For example, in the interview he reflected similar notions as argued by Rantanen (2005, p.11) that “as a result of globalization there is a clear shift in the nature of social relationships. Close, intimate and thus genuine relationships are being replaced by new mass mediated experiences”. 

Refer to the interview transcript below for my father's responses to a range of questions about his experience of globalisation.

While I certainly believe in the positive impact that globalisation has had in my own life, it is important as a future educator and a continuing user of technology that I can reflect an understanding of globalisation from a holistic perspective that takes into account new globalised flows in whatever form they might take. 

Interview Transcript here

References

Appaduri, A 1990, Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy, in Modernity at large, cultural dimensions of globalization, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 27-47.

Rantanen, T 2005, ‘Theorizing media globalization’, The media and globalization, Sage, London, pp. 1–18.

Rockefeller, S 2011, 'Flow', Current Anthropology, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 557-578.

Big Brother Movement (BBM Ltd) 2013, 'BBM | Welcome to BBM Youth Support', retrieved 2 September 2013, <http://www.bbm.asn.au/index.php>