Modernism and After (Vis Com) Semester 2

Week 4: Globalization

DIY Homework (for Week 6).

George Ritzer (reading on Moodle) sees Globalization as being comprised of two

conflicting tendencies: the tendency to create something and the tendency to create

nothing. Ritzer ties the former to a process called Glocalization and the latter to his

own term Grobalization.

An example of Glocalization given by Ritzer is a farmers‟ market. A farmers‟ market

is determined by the interests of those present on a given day, and is highly variable.

“The farmers do not fit into a pre-set structure, although they may by custom, sell

particular things in particular spots. Which farmers participate, and what they offer for

sale, will vary greatly from one time to another. Most importantly, once the market

has ended for the day, whatever structure was created will be dismantled and then

recreated again somewhat differently the next market day.” (Ritzer 2003)

Here then, Ritzer, who doesn‟t believe that truly „Local‟ things remain in any

significant way, is trying to describe certain interactions between Global forces and

local interests that retain a certain amount of complexity and variability (hence using

the term Glocal to describe them). Another example that Ritzer offers of the Glocal

are the restaurants in Provence, France, which make unique types of food in that

region. Due to the foods complexity and the availability of specific ingredients, these

dishes are not made elsewhere.

In contrast to this tendency to produce something, i.e. variation and contrast,

Grobalization, argues Ritzer, tends to produce nothing. Here, contrasting examples

would be shopping malls – that apart from the peculiarity of shoppers look very

similar from London to Milan etc – and fast food restaurants. These types of forms

rely upon formulae that allow them to be quickly replicated and expanded. Ritzer

ties them to GROBalization because they relate to power and the assertion of big

companies and nations. Eager to grow, Grobalization often flattens complex cultural

differences in order to make things that are simple.

Thinking about these ideas do the following activities:

1. Write down a list that pairs specific Glocal things with their Grobalized

equivalents. I.e. Cameo Cinema vs. Odeon; Forrest Cafe vs. Costa; Folk

Music vs. Pop Music. Think carefully about how you might include examples

from your own particular discipline, say photography or illustration for

example.

2. Now think about the advantages and disadvantages of either the Glocalized

or Grobalized forms and write them down.

3. Choose either Glocalization or Grobalization and using one of your specific

examples try to argue its case. Why is it better? What makes it more

interesting? What makes it practical? What impact does it have?

4. Finally, and keeping in mind this Semester‟s assessment, try to think about

the ways that visual practitioners might engage with some of the issues raised

by Glocalization and Grobalization. What type of forms might be synonymous

with either of these tendencies? How might they be challenged, advanced or

changed? What impact might these tendencies have upon your own

discipline?