Globalization in Everyday Practice

In “Going Beyond Global Babble” Janet Abu-Lughod refers to the process of globalization as a “two-way street” of assimilation between the self and the other. My first instinct after reading this article was to ask the question what does it mean for me that globalization is a two-way process? How does globalization affect me and my life from an IR in everyday practice standpoint? Abu-Lughod’s point is that globalization is happening to me right now just as it is happening to citizens of other states across the world. I unique experience that I have had in my life is living in Germany during my childhood. While I lived there with my family we of course attended Oktoberfest festivities in our village. I got to experience first hand Oktoberfest in Germany in its pure form. When my family moved back to the United States we noticed that own town in Massachusetts was hosting “Oktoberfest” festivities and we decided to go. It was very different from the Oktoberfest that I saw in Germany. In Germany Oktoberfest consisted of huge tents in giant fields in which people stayed all day and night drinking beer and eating french fries and some other German foods. There were also some game booths and toy-selling tents for children but it primarily centered around eating and drinking in these giant tents. In the United States Oktoberfest was much more “German.” I say “German” because it seemed like it was the American idea of Oktoberfest that was taking place, not the actual German celebration. Everyone was wearing Lederhosen and listening to German folk music and eating German cuisine, but also a lot of American food as well, mostly grilled things like hamburgers and hot dogs. Overall there was a good emphasis on German culture but when it was involved it was taken to more extreme levels (I did not see any Germans in Germany wearing Lederhosen to Oktoberfest), but you could tell that it was definitely an American event. I don’t think that this is a bad thing, I think that it is understandable that Americans would want to put an American spin on a German tradition. It is similar to the way in which foreigners put their own spin on an American tradition like McDonald’s by turning it into a fine-dining restaurant or social center of their community or by altering the menu to fit their tastes. Another example in America is Chinese food. The Chinese food we eat here is not the Chinese food that is eaten in China and that is because we have put our own spin on it by adding a lot of frying to the process because Americans love their fried food. The same goes for pizza. The pizza you find in the US is not the pizza that you will find in a traditional pizza place in Italy. Going back to my point in looking at the “two way street” in terms of IR as everyday practice, I think that the easiest place to see the sharing of ideas and culture between nations in globalization is to look at the simple things we do everyday like eat, listen to music, or watch television. I think that people are more likely to assimilate to the simple everyday cultural aspects of other states than they are to assimilate to their form of government, law or economic policy. The face of the “two way street” that Abu-Lughod refers to can be seen in the everyday activities of people across the globe.