Theories of Globalization in Communication Essay

Theories of Globalization in Communication - Essay Example Subsequently, the impact of the mass media and communication on the culture of people is also presented. The impact is surmised and given in the conclusion of the paper. A number of theories have come about linking the communication, specifically media, the culture and the society at large. While the media was thought to have cast an alter personality who would be forced to behave in a specific way. The altercast theory do have supporters and some of the behavioural traits generated go in line with this. A development of the altercast theory is the cultivation theory which says that the thought processes in the people who are watching the media can be cultivated over a period of time. Like a plant or stalagmites on the roofs of the cave, they are slowly and steadily built over a period of time. This also meant that the presence in the media is needed and continuously too. The domestication theory, on the other hand, looks at the entire society to be a network of households; a network that runs on cultural, social and technological creations. Miller (1988) defined the concept of domestication theory into four phases; from appropriation, objectificati on, incorporation and conversion starting from the creating a product to objections to its usage and then on to incorporating into the daily lives. Incorporation would also involve converting the technologies and products to suit the cultural style of the locale. This also includes the environment. The final stage is when the household converts itself in line with the trends that is happening in the society and tries to be in line with the outside world. While the gatekeeper theory, pushes forward the much observed, head of the family concept, where one of the members of the family, the mother or the wife wields more strength in deciding on what gets bought (Golding & Harris 1997). What kind of food and clothing is worn by the people is decided more by them rather than by the other members of the family. A person who wants to push need to ensure that the deciding person is the one addressed in their media ads. Gatekeeping concepts have been developed subsequently, so that many organisations even use gatekeeping in their organisational setup (Mattelart A 1998). Even these decisions by the gatekeepers are decided based on the mental models that they have in their mind. Most of the decisions made by the people depend on the mental pictures that they have of the product in their mind, according to Thussu (2000). He also stressed that reasoners build models of truth rather than models of false. Therefore, it is easier for people to make m istakes during such model building exercises. Modernisation theory came up in three waves. Modernisation invariably brings in the western culture under focus and its spread in the world. The first wave of the theory accepted the influence of modernisation with the western culture and technologies at its core. It dominated the entire world and was part of the globalisation agenda. During the second wave that happened in the 1970s and 1980s, the cultural impacts were more widespread. But at the same time, there were very few supporters of the western influence in the cultures of the world. Modernisation was noticed and continued to happen but there was opposition even among the western society, specifically the