Cultural homogenization in the context of Indigenous culture

⭐ Core Definition: Cultural homogenization

Cultural homogenization is an aspect of cultural globalization, listed as one of its main characteristics, and refers to the reduction in cultural diversity through the popularization and diffusion of a wide array of cultural symbols—not only physical objects but customs, ideas and values. David E. O'Connor defines it as "the process by which local cultures are transformed or absorbed by a dominant outside culture". Cultural homogenization has been called "perhaps the most widely discussed hallmark of global culture". In theory, homogenization could work in the breakdown of cultural barriers and the global adoption of a single culture.

Cultural homogenization can impact national identity and culture, which would be "eroded by the impact of global cultural industries and multinational media". The term is usually used in the context of Western culture dominating and destroying other cultures. The process of cultural homogenization in the context of the domination of the Western (American), capitalist culture is also known as McDonaldization, coca-colonization, Americanization or Westernization and criticized as a form of cultural imperialism and neo-colonialism. This process has been resented by many indigenous cultures. However, while some scholars, critical of this process, stress the dominance of American culture and corporate capitalism in modern cultural homogenization, others note that the process of cultural homogenization is not one-way, and in fact involves a number of cultures exchanging various elements. Critics of cultural homogenization theory point out that as different cultures mix, homogenization is less about the spread of a single culture as about the mixture of different cultures, as people become aware of other cultures and adopt their elements. Examples of non-American culture affecting the West include world music and the popularization of non-American television (Latin American telenovelas, Japanese anime, Indian Bollywood), religion (Islam, Buddhism), food, and clothing in the West, though in most cases insignificant in comparison to the Western influence in other countries. The process of adoption of elements of global culture to local cultures is known as glocalization or cultural heterogenization.

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⭐ Core Definition: Cultural homogenization
Cultural homogenization in the context of Pan-Indianism
Cultural homogenization in the context of Ethnopluralism

Cultural homogenization in the context of Pan-Indianism

Pan-Indianism is a philosophical and political approach promoting unity and, to some extent, cultural homogenization among different Indigenous groups in the Americas regardless of tribal distinctions and cultural differences.

This approach to political organizing is primarily associated with Native Americans organizing for social justice and cultural revitalization in the Continental United States but has spread to some other Indigenous communities as well, especially in Canada. Inuit and Métis people may consider themselves part of the broader pan-Aboriginal community or some variation thereof. Some academics have also used the term pan-Amerindianism to distinguish from other peoples known as "Indians." Some pan-Indian organizations seek to pool the resources of Native groups to protect the interests of indigenous peoples across the world.

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Cultural homogenization in the context of Ethnopluralism

Ethnopluralism or ethno-pluralism, also known as ethno-differentialism, is a political model which attempts to preserve separate and bordered ethno-cultural regions. According to its promoters, significant foreign cultural elements in a given region ought to be culturally assimilated to seek cultural homogenization in this territory, in order to let different cultures thrive in their respective geographical areas. Advocates also emphasize a "right to difference" (French: droit à la difference) and claim support for cultural diversity at a worldwide rather than at a national level.

Proponents describe ethnopluralism as an alternative to multiculturalism and globalization. They claim that it strives to keep the world's different cultures alive by embracing their uniqueness and avoiding a one-world doctrine in which different regions can be increasingly seen as culturally similar or identical. Critics have called the project a form of "global apartheid" and "separate but equal" doctrine, and many specialists have described the idea as a strategic attempt to legitimise racial supremacist views in public opinion by imitating egalitarian, anti-totalitarian, antiracist, or environmental discourses of the progressive movement. Scholars have also highlighted close ideological similarities with ideas promoted by French neo-fascist activists in the 1950–1960s.

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