Bhutan is a fascinating case in globalization, due to the countries vehement resistance to any true kind of globalization. Bhutan is a small shut in country that is very deeply rooted in their culture, as one of the only small countries that has never been invaded or taken over, thus being able to keep their unique culture intact for so long. Bhutan's resistance to globalization is easy to understand, they do not want things like smartphones, Twitter, mainstream 24 hour news syndications, and a reduced local output and input of goods and services. In a nutshell, globalization is the process that takes goods, ideas and cultural aspects and disseminates them throughout the rest of the world. This spreading of things across the globe initiates greater interactions between different cultures and countries which can cause the wanted or unwanted integration of things into other cultures and their cultural zeitgeist. This is a theory that Bhutan is rather steadfast against, but there are several examples of globalization within Bhutan.
The first example is the production of potatoes within Bhutan. Potatoes take up a whopping 90% of Bhutan's agriculture exports, with agriculture in turn taking up a large share of Bhutan's production at 57%. These potatoes are being almost solely exported, thus bringing a piece of needed and in demand agriculture to the global market. This globalization exports Bhutanese products into the global market, bringing in the global money that allows for growth and expansions within a country. The second phase of globalization within Bhutan is the exports of hydropower to their neighbor India. Hydropower makes up the rest of the agriculture's exports from Bhutan, and almost exclusively goes to India in one of a number of trade developments with the two countries. This brings more Indian business in and with more business comes more infused culture, and it also brings Bhutan to the tip of the tongue when one considers hydropower in the Far East. The third example of globalization is the prevalence of cellphones and television sets within Bhutan. Ten or so odd years ago only the very very rich had cellphones in Bhutan, and even then they were barely covered service-wise, and televisions cost an arm and a leg to operate and pay for, so they were almost non-existent. Nowadays, most of the middle and upper middle class kids growing up have cellphones, and televisions are rather prevalent, especially in public places like restaurants. This has brought in a large piece of global monoculture that Bhutan has tried to avoid for a long time to keep their rich culture intact. With the prevalence of cellphones in Bhutan, there comes a larger stream of modern popular culture touchstones of our 21st century, which in turn invades the youth's minds and cultures, which many old-school Bhutanese people are strongly against. I can totally understand the fervor behind not wanting globalization to change Bhutan and their culture, because they are one of the only countries that have stayed whole and untouched by anything and anyone since their inception. Their whole existences are rooted in the culture that they have cultivated for hundreds of years without being disturbed by the global monoculture that has wedged into every truly globalized country. I think it would be naïve on the other hand, to totally reject globalization and anything it entails, because that would be equivalent to cutting off your nose to spite your face. Eventually growth within Bhutan will stall out without globalization and what that facilitates, but there will be obvious drawback that will chip away at the hallowed Bhutanese culture. I think this is a very touchy situation, but I think there is no true way to fully advance Bhutan into the 21st century and beyond without truly taking the globalized hand and taking a seat at the table to make an impact in the marketplace and advance your own interests, even if it comes at a small cost of a bit of culture. Topping, A. (2014, August 26). Bhutan battles to preserve its culture as development accelerates | Alexandra Topping. Retrieved October 26, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/aug/26/bhutan-preserves-culture-development-accelerates 2004, B. A. (2004, January 26). Globalization in Bhutan. Retrieved October 26, 2016, from http://www.globalenvision.org/library/8/578 Wangdi, K. (2012, May). Bhutan. Retrieved October 26, 2016, from http://www.fao.org/ag/AGp/agpc/doc/Counprof/Bhutan/Bhutan.htm#5. THE PASTURE
1 Comment
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2016
Categories |