In most circumstances, I believe this question stems from the curiosity of a few main areas, those being heritage, experience and an eagerness to grow. The importance of each of these elements may differ from person to person on their self-evaluation. Do you deem yourself as a global person and what exactly does that mean to you?
GLOBAL CITIZEN: A global citizen is someone who is aware of and understands the wider world – and their place in it. They take an active role in their community, and work with others to make our planet more equal, fair and sustainable.
We are lucky enough to have an abundance of diversity here in Australia. There are around 200 languages spoken and streets filled with the smell of every authentic cuisine imaginable. I myself have British and American descent, and although heritage plays a large role in allot of peoples lives, it only plays a minor one in my own. No significant cultural background for me, however, I would still consider myself on the way to being a global citizen.
…And no, its not because I took some basic bitch gap year (although I did ..and yes I’m sorry my instagram reflects this), but the fundamental understanding and appreciation for this planet and everyone on it. The mindset that there is more than just coexisting with those who exist in a different in an unfamiliar manner to oneself and the curiosity that propels us to learn from these cultural differences and let them shape our own lives.
How can we relate this back to Global Media??
Well, I’m glad you asked BCM111 lecture 1!! I will let you know briefly before going off track again.
This curiosity that we create surrounding the world other than our own is now more easily quenched than ever before. We don’t all have to run around like hooligans for however many months wishing we were sponsored by Katmandu… Different cultures are not only in our backyard, they are now at a touch of our fingertips. In this technological age it is impossible to run from exposure of other cultures. It is already embedded within the cyberspace.
Exhibit A: Youtube comment about a G-DRAGON’s (권지용) song that I may or may not rather enjoy…
Now I believe that globalisation is a historic term because our world is already globalised…as Ulrich Beck highlights in interviews.
I’ll save you the semantics of cosmopolitanism by focusing on a concept that stuck with me from Beck’s interview. The idea that both the local and the global are the core of the multifaceted identities each individual has. Global media is heavily responsible for this mindset. With this theory in mind let me just throw out some brain spillage onto this blog post. Maybe everyone is inherently a global person. Maybe some choose to embrace this reality and become active global citizens, whilst others resist and inertia reinforces a neonationalist standpoint and particularism. We could all essentially be global people on an individual scale of rejection to oblivion to participation.
LAURA 