Showing papers on "Westernization published in 1987"

Cities, society, and social perception : a Central African perspective

Abstract: The social and theoretical difficulties raised by the process of urbanization and westernization have constituted a key problem in the urban sociology of developing countries, in the sociology of development and in urban anthropology. This study of social relationships in the towns of South Central Africa is based on material the author assembled over 21 years of working in Africa.

Testing theories of cultural imperialism: International media and domestic impact

Abstract: This article assesses the argument which links inputs of Western media fare to cultural changes in developing nations. The structural thesis of cultural imperialism, as outlined by Gaining and others, holds that domination by the West over international news and information flows causes Third World nations to be molded in the West's cultural image. The structural thesis is evaluated by means of a series of empirical tests based on data from twenty‐four Third World nations. These tests are conducted in three areas which have been argued to exhibit readily apparent aspects of cultural imperialism: 1) economic practices; 2) educational trends; 3) lifestyles. The results show little or no support for structural claims that those Third World nations which import a great deal of Western media also tend to be most like the West culturally. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that economic development (e.g., industrialization) in and of itself may have more to do with the Westernization of the Third World than eit...

A Study in Westernization

Abstract: Social change of any kind — including westernization — is piecemeal, haphazard and chaotic, even where attempts are made to organize and plan it. Consequently the student of westernization has to be careful that his work does not reflect too closely this chaos. Possibly our best plan would have been to follow the traditional parcelling-up of society: economics, kinship, politics, religion and culture. This being a short and sketchy study there is not space to deal in detail with all of these, but perhaps a few cursory words on what they were like in Imperial China will be a starting point.

Japan in the Victorian mind : a study of stereotyped images of a nation 1850-80

Abstract: Preface - Chronological Table - List of Illustrations - List of Abbreviations - Map of Japan - Introduction - This Singular Country: British Writers' Thoughts in the Early 1850s on the Future Anglo-Japanese Encounter - Japan and the Edinburgh Publishers, William Blackwood and Sons - Britain, the Happy Suitor of a Fairy Land: About 1860, Immediately after the Conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty - Britain, the Suitor Disillusioned with Japan: In the Last Years of the Tokugawa Regime - In Quest of the Inner Life of the Japanese: The Era of Algernon Bertram Mitford, 1869-72 - The Strange History of this Strange Country: The 1870s, a Decade of Zealous Westernization - Young Japan versus Great Britain: The Reinforcement of the Idea of Britain's Remoteness from Japan - Victorian Travellers in the Elf-land Japan: Their Wish to Fall in Love with Old Japan, 1870-80 - Conclusion - Selected Bibliography - Index

"Traditional medicine" in India decline and future perspectives.

Abstract: From the time of colonial rule in India and the beginnings of Westernization and modernization processes, other-than-modern medical practices have been forced into retreat. The new, internationally professed aspiration of comprehensive health care (PHC) under the global target of "Health for all by 2000 A.D." has revived interest also in the traditional medical practices, which is a confession of the failure of the modern model of health care in 3(rd) world contexts.The new role assigned to traditional medicine is questionable in view of unchanged development patterns. The need is for a new type of health care research, in which people themselves participate in and direct research, planning and action towards an improvement of their living and health care conditions.

Cultural revolution of atatürk

Abstract: The transformation of Turkey from a traditional to a secular state presents social psychology wi th a valuable case study on the topic of Cultural Change. The dramatic turning point was reached in the Westernization process w i th the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atat i i rk in Turkey. A series of reforms was carried out hy Atat i irk to establish a Wes­ tern type pf state based on the principle that sovereignty belongs to the people. Secularism was the corner stone, and the reforms carried out by turn ranged from the area of religion to Civil Law to Education. The present paper analysed the reforms from a social psychological perspective in which reforms were seen as creating the social environment to induce changes in individuals' attitudes and behaviours to bring about permanent changes in the socio-cul­ tural system in Turkey. CULTURAL REVOLUTION OF ATATURK In the early twentieth century in Turkey, the prominent thinker on reforms was Ziya Gokalp: As a sociologist he formulized Wes­ ternization within the framework of Turkism. His ideas however had some influence on the thoughts of Mustafa Kemal Atat i i rk who utilized some of these ideas as groundwork for the reforms in the Tecrubi Psikoloji gaU§mala,ri F. Jf 50 N. A Y V A L I O G L U process of the establishment of the Turkish Republic. Hence a brief examination of Ziya Gokalp's views at this point w i l l shed some light on our understanding of the philosophical foundations of the reforms carried out by Atati irk. Gokalp began his formulation w i th the definition of the concept of nation, and culture, and civilization dicothomy. To him a society consisted of people who speak the same language, have had the same education and are united in their religious, moral and aesthetic ideals; in short, those who have a common culture and religion (Gokalp 1970). I t should be noted that a similar definition is given in the 1931 programme of the Republican peoples* party: the Party which was in power in modern Turkey then, w i th the exception that the element of religion has significantly been dropped. Having found the basis of nationality to be in culture, Gokalp takes great pains to define this term. He was aware that every nation possesses material values which were not peculiar to i t but were common to many nations. Such values were excluded from culture, and these he called as civilization. In Gokalp's definition spiritual values were entirely national, these he called as Culture (Hars). The destinction between these two terms, which play a major role in Gokalp's theory, is mainly formal. Gokalp regards as part of culture all feelings, judgements and ideals, while rational and scientific knowledge, methods and technology are considered as belonging to civilization. This definition has led him to give culture an emotional and subjective character. On the other hand, values of civilization have mainly an intellectual, objective, practical and often material character. Cultural values grow in the subconscious of society, while their counterparts in civilization are formed and developed consciously. Having defined the concept of culture and civilization as separate entities Gokalp formulated how Turkey should approach Westernization. He demands the acceptance of Western civilization in ful l , but he warns not to borrow from Europe what is not civil ization but belongs to the sphere of culture. Civilization, which is by nature international, covers only scientific methods, natural sciences and technical processes. A l l these should be adopted from Europe. C U L T U R A L R E V O L U T I O N O F ATATURK 51 A l l spiritual values, however, are part of a culture which should not be borrowed from other nations but should be taken from the religious and national heritage (Gokalp 1970). Yet, he was well aware of several pitfalls in this process of acceptance of Western civilization. He observes that there exists a l ink between the spiritual culture of the West and its material achievements which he calls civilization in particular. He admits that cultivation of Western Civilization; technology and science requires appropriated cultural groundwork (Gokalp 1918). For this, new values need to be created but these should be the result qf modifying old ones in order not to harm the national culture. According to him this way of bringing Western civilization to Turkey would be further than the mere imitation of i t and i t would allow itself to be molded into the national culture, which would in turn stimulate creativity. Without cultivation of Turkish culture into civilization there could be no genuine reform. From then on Gokalp as a sociologist devoted his entire efforts to the study of ethical, religious and aesthetic values as the search of their origin w i th the view in mind that they are social phenomena and their foundations could be found in the development of the Turkish society. Triumph in the Independance War and the resultant national liberation under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atat i i rk brought Turkey to the turning point in the Westernization process. Atat i i rk believed that for progress to occur in all spheres of national life requires a new political regime and the implementation of necessary reforms. He observed that without breakdown of the traditional structure and attitudes modern economic and technological aid may produce litt le change conducive to growth. Modern economy itself is not merely isolated pieces of technology, but a part of the cultural complex. The existence of those cultural conditions; such as secularism in Western society was most important in making possible modern development. His views, which have come to be called Kemalism, could be seen as carrying some elements of the past political movements, especially that of Turkism and in part Westernism. But a careful examination of Atati irk 's reforms and his speeches proves that his