Showing papers on "Westernization published in 2017"

Cultural omnivorousness in Turkey

Abstract: Recent cultural consumption research has drawn attention to the emergence of the high status ‘cultural omnivore,’ that is, individuals who consume a wide range of cultural products, including the expected ‘high culture,’ but more ‘popular’ forms as well. Initially reported in studies conducted in the developed West, this study broadens the basis of comparison by investigating the case of Turkey – a non-western, predominantly Muslim, developing country with a long history of state-led westernization. Using data from a nationally representative survey of adults, the study examines 34 cultural tastes in three domains – music, food, and literature – and participation in five different cultural activities for evidence of an omnivorous pattern. The items used include indicators of ‘high’ and ‘popular’ culture, as well as ‘local’ and ‘global/western’ culture. The results of a latent class analysis clearly identify an omnivorous group. A distinctive feature of the Turkish cultural field is that groups are largely...

Internationalization as Westernization in Higher Education

Abstract: A commonly held belief is that the more international a university is, the better it is. The internationalization of higher education (IoHE) certainly has the potential to attract more students, improve an institution’s programs and financials, heighten its prestige, and provide students with diverse opportunities to engage in intercultural dialogue in order to have a greater understanding of the world (AUCC 2014; Enders 2004; Knight 2001; Knight 2012). However, it can also be argued that there are negative implications associated with IoHE including the neoliberal emphasis on marketability and “academic capitalism” (Torres 2011). IoHE can also be critiqued for being equated with Westernization, the topic of this paper. Through a postcolonial lens, I critique the Westernization of higher education by examining curricular issues including the spread of Western pedagogy, English as a Medium for Instruction (EMI), and the pressure for academics to publish in English journals.

Introduction to The Limits of Westernization: A Cultural History of America in Turkey - eScholarship

Abstract: Perin E. Gurel, introduction to The Limits of Westernization: A Cultural History of America in Turkey (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017), 1–15.

The contribution of Western fast food to fast-growing body mass in China

Abstract: The westernization of Asian countries has led to the rapid expansion of Western-style fast-food restaurants, which are believed to be fueling an unprecedented rise in body mass in these countries. This study tests this belief using longitudinal data from China. Exploiting the opening of a Western-style fast-food restaurant in a particular community, we conduct a transition analysis to make a more convincing causal interpretation than the standard cross-sectional or fixed-effects approach. Considering several measures of fatness, we find no robust evidence of Western fast food having a substantial effect overall, but there is some indication of effect heterogeneity.

Between East and West: controversies over the modernization of Hebrew culture in the works of Shaul Abdallah Yosef and Ariel Bension

Abstract: A tendency exists in Jewish historiography to associate Jewish modernization and Hebrew renaissance with Europe and Western culture. Europeanization and Westernization are emphasized as the focal points for Jewish cultural transformation. We take a different approach by shedding light on a number of centres where modern Jewish and Hebrew culture was created. This approach allows us to expand the perspective beyond the Eurocentric prism and instead emphasize movement – of people, knowledge, goods and capital – in real or symbolic spaces as key drivers for processes of transformation. We accordingly examine different pathways to the renewal of Hebrew and Jewish cultures at the turn of the twentieth century. We re-asses the research and literary work of Shaul Abdallah Yosef (1849–1906) and Ariel Bension (1880–1933) and their contesting interpretations of the modernization of Hebrew culture. Driven by both real and symbolic return to the “East,” the two formulated different political and cultural mode...

Bringing the buddha closer: the role of venerating the buddha in the modernization of buddhism in sri lanka

Abstract: The modernization of Buddhism in Sri Lanka since the late nineteenth century has been interpreted as imitating a Western model, particularly one similar to Protestant Christianity. This interpretation presents an incomplete narrative of Buddhist modernization because it ignores indigenous adaptive changes that served to modernize Buddhism. In particular, it marginalizes rituals and devotional practices as residuals of traditional Buddhism and fails to recognize the role of ritual practices in the modernization process. This dissertation attempts to enrich our understanding of modern and contemporary Buddhism in Sri Lanka by showing how the indigenous devotional ritual of venerating the Buddha known as Buddha-vandanā has been utilized by Buddhist groups in innovative ways to modernize their religion. Based on archival research of printed materials of the British colonial era (1815–1948) and ethnographic research of Buddha-vandanā in various venues, the dissertation shows that this traditional ritual was simplified, formalized, and promoted among laypeople through printed liturgical booklets during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Then later it was promoted in homes, schools, workplaces, and public spaces moving it beyond its traditional context in temples. In these new contexts, the ritual was utilized to enhance lay religious engagement, to train children in Buddhist behavioral forms, to reassert Buddhist identity of local communities, and to deal with mental stress. These novel utilizations of this ritual reveal that efforts of Sri Lankan Buddhists to modernize their religion were not limited to simply imitating or appropriating Western models. Moreover, these strategic uses of Buddha-vandanā show how rituals can be part of the process of modernization. By revealing unacknowledged methods for promoting Buddhism in modern times, this dissertation reveals that Sri Lankan Buddhists found their own distinctive ways of modernizing Buddhism that went beyond the Westernization paradigm.

Tracking the westernization of urban Aboriginal gambling in Canada’s Prairie Provinces

Abstract: North American Aboriginals have an extensive cultural history of gambling. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of modern western gambling on these traditional beliefs. This is the first large-scale study of this issue in Canada. A total of 1114 Aboriginals in 15 cities in Canada’s Prairie Provinces were surveyed, with recruitment occurring at Native Friendship Centres, shopping malls and other locations where Aboriginals congregated. Results showed that ‘gambling’ to most urban Aboriginal people refers to western commercial forms, something distinct from historical traditions. Attitudes toward gambling were negative, except whether Aboriginal provision of western commercial forms was good or bad for Aboriginal people, where opinion was divided. Primary motivations for gambling were the same as for non-Aboriginals: to win money and for entertainment. Although attitudes and motivations were quite similar to non-Aboriginals, overall level of gambling participation was higher, e...

Transformation Of The Urban Patterns Of Istanbul Under The Effects Of The Modernization During The Ottoman Period

Abstract: Westernization of Turkey arose from the declaration of The Tanzimat Charter in 1839 . .The modernization of Ottoman Empire inevitably brought changes into the administrative, socio-economic and spatial organization of the cities as well as in the lifestyles of urban dwellers Urbanization and economic, cultural, social modernization processes create new buildings and establishments . The spread of particular techniques and concepts of urban intervention that were developed in some Western countries and saw their influences in other Western countries and non-Western countries have also resulted in changes in the urban pattern. The spread of ideas and some planning approach in Turkey is thanks to Western engineers and architects for applying the new planning models throughout after the great fires of Istanbul in the 19 th century. The implementation of Western origin urban planning principles, modern technology and the image of Western cities have affected the formation of new urban development and reconstruction activities in Turkish cities especially in Istanbul. The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of planning practices initiated by the urban reforms of Tanzimat on the urban pattern of Istanbul. These analyses are based on a hypothesis, as the Turkish planning practices in Tanzimat period were influenced by Western planning practices.

Cross-Cultural Comparison of Cosmetic Procedures in Latin America and East Asia

Abstract: This paper explores the factors that influence women’s decisions to undergo cosmetic procedures, including: globalization, westernization, patriarchy, empowerment, and endogenous factors. It specifically focuses on East Asia and Latin America focusing on South Korea, China, Brazil, and Argentina and offers a cross-cultural comparison between these regions and countries as well as between the world and the West. I compiled and analyzed data from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) 2011 annual report to create profiles of the most common cosmetic procedures performed for each region and country, and these profiles were then compared to one another. Through my research, I found that globalization has influenced the cosmetic surgery industry, but that this is not synonymous with a ‘westernizing’ of beauty ideals. My research also supported the conclusion that regional ideals of beauty more strongly influence women’s decisions to undergo cosmetic procedures, and that the East Asian profiles show a homogenized regional ideal of beauty that women seek to achieve through cosmetic procedures.

Islam or progress of the nation?: an assessment of the aurat issue in Malay newspapers and magazines in the 1930s

Abstract: Western media often perceive Islam as a misogynistic religion which hampers the progress of a nation One related issue is “aurat” which is considered as a means to denigrate women in the society In pre-Independent Malaya debates raged around the contested perceptions and interpretations of aurat in its relation to Malay modernisation and the urgency of achieving ‘progress’ for Malays on par with other communities in the country Articles were published in Malayan newspapers and magazines debating the need to enhance awareness about the progress of the Malay nation This study assessed the differing interpretations of the principle of aurat among Muslims in 1930s Malaya The information scrutinised was derived from polemics published in Malay newspapers and magazines circulated in Malaya in the 1930s The findings revealed that people were torn between modernization and traditionalism, viewing them as a choice between westernization and Islam The establishment of secular education and social mixing with the non-Muslim community exposed the Malays to new norms and values In this transitional period, social norms and values transformed according to the surroundings The materials demonstrated how the Malay Muslims responded to the call of development and the extent to which they were ready to embrace modernization, which some viewed as a detachment from prestine Islamic teachings, especially regarding the issue of aurat Keywords: Aurat, Islam, Malays, neutral group, progress, westernized group

The Economic Impact of Study Abroad on Chinese Students and China’s Gross Domestic Product

Abstract: China has become a global economic powerhouse creating one of the largest middle class populations in the world. A large number of Chinese citizens have acquired personal wealth and created a strong expansion in higher education. Since China opened economic doors, the country has been undergoing westernization in culture and education and is now experiencing growth in study abroad. This paper examines the relationship between Chinese students who study abroad and the impact those students have on China’s Gross Domestic Product. The authors explore the benefits to both students and China due to studying abroad in the US

Introduction to The Limits of Westernization: A Cultural History of America in Turkey

Abstract: Author(s): Gurel, Perin E. | Abstract: Perin E. Gurel, introduction to The Limits of Westernization: A Cultural History of America in Turkey (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017), 1–15.

On the effects of the reunification on German researchers' publication patterns

Abstract: After developing independently following World War II, the research systems of East and West Germany reunited at the end of the Cold War, resulting in Westernization of East German Research institutions. Using data from the Web of Science over the 1980---2000 period, this paper analyses the effects of these political changes on the research activity of scholars from East and West Germany before and after the reunification. It shows that these groups differ in terms of levels of production, publication language, collaboration patterns and scientific impact and that, unsurprisingly, the scholarly output of the East became much more similar to that of the West after the reunification. At the level of individual researchers, analysis shows that East German researchers who had direct or indirect ties with the West prior to the 1990s were less affected by the reunification, or were perhaps quicker to adapt to this major change, than their colleagues who were more deeply rooted in the Eastern research system.

Knowledge and Power: Science in World History

Abstract: Introduction Chapter 1: Science in the Medieval Mediterranean Chapter Two: The Jesuits and World Science, 1540-1773 Chapter Three: Westernization, "Modernization," and Science in Russia and Japan, 1684-1860s Chapter Four: Africa in the Age of Imperialism and Nationalism, 1860-1960 Making Connections: How Much have Things Changed? Bibliography Documentary Sources

Education on Classical Architecture and Architectural Practice in Taiwan

Abstract: Classical architectural elements in Taiwan were first used by the Japanese colonizers between 1895 and 1945, and they were regarded as symbols of westernization and advance. Under the policy of Emperor Meiji, a number of young Japanese architects were freely experimenting with this style in Taiwan. Education on architecture was open to Taiwanese from 1920s, and a few Taiwanese architects continued to practice the classical style after the World War II, in which Japanese lost and left Taiwan. Postwar design competitions among Taiwanese students show that the classical style was still taught, but this was rarely practiced after 1950s. The government of the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT) rarely promoted architectural style of western antiquity. This was related to the American aid to the government, which resulted in a preference to the American culture. It was also related to the poor economy of Taiwan. For this reason the policy of construction was mainly concerned with function, the more economical the better. In addition, architects influenced by the modernism of the USA and Europe took charge of most building projects in Taiwan, and this changed the trend of architectural style. In 1960s and in 1990s, a few architecture departments were established in universities. They played an important role in protecting cultural heritage and encouraged appreciation and preservation of the Neo-Classical monuments of the Japanese colonial period. Taiwan changed speedily between 1980s and 1990s in terms of economy and politics, becoming a society much more open to diverse values and cultures. European antiquities have attracted attention, and in recent years classical architectural elements have been again increasingly used in the decoration of newly constructed buildings, notably of luxurious residential apartments or buildings of high quality. They represent financial power and a fine cultural taste, and they suit the rich and the elite. The works often alter the original forms and proportions of classical elements, in order to adorn buildings of simple geometric forms with additions of complex decorations.

Modernization and its effect on cultural heritage in south-western Nigeria

Abstract: The Yoruba of Nigeria have some rich cultural heritages which have been impacted by Western acculturation. Two Yoruba communities, Ado and Igede-Ekiti with such valuable cultural heritage were used for this study. The effects of Western acculturation and modernization which may be through Christianity and formal education were examined. It was discovered that these cultural elements and activities have negatively been impacted on. Some cultural practices are either going or have gone into extinction while others are gradually abandoned. This research highlighted some of the traditional activities of the people of Ado and Igede-Ekiti, and examined the impacts of westernization on them. Findings from the research indicated that modernization has both beneficial and adverse effects on the entire tradition of the people but the negative impacts are more pronounced. This research suggested some solutions to the problems facing cultural activities and recommended that, in this contemporary period, urgent measures should be taken to salvage and rescue these heritages using modern methods and equipment. This will help national integration and development. Keywords: Westernization, indigenous, values, tradition, contemporary

Creencias sobre la diabetes mellitus tipo 2 de la etnia Wixarika del occidente de México

Abstract: Introduction There is a series of changes in the lifestyle of indigenous peoples that are caused by the processes of urbanization and westernization, which have generated modifications in the epidemiological profile of the people These changes are an explanation to diseases that didn’t exist before in ethnic groups, such as the case of diabetes in the Wixarika people Methodology Exhaustive interviews were made, and from transcription they were codified with the aid of the Atlas-ti program Subsequently, categories for interpretation and theorization were formulated Results Wixarika people were found to consider diabetes as a disease that belongs to mestizos and not to them, since this malady arrived to their communities along with the processes of modernization and the Western culture Therefore, their marakames (curanderos) can’t heal it and only a mestizo physician can treat it Conclusion From the incorporation of the Wixarika people into the global processes, some cultural elements have been modified, such as the ways to produce food, eating and doing physical activity Therefore, diseases like diabetes type II come up in their communities

Kebangkitan agama dan prasangka sekuler dalam kajian hubungan internasional

Abstract: The global resurgence of religion seems nowadays to generate repression as it tends to create international instability, political upheaval and chaotic states. Most political scientist and intelligence experts did not predict the resurgence because it was not supposed to happen in a country participating so thoroughly in modernization and Westernization. It is interesting to learn that so many scholars and policymakers who monitored the international politics have missed the warning signs about the resurgence. It because of the argument that religion was the object that needed to vanish for modern international politics to come into being. Religion has been, and largely remains, what the discipline of International Relations (IR) can speak about only as a threat to its own existence. This paper tries to explain how the resurgence of religion has been on the spotlight in the eyes of IR Study. It also explains that the IR Study now faces a serious dilemma to treat religion in such a proper way. Various arguments on the strategy to deal with religion has come up that makes religion a more and more interesting subject in academic realms. Kata Kunci: Kebangkitan agama, modernisasi, pencerahan, sekularisasi, Westphalia

Chinese Medicine, Western Medicine and Confucianism: Japanese State Medicine and the Knowledge Cosmopolis of Early Modern East Asia

Abstract: This article argues that Chinese state intellectual approaches to medicine significantly influenced the institutional reception of Western medicine in early modern Japan. Confucian-inspired general reforms of government in late eighteenth-century Japan encouraged an increase in state medical intervention, including the introduction of Western medical practices, achieved primarily through the use of transnational Confucian intellectual knowledge apparatuses. Through a sociology of knowledge approach, this article analyzes the links between earlier private-sphere Chinese medical practice, late Chinese imperial state ideas on medicine, and early modern state-led medical Westernization in Japan. The article highlights the role of trans-Asian Confucian ideas, networks and practices in mediating new approaches to technical innovation, including those from the West. The position for Confucianism argued in the article thereby resonates with Bayly’s idea of the early modern information order of India, and Pollock and Ricci’s ideas on cosmopolitan discursive spaces in other parts of Asia.

Is Islam an Obstacle to Progress in the Modern World

Abstract: Said Nursi (1887-1960) is one of the most influential contemporary Islamic scholars who observed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, colonisation of the Muslim World by Europe, and implementation of a very strict secular system in Turkey. Most Muslim scholars blame the Western world for the decline of Islamic civilisation and colonisation, while pro-Western intellectuals in the Muslim world attribute the decline to religion and see progress in complete Westernisation. Nursi held a critical view of both camps and saw the causes of decline within the Muslims. Nursi argues, in this modern age, striving for progress in this life, whether economic, scientific, social or physical, through Qur’anic principles is like i’layi kelimetullah, or exalting God’s name, and a fundamental duty for every believer. As opposed to a holistic adoption of the West or uncritically clinging to classical tradition, Nursi proposes to stay true to Islamic ideas and principles, and identifies areas Muslims need to change in themselves and in the way they interpret Islam while critically evaluating the West and taking from it what is universal and beneficial. This article first examines Nursi’s philosophy on the development and progress of the Muslim world in his historical setting. Second, it analyses the causes of backwardness from Nursi’s perspective.

Differentiating African and Western Feminisms through Room Symbolism

Abstract: The current study is a comparative analysis of the room symbolism in some Western and African feminist writings, such as Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, Monique Ilboudo's 'Le feminisme au Burkina Faso: mythes et realites?', and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's We Should all be Feminists. Thus, this paper tries to shed light on these female writers' projections of feminism by 'decoding' the room images found in their works and by making comparative projections that demonstrate the necessity to make a distinction between African and Western feminisms.

A dialectic between nationalism and multiculturalism : An analysis of the internationalization discourse in Japan 1

Abstract: This chapter examines Japanese universities' and government's efforts to internationalize higher education, the planning and implementation of 'super global universities' in Japan. It analyzes several proposals submitted to, and later awarded grants by, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) in September 2014. The chapter focuses on the several successful applications in the 'Leading Global Universities' category, and examines the ways in which internationalization is discussed. It identifies and critique themes related to internationalization, following Wander's ideological criticism. Wander suggests that rhetorical critics recognize and address their own subjectivity as well as 'the influence of established interests'. The chapter suggests a dialectic between nationalism and multiculturalism to extend the framework of the dialectical approach to intercultural communication. It provides implications for whiteness studies in non-Western countries to explore potential internationalization bias towards Westernization.

Indian Christians and the Appropriation of Western Civilisation in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract: While the western Christian missionary desire to ‘civilise’ Christians from other cultures has been well documented and researched, the desire of local Christians to appropriate western civilisation in the face of missionary resistance to such appropriation has not been critically studied. This article examines debates in nineteenth-century North India missionary conferences between Indian Christians who wanted to adopt many accoutrements of western civilisation, and missionaries who wanted Indian Christians to retain as much of their Indian culture as possible. The article also looks at parallel cases in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that local Christians were extracting and employing materials from European civilisation and culture to create new religious and social identities for themselves in their own particular contexts. This argument provides a counterpoint to Homi Bhabha's view of hybridity and mimicry as processes imposed by foreign western imperial regimes on subject peoples. In the process of c...

The Formulation of the Cultural Identity of Interior Architecture Students through the Educational Globalization

Abstract: Educational Globalization debilitates the identities, the origins and cultural, religious, etymological, racial, and ethnic foundations— challenge a country's feeling of solidarity and cohesion. The incorporation of cultural beliefs and the ensuing generations’ patterns into the society is an essential test of globalization. Neglecting to do so; however, will have long haul social ramification. The capacity to define a character that permits agreeable development between universes will be at the very heart of accomplishing a really "worldwide soul". This research provides insights into a critical question: How are identity and agency implicated in educational processes and outcomes? Thus, the paper discusses the role of educational institutions, led by the Fine Arts and Applied Arts, with its leading role in facing the educational globalization and the dominance of foreign countries on Arab societies in the way of clothing, food and even individual behaviors. Certainly, the young designers, in the university student age, are influenced by the wave of westernization they face day and night.

Where Is China Headed? New Tendencies in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Abstract: China as a whole is facing a marked trend toward indigenization. The past thirty years have seen rapid and profound changes in the social sciences, heralding a new season in the humanities, in which the study of traditional culture has shifted from the sidelines to the center of academic research. Traditional culture, especially Confucianism, with its worldly orientation, is bound to play a central role in deepening and expanding the ongoing conversation with liberalism. At the same time, however, it must still develop values for structuring society and everyday life that are as influential as those of liberalism. The three main challenges to a Confucian revival today are the ruling ideology in China (namely, Marxism), the dominance of Western sociopolitical theory, and the current practices of disciplinary organization.

Evangelización y occidentalización en la frontera sur del Reino de Chile. Los Franciscanos del Colegio de Misiones de Chillán, s. XVIII.

Abstract: This article aims at studying the participation of the Mission School of Chillan in the spiritual conquest of the indigenous communities of the sourthern border of the Kingdom of Chile towards the end of the Colony. Its purpose is to analyze the role accomplished by Seraphic friars in this time and place. Archival sources examined were mission reports, royal orders, travel diaries, letters, certifications and account books in the National Archive of Santiago de Chile. This information enabled us to determine the role played by the Santa Barbara hospice and the School of Naturals in the strategies of evangelization and westernization of indigenous communities. The hypothesis proposed is that until the second half of the XVIII century, in the sourthern border of the Kingdom of Chile, the missionaries of the School of Chillan developed not only a spiritual, but also a political role. Even though this role did not harvest the expected results for the Spanish Crown, it succeeded in generating spaces of communication between the hispanic-criollo authorities and indigenous groups at the border.

Television Advertisements Motivating Western lifestyle on 'College Youth'

Abstract: Television advertisements being announcers have their own appeal in gaining the young audience attention. Western world has its significant influence in India in the avenues of fashion, trend, consuming products and on the wholesome lifestyle. While television advertisements promote the sales of products and services, western product advertisements give the audience an idea of ‘how much’ the usual living can be westernized. College students take keen notice of trend and fashion; they constantly try to be updated. This study was to find out ‘to what extent’ television advertisements motivate western lifestyle among college youth. Accordingly, Quantitative Survey method was adopted for the study. The universe of research was college students from three different cities Nagercoil, Tirunelveli and Madurai of age group ‘17 to 23’. The size of the sample was 600; and Non-probabilistic sampling method was employed. The ‘instrument’ for gathering data was a simplified and focused questionnaire containing thirty two questions. The summary outcome from the questionnaire portrayed that the result indicates ‘College youth gets influenced by television advertisements in adapting western lifestyle’. The study concludes Western product advertisements encourage the students to try new brands and shift to Western brands. Students buy Western products because of Prestige, Price, Peer pressure, Brand identity, Endorsement, Attractive ad, Organic, Reliable and Ideal. Students regret Lack of money for not buying a Western product. Being modern and westernized was admired by the college youths; thereby creating a psychological imprint reflecting in their outlook.