Westernization

About: Westernization is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1154 publications have been published within this topic receiving 15791 citations. The topic is also known as: occidentalization.

A Note on Sanskritization and Westernization

Abstract: The concept of “Sanskritization” was found useful by me in the analysis of the social and religious life of the Coorgs of South India. A few other anthropologists who are making studies of tribal and village communities in various parts of India seem to find the concept helpful in the analysis of their material, and this fact induces me to attempt a re-examination of it here.

Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Factor Endowments, Culture, and Politics on Long-Run Economic Performance

Abstract: In this book, based on the 1995 Ohlin Lectures, Deepak Lal provides an accessible, interdisciplinary account of the role of culture in shaping economic performance Topics addressed include a possible future "clash of civilizations," the role of Asian values in the East Asian economic miracle, the cultural versus economic causes of social decay in the West, and whether modernization leads to Westernization Lal makes an important distinction between material and cosmological beliefs, showing how both were initially shaped by factor endowments and how they have evolved in response to changing historical pressures in different civilizationsLal's first major theme is the interaction of factor endowments, culture, and politics in explaining modern intensive growth in the West The other major theme is the role of individualism--an inadvertent legacy of the medieval Catholic Church--in promoting this growth, and the strange metamorphoses this has caused in both the West's cosmological beliefs and the interaction between "the West and the rest" Lal takes account of the relevant literature in history, anthropology, social psychology, evolutionary biology, neurology, and sociology, and the economic history of the regions and cultures that form Eurasia An appendix shows how the stories Lal tells can be described by four formal economic models

Opening Up: Youth Sex Culture and Market Reform in Shanghai

Abstract: From teen dating to public displays of affection, from the "fishing girls" and "big moneys" that wander discos in search of romance to the changing shape of sex in the Chinese city, this is a book like no other. James Farrer immerses himself in the vibrant nightlife of Shanghai, draws on individual and group interviews with Chinese youth, as well as recent changes in popular media, and considers how sexual culture has changed in China since its shift to a more market-based economy. More and more men and women in China these days are having sex before marriage, creating a new youth sex culture based on romance, leisure and free choice. The Chinese themselves describe these changes as an "opening up" in response to foreign influences and increased Westernization. Farrer explores these changes by tracing the basic elements in talk about sex and sexuality in Shanghai. He then shows how Chinese youth act out the sometimes-contradictory meanings of sex in the new market society. For Farrer, sexuality is a lens through which we can see how China imagines and understands itself in the wake of increased globalization. Through personal storytelling, neighbourhood gossip and games of seduction, young men and women in Shanghai balance pragmatism with romance, lust with love, and seriousness with play, collectively constructing and individually coping with a new culture based on market principles. With its provocative glimpse into the sex lives of young Chinese, then, "Opening Up" offers something even greater: a thoughtful consideration of China as it continues to develop into an economic superpower.

The rise of eating disorders in Japan: issues of culture and limitations of the model of "westernization"

Abstract: As the first non-Western nation in contemporary history to become a major industrialized economic power, Japan is central to the debate on cultural relativism in psychiatric nosologies, and the study of eating disorders in Japan contributes to the complex discussion of the impact of culture and history on the experience, diagnosis and treatment of such disorders (R. Gordon 2001; Palmer 2001). Without question, the rise in eating disorders in Japan correlated with increasing industrialization, urbanization, and the fraying of traditional family forms following World War II. While the case of Japan confirms that the existence of eating disorders appears to be linked with these broader social transformations, it also points to the importance of specific cultural and historical factors in shaping the experience of eating disorders. In this article, we explore two particular dimensions of culture in contemporary Japan: (1) gender development and gender role expectations for females coming of age; and (2) beauty ideals and the role of weight and shape concerns in the etiology of eating disorders. Our analysis of these dimensions of culture, and the data accruing from empirical and qualitative research, reveal limitations to the model of "Westernization" and call for a more culturally sensitive search for meaning in both describing and explaining eating disorders in Japan today.