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ILONABIERNACKA-LIGIĘZA
toolsofinformation,knowledgeandcommunicationwhichtheycanobtainonly
byincreasingtheirconnectionstothelargerworld.Culturalexchangeisalsoakey
factoringbreakingdownthebarrierstogoodrelationsbetweenpeopleandhuman
groupsandapowerfulinstrumentof“preventivediplomacy”.
Baumaninhisdeliberationsonglobalizationhasdevotedalotofattentionto
localityanditsretardationinthecontemporaryworld.Wenolongerneedatrans-
missionofamaterialcarriertotransmitinformation,soBaumandecidedthat‘a
townandlocalpeoplehavelittletodowithlocalcommunity’[Bauman1998:31].
QuotingLazarfeld,heconcludedthatintheglobalizedworldthereexistsno“lo-
calagora”,noplacefortheopinionsoflocalauthority;aplaceinwhich‘plansof
actionsaredeveloped,privatemattersbecomepublic,opinionsarecreated,courts
areorganizedandpunishmentsgiven’[Bauman1998:31].Itseems,however,that
theselocaldebateforumsstillexist,and,whatismore,theycreatenewspacesfor
publicdebate.
Theprocessbywhich,intheglobalizedworld,individualculturesrelentlessly
tendtodecreaseinimportanceortobeoverwhelmedbygivingroomtoasingle
globalculture,isoftensourceofconcern.Theresultingbewildermentmaterializes
inoneoftwoways:exaggerateddevotiontothepast,oftenareinventedpast,inthe
nameoftraditionandtheoppositetendency,namelythenon-criticaladoptionof
anyculturalinputcomingfromtheoutside.
ArjunAppadurai[1996]describestheproductionoflocalityastheob-
jectofethnography.Forhim,“localityisaninherentlyfragilesocialachieve-
ment,”thatmustbemaintainedcarefullyagainstvariouskindsofodds,espe-
ciallythroughritual.Notonlyboundarymaintenance,orfoundationalritual,
butalsoritesofpassageproducelocalityasbothaspatialconstructionand
asawayofembodiment-throughtheproductionoflocalsubjects.Theglo-
calapproachsuggeststhatlocalculturesmaybevalorizedandrevitalizedthro-
ughthemeansandopportunitiesofferedbyglobalizationinordertomakethem
asourceofenrichmentforalltheindividualsinvolved.Insteadofasuperficialinterest
forlocalhabitsandfolklore,glocalizationinvolvesthebeliefinanactivemulticultura-
lismbasedontheacknowledgementandvalorisationofdifferencesbetweencultures,
andonthepromotionofculturalexchangeswherebypeoplefromdiversesocieties
canexpressandcommunicatetoeachothertheirvisions,valuesandtraditionstoone
another.Robertsonultimatelyhopestodispelthe‘notionofhomogenizationofall
cultures’bytheforcesoftransnationalcapital[Robertson1995:25].Glocalizationis
notwhatThussu[1998]referstoas‘desiglobalization-whenforeignbusinessinte-
restsandmediaemphasizetheirnativecredentialstopresentamoreacceptablefaceof
globalization’[Thussu1998:46].Instead,Lukearguesglocalizationatteststhatevery
global,virtualizingforceismetbyastubbornalterity,a‘dialecticalintensification
ofbothglobalismandlocalism’[Luke1997:89].Concerningtheimplementationof
newcommunicationtechnologiesstructureintothepublicspherewemusttakeinto
considerationnotonlychallengesbutalsodoubtsandthreatsconnectedwithglobal
technologydevelopment.