Mohammed (Penn State, Altoona) investigates the fate of local cultures that once were territorially bounded but now, due to modern communication techniques and the power of Western transnational corporations, have been penetrated and eroded by more potent and mobile cultures. "Culture" is an elusive term, but Mohammed excels at naming those of its elements that can be kept distinct for analytical purposes—elements ranging from brand names to musical compositions. His coverage is broad, from the Roman Empire to the postcolonial Caribbean and beyond. . . . He effectively demonstrates the ways in which cultures either choose to or are pressed into coexisting with others; often, he shows, the result is not some beneficial form of multiculturalism but the erosion of one culture for the benefit of the commercial/imperial interests of others. Mohammed's argument is marked by some ambivalence; he both laments the corrosive cultural impact of the current form of globalization and seeks comfort in the fact that cultural interactions have been global for a long time. A good, teachable overview and analysis of the impact of the globalization of communication and business. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above.
CHOICE
Using the nexus between globalization and corporatization of society brought about by new media and technology, Dr. Mohammed makes a compelling argument for the death of culture as we know it. The book provides a novel interpretation of the complex interplay of present day functioning of new media and commoditization of cultures. The central message is long live the death of culture.
Avinash Thombre, University of Arkansas at Little Rock In Communication and the Globalization of Culture, Shaheed Nick Mohammed offers a powerful revisioning of the ways in which we theorize culture in our age of globalization and unbridled technological innovation. For students, scholars, and general readers alike, Mohammed's book should be the starting point for any serious discussion of the social, political, and religious implications inherent in our cultural belief systems.
Ken Womack, Penn State Altoona Shaheed Nick Mohammed offers an innovative look at the communicative aspect of globalization. 'Culture is dead. Long live culture'—a quotation from the book, frames well the complexity with which Mohammed treats everything from globalization itself to topics such as cultural erosion and authenticity, colonization and resistance, global village and the digital divide. He looks at religions, canonized intercultural theorists, and media theories, challenging each, yet with respect, all the while providing careful examples from around the world-from Superbowl Sunday to the use of technology in Cambodian villages, from 'Mocko Jumbies' of the U.S. Virgin Islands to Chinese-made festival lanterns in Egyptian Ramadan. In the end, he demonstrates thoughtfully that there are no easy answers to the effect of globalization on local and national cultures, but that communication is central to the process of the remaking of culture.
John Baldwin, Illinois State University