The societies we have become immersed in
are a product of globalisation. A walk down the street is all you need to
provide evidence to this statement. The suffix ‘scape’, coined by Arjun
Appadurai, suggests something that is fluid, ever evolving and adapting to the
current climate (1996).
Ritzer quotes Appadurai in stating that
Ethnoscapes are relating to the actual physical movement of people, or their fantasy of moving (2012, p. 257). This includes the migration and travelling of people around the globe.
Ethnoscapes in particular are the reason
why you would walk down the street and spot a Chinese restaurant side by side
to a Mexican one. They are also part of the reason why you would walk down a
supermarket isle and see a jar of Thai red curry paste sharing the shelf with a
pre-made pesto from Italy.
Look at Chinatown? Lygon Street? Caulfield?
Flemington? Box Hill? Springvale? The cultural identity present in these
suburbs or areas is all due to the ethnoscapes in globalisation.
Each ‘scape’ seems to relate or have an
effect on another.
Financescapes represent ‘the processes by
which huge sums of money move through nation-states, and around the world at
great speed (Ritzer, 2012, p. 257).
The migration of different cultures has
created new needs and desires, creating a snowball affect.
Look at Glen Waverley. Kingsway alone has
more than ten asian restaurants.
The popularity of these restaurants has
resulted in numerous Asian groceries popping up around the same area, with most
of their products directly imported from countries such as Korea, Japan and
China.
If it weren’t for the locale of Glen
Waverley, these grocers and restaurants would have no reason to set up shop
there. Globalisation has created these culturally specific locales, not just in the south eastern suburbs of Victoria, but all around the world.
Ritzer, G 2012, Globalization: A Basic Text, eBook, accessed 28/07/2013, <http://deakin.eblib.com.au.ezproxy-m.deakin.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1120300>
Appadurai, A 1996, Modernity at Large:
Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, eBook, accessed 28/07/13, <http://site.ebrary.com/lib/deakin/docDetail.action?docID=10151083>
I really enjoyed reading your personal accounts of 'scapes and definitely in conjunction with food.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Asian grocers etc I would like to see where their products come from. Which parts of Asia do they source everything and are they 'native'? More of a local scape scene and pulling it back to the roots.
Seeing as it's 'ever evolving and adapting to the current climate', would Asian markets manufacture products in cheaper places rather than where they originated from like many Australian markets do?
I have gained a broader understanding on the 'scapes' you discussed. Though not all is well in criticism world.
ReplyDeleteYou mention these places 'Chinatown, Lygon Street, Caulfield, Flemington, Box Hill' etc. I know these places and what you are referring to, but say I was a 50-year-old woman who spent her childhood in Tokyo and spent her later years retired in England. I would have no idea of the places you are talking about. What I am saying is that perhaps for later blogs you would try to appeal to a more global audience, especially considering based on your original post this is for a Globalisation course.
Also 'Chinese restaurant side by side to a Mexican one', a better wording for it would be 'A Chinese restaurant and a Mexican restaurant side by side' or 'A Chinese restaurant next to a Mexican restaurant.' In the same paragraph you also used 'form' instead of 'from', this is one of my most common mistakes, I made it every time I wrote a letter between Prep to Grade 1.
Don't take my nitpicking as a sleight, I've subscribed.