Shakira, a Colombian multilingual singer-songwriter, playing outside her home country.

Cultural globalization has increased cross-cultural contacts but may be accompanied by a decrease in the uniqueness of once-isolated communities. For example, sushi is available in Germany as well as Japan but Euro-Disney outdraws the city of Paris, potentially reducing demand for "authentic" French pastry. Globalization's contribution to the alienation of individuals from their traditions may be modest compared to the impact of modernity itself, as alleged by existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Globalization has expanded recreational opportunities by spreading pop culture, particularly via the Internet and satellite television.

Religious movements were among the earliest cultural elements to globalize, being spread by force, migration, evangelists, imperialists and traders. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and more recently sects such as Mormonism, which have taken root and influenced endemic cultures in places far from their origins.

A McDonald's in Osaka, Japan illustrates the McDonaldization of global society

Conversi claimed in 2010 that globalization was predominantly driven by the outward flow of culture and economic activity from the United States and was better understood as Americanization or Westernization. For example, the two most successful global food and beverage outlets are American companies, McDonald's and Starbucks, are often cited as examples of globalization, with over 32,000 and 18,000 locations operating worldwide, respectively as of 2008.

The term globalization implies transformation. Cultural practices including traditional music can be lost or turned into a fusion of traditions. Globalization can trigger a state of emergency for the preservation of musical heritage. Archivists must attempt to collect, record or transcribe repertoires before melodies are assimilated or modified. Local musicians struggle for authenticity and to preserve local musical traditions. Globalization can lead performers to discard traditional instruments. Fusion genres can become interesting fields of analysis.

Music has an important role in economic and cultural development during globalization. Music genres such as jazz and reggae began locally and later became international phenomena. Globalization gave support to the World Music phenomenon by allowing music from developing countries to reach broader audiences. The term "World Music" was originally intended for ethnic-specific music. Now, globalization is expanding its scope such that the term often includes hybrid sub-genres such as World fusion, Global fusion, Ethnic fusion and Worldbeat.

A Coca-Cola stall outside the Grand Gateway 66 shopping mall in Xujiahui,Shanghai

Bourdieu claimed that the perception of consumption can be seen as self-identification and the formation of identity. Musically, this translates into each being having his own musical identity based on likes and tastes. These likes and tastes are greatly influenced by culture as this is the most basic cause for a person's wants and behavior. The concept of one's own culture is now in a period of change due to globalization. Also, globalization has increased the interdependency of political, personal, cultural and economic factors.

A 2005 UNESCO report showed that cultural exchange is becoming more frequent from Eastern Asia but Western countries are still the main exporters of cultural goods. In 2002, China was the third largest exporter of cultural goods, after the UK and US. Between 1994 and 2002, both North America's and the European Union's shares of cultural exports declined while Asia's cultural exports grew to surpass North America. Related factors are the fact that Asia's population and area are several times that of North America. Americanization is related to a period of high political American clout and of significant growth of America's shops, markets and objects being brought into other countries.

Some critics of globalization argue that it harms the diversity of cultures. As a dominating country’s culture is introduced into a receiving country through globalization, it can become a threat to the diversity of local culture. Some argue that globalization may ultimately lead to Westernization or Americanization of culture, where the dominating cultural concepts of economically and politically powerful Western countries spread and cause harm on local cultures.

So, globalization, a diverse phenomenon, relates to a multilateral political world and to the increase of cultural objects and markets between countries. The Indian experience particularly reveals the plurality of the impact of cultural globalization.

Multilingualism and the emergence of lingua francas

Main articles: Multilingualism, Lingua franca and List of lingua francas

Most people in the world are multilingual. Language contact occurs when two or more languages or varieties interact. Language contact occurs in a variety of phenomena, including language convergence,borrowing, and relexification. The most common products are pidgins, creoles,code-switching, and mixed languages.

Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization and cultural openness. Thanks to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages is becoming more and more frequent, triggering, therefore, the need to acquire more and more languages.

A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues. Today, the most popular second language is English. Some 3.5 billion people have some acquaintance of the language. English is the dominant language on the Internet. About 35% of the world's mail, telexes, and cables are in English; approximately 40% of the world's radio programs are in English.

While multilingualism is common among individuals, globally the number of spoken languages is decreasing. The top 20 languages spoken by more than 50 million speakers each are spoken by some 50% of the world's population, whereas many of the other languages are spoken in small communities, most with less than 10,000 speakers. Historically, these less widespread languages were afforded protection through geographical isolation. Today, speakers of regional and minority languages are increasingly unable to compete with those who speak dominant languages such that these languages are now considered endangered languages. The total number of languages in the world is not precisely known and estimates vary depending on many factors. The current estimate is that there are between 6000 and 7000 languages spoken and between 50–90% of those will have become extinct by the year 2100.

Politics

Main article: Global politics

The United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

In general, globalization may ultimately reduce the importance of nation states.Supranational institutions such as the European Union, the WTO, the G8 or the International Criminal Court replace or extend national functions to facilitate international agreement. Some observers attribute the relative decline in US power to globalization, particularly due to the country's high trade deficit. This led to a global power shift towards Asian states, particularly China, which unleashed market forces and achieved tremendous growth rates. As of 2011, the Chinese economy was on track to overtake the United States by 2025.

Increasingly, non-governmental organizations influence public policy across national boundaries, including humanitarian aid and developmental efforts. Philanthropic organizations with global missions are also coming to the forefront of humanitarian efforts; charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Accion International, the Acumen Fund (now Acumen) and the Echoing Green have combined the business model with philanthropy, giving rise to business organizations such as the Global Philanthropy Groupand new associations of philanthropists such as the Global Philanthropy Forum. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation projects include a current multi-billion dollar commitment to funding immunizations in some of the world's more impoverished but rapidly growing countries and hundreds of millions of dollars in the next few years to programs aimed at encouraging saving by the world's poor. The Hudson Institute estimates total private philanthropic flows to developing countries at US$59 billion in 2010.

As a response to globalization, some countries have embraced isolationist policies. For example, the North Korean government makes it very difficult for foreigners to enter the country and strictly monitors their activities when they do. Aid workers are subject to considerable scrutiny and excluded from places and regions the government does not wish them to enter. Citizens cannot freely leave the country.

Media and public opinion

Main articles: Media (communication) and Public opinion

A 2005 study by Peer Fiss and Paul Hirsch found a large increase in articles negative towards globalization in the years prior. In 1998, negative articles outpaced positive articles by two to one. In 2008 Greg Ip claimed this rise in opposition to globalization can be explained, at least in part, by economic self-interest. The number of newspaper articles showing negative framing rose from about 10% of the total in 1991 to 55% of the total in 1999. This increase occurred during a period when the total number of articles concerning globalization nearly doubled.

A number of international polls have shown that residents of Africa and Asia tend to view globalization more favorably than residents of Europe or North America. In Africa, a Gallup poll found that 70% of the population views globalization favorably. The BBC found that 50% of people believed that economic globalization was proceeding too rapidly, while 35% believed it was proceeding too slowly.

Philip Gordon stated that "[as of 2004] a clear majority of Europeans believe that globalization can enrich their lives, while believing the European Union can help them take advantage of globalization's benefits while shielding them from its negative effects." The main opposition consisted of socialists, environmental groups, and nationalists. Residents of the EU did not appear to feel threatened by globalization in 2004. The EU job market was more stable and workers were less likely to accept wage/benefit cuts. Social spending was much higher than in the US. In a Danish poll in 2007, 76% responded that globalization is a good thing.

Fiss, et al., surveyed U.S. opinion in 1993. Their survey showed that, in 1993, more than 40% of respondents were unfamiliar with the concept of globalization. When the survey was repeated in 1998, 89% of the respondents had a polarized view of globalization as being either good or bad. At the same time, discourse on globalization, which began in the financial community before shifting to a heated debate between proponents and disenchanted students and workers. Polarization increased dramatically after the establishment of the WTO in 1995; this event and subsequent protests led to a large-scale anti-globalization movement. Initially, college educated workers were likely to support globalization. Less educated workers, who were more likely to compete with immigrants and workers in developing countries, tended to be opponents. The situation changed after the financial crisis of 2007. According to a 1997 poll 58% of college graduates said globalization had been good for the U.S. By 2008 only 33% thought it was good. Respondents with high school education also became more opposed.

According to Takenaka Heizo and Chida Ryokichi, as of 1998 there was a perception in Japan that the economy was "Small and Frail". However, Japan was resource-poor and used exports to pay for its raw materials. Anxiety over their position caused terms such as internationalization and globalization to enter everyday language. However, Japanese tradition was to be as self-sufficient as possible, particularly in agriculture.

Many in developing countries see globalization as a positive force that lifts them out of poverty. Those opposing globalization typically combine environmental concerns with nationalism. Opponents consider governments as agents of neo-colonialism that are subservient to multinational corporations. Much of this criticism comes from the middle class; the Brookings Institute suggested this was because the middle class perceived upwardly mobile low-income groups as threatening to their economic security.

Although many critics blame globalization for a decline of the middle class in industrialized countries, the middle class is growing rapidly in developing countries. Coupled with growing urbanization, this leads to increasing disparities in wealth between urban and rural areas. In 2002, in India, 70% of the population lived in rural areas and depended directly on natural resources for their livelihood. As a result, mass movements in the countryside at times express objections to the process.