Comparing and Contrasting the Social Impacts of Media and Religion
in the processes of Globalization
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the social
impacts of media and religion in globalization processes. The contemporary
world is both the most secular and the most religious of all worlds. Religions
face both possibilities and difficulties as a result of globalization within world
culture. The world's cultural religious character is crucial in understanding
the role of religions and religious movements within it. Globalization refers to
the growing interdependence of culture, people, and economic activity on a
worldwide scale. It did not originate through normal communication and
cultures. One of the most essential components is mass media, sometimes
known as media. Broadcast media such as television and radio, as well as
online and print media such as newspapers and magazines, are examples of
mass media. Ā¹The impact of mass media on cultural globalization is
sometimes referred to as cultural imperialism, which is based on commercial
and political motives.
According to Roland Robertson, "globalization has swiftly become one
of the most utilized and contested terms of our day." Globalization is
perceived differently by different people. Globalization, according to
skeptics, is a fiction (Held et al., 1999: 5-7). Others argue that, while
globalization is not a fiction, most of what is spoken about it is 'globaloney'
(Veseth, 2005). According to one popular introduction to the subject,
"globalization is everything and its opponent" (Fried-man, 2000: 406). There
is some validity in such notions, but globalization is far larger.
Sociological theory has largely ignored religion as a component of
globalization, focusing instead on the economic, financial, and military
dimensions of the process. Those sociologists who have studied religious
dimensions of globalization have concentrated on extremism. Globalization
has transformed the general concept of "religion" into a world-system of
competing and warring religions. This institutional specialization process has
converted local, varied, and fragmented cultural traditions into recognisable
religious systems. As a result, globalization has had the paradoxical
consequence of making faiths more self-conscious of their status as "world
religions" (Beyer, 2006). The Internet, pilgrimage, consumerism, and the
development of higher education have all contributed to "religions becoming
more self-consciously global in nature" (Smart, 1989: 556). The rebirth of
faiths in the post-communist world order frequently leads to additional
