Globalization Vignettes

Something that's struck me since being here is the variety of ways in which globalization manifests itself. There's a book by George Ritzer called The McDonaldization of Society, and while I haven't actually read it, I think that the title describes how a lot people from the U.S. view globalization. It often seems that U.S. culture has spread its tentacles to all ends of the earth and that it is uniformly adopted by countries from all continents. By implication, people who live in these countries are seen as passive victims whose fragile culture is in danger of being annihilated by the process of "McDonaldization." What I've noticed during my time here, however, is that globalization is less of a homogenizing force than we tend to think, and that this has everything to do with the ingenuity of people who live in these supposedly "vulnerable" countries. It's been really interesting to see how people here reappropriate U.S. culture and make it their own, on the small scale as well as the large scale. I'm starting to get a sense of how dynamic culture is, and why it's an insult to people on all sides of the globe to talk about the process of "Mcdonaldization" without acknowledging the process of reappropriation that takes place when "McDonald's" arrives.

To give you all an idea of what this process looks like here in Ecuador, I'm going to start posting "Globalization Vignettes" -- interesting/funny/noteworthy examples of globalization that I've observed since being here. Look soon for installment #1 ("You want Ají with that?") to get a better idea of what I'm talking about. Hope you enjoy!