Coronil and Gikandi on Globalization

Both Fernando Coronil and Simon Gikandi examine Globalization and the positive and negative effects of globalization. Although it is accepted that globalization will affect individuals, it is under debate whether globalization will have a positive or a negative effect on the lives on individuals in society. Globalization can be explained as the enhanced interconnectedness of cultures and societies that can be contributed to the expansion of technology and the enhancing means of communication and trade. Coronil explains a positive outlook that people use to approach the idea of globalization. It seems to be an "ideal" outcome, that "globalization offers the promise of a unified humanity no longer divided by East and West, North and South, Europe and its Others, the rich and the poor. As if they were underwritten by the desire to erase the scars of a conflictual past or to bring it to a harmonious end, these discourses set in motion the belief that the separate histories, geographies, and cultures that have divided humanity are now being brought together by the warm embrace of the globalization” (Coronil 352). Simon Gikandi explains in his article, "Globalization and the Claims of Postcoloniality" that "there no longerseems to be a clear relationship between cultural practices and localities" which means that cultural practices are no longer specific to the location where individuals live. I found both of these articles to be very interesting and informative, each describing a standpoint on the effects of globalization.