Globalization Culture and Politics in Asia

The hat stand in South Korea is visible in the picture "global" in a cultural sense because it is reflective of the cultural changes swirling all around the South Korean market. It sits, first of all, in front of a Western bakery shop -- a Dunkin' Donuts -- which is in and of itself an emblem of a foreign culture within the Asian culture of South Korea. The hat stand benefits from the sign hanging over the stand, like a cultural guardian angel, pointing to the hats to show how Western culture is available for sale to the South Koreans not just in the form of food but also in the form of attire. Secondly, the hats themselves are a Western fashion statement. They stand out as a cultural statement of globalism. As Hansen points out, in the era of globalization, "dress has been analyzed, by and large, as representing something else rather than something in its own right"[footnoteRef:1] -- which means that the hats in the picture are not just hats but rather a symbol of how South Korea is now integrated into the fabric of the whole world and is no longer a small unnoticed, out of the way portion of a peninsula in Asia. The hats signal that South Korea is now "part of it all," culturally speaking. [1: K. Hansen, "The world in dress: Anthropological perspectives on clothing, fashion and culture," Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 33 (2004), 369.]

2

The hat stand stands out in a legal sense in two ways: first, the fact that the items are not being sold in a store but rather on the street is significant, as it gives the vendor the impression of being one whose legal standing is tenuous. Secondly, there is no guarantee of authenticity, if the hats are indeed meant to be brand items. As Chaudhry and Zimmerman have pointed out, globalization has enabled "consumer complicity" in the sale and purchase of counterfeit goods,[footnoteRef:2] especially in Asia, where Western tourists are happy to purchase authentic looking products like brand name hats at an ultra-cheap price, as there is no way of knowing that the product is a knock-off. This presents certain legal problems, as Chaudhry and Zimmerman note, especially when it comes to stealing brand images and intellectual property rights. Were globalization not in effect, the likelihood of a counterfeit market exploding as it has in recent years would be far less. [2: P. Chaudhry, A. Zimmerman, "The demand for counterfeit trade: Consumer complicity," Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights (NY: Springer, 2012), 72.]

3

The hat stand is visible in the picture in a political sense for two reasons. First, it highlights the political trends that have come to South Korea since the Korean War and the U.S.'s presence there. The hat stand symbolizes the extent to which the U.S. has influenced events in South Korea on a political level because the hat represents Western imperialism and Western authority: the fedora especially (sold at the hat stand) is a symbol of "male power".[footnoteRef:3] Secondly, Ahn states that "official contact between America and Korea dates back to the late 19th century"[footnoteRef:4] -- and the appearance of the hat stand in "global" illustrates this contact well, since these hats are all Western. It shows that the Western influence in South Korea has been so strong that now the very symbol of authority in the West -- the hat -- is being peddled on the streets, reinforcing the idea that the U.S. is the actual lord and master of South Korean policy. [3: Henrietta Harrison, The Making of the Republican Citizen (UK: Oxford, 2002), 63.] [4: Kyong Ahn, "The influence of American Constitutionalism on South Korea," Illinois University Law Journal, vol. 71 (1997-1998), 22.]

4

The hat stand is visible in the economic sense in that is there in the market, in front of shops and among other stands selling goods. Shoppers are walking by on the street and the hat stand obviously indicates that this type of product and display is part of the South Korean market economy. The hats indicate that South Korea 1) has incorporated Western products into its market, as a result of globalization, and 2) has become reliant to some extent on the sale of these goods in order for its economy to stay stable. The hat stand thus is seen as an economic prop for South Korea: it illustrates the extent to which the country is dependent upon outside influences and forces on an economic level. As Lee and Lee note, economic development was slow for South Korea following the Korean War -- and the West helped out considerably in this department.[footnoteRef:5] [5: Choong Lee, Jennifer Lee, "South Korean corporate culture and its lessons for building corporate culture in China," The Journal of International Management Studies, vol. 9, no. 2 (2014), 33.]

5

With respect to the hat stand visible in the picture, all four senses link and can be said to be interdependent upon one another. First, culture, politics, economics and legality are intertwined in any system or nation, because each represents a facet of the total national character -- and one facet has an impact on another. For example, culture will impact the way that laws are made and enforced, as they are an outgrowth of culture, and politics will in turn have an impact on culture, since ultimately it is responsible for guiding society; economics supports each of these because it is what provides the oil for the gears to turn so to speak. Second, as Shin and Shaw point out, traditions are never isolated but grow out of a continuously developing enterprise in which culture, law, politics and economics all play a part.[footnoteRef:6] So it can be said that all four senses of the picture are related -- and all four are impacted by globalization, since globalization is the dominant character of the modern world. [6: Chang-sik Shin, Ian Shaw, "Social policy in South Korea: Cultural and structural factors in the emergence of welfare," Social Policy Administration, vol. 37, no. 4 (2003), 328.]

Bibliography

Ahn, Kyong. "The influence of American Constitutionalism on South Korea." Illinois

University Law Journal, vol. 71 (1997-1998): 22-44.

Chaudhry, P., Zimmerman, A. "The demand for counterfeit trade: Consumer complicity.

Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights. NY: Springer, 2012.

Hansen, K. "The world in dress: Anthropological perspectives on clothing, fashion, and culture." Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 33 (2004): 369-392.

Harrison, Henrietta. The Making of the Republican Citizen. UK: Oxford, 2002.

Lee, Choong; Lee, Jennifer. "South Korean corporate culture and its lessons for building

corporate culture in China." The Journal of International Management Studies, vol. 9, no. 2 (2014): 33-45. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2eed/98cfdb102dca87844d564ba6121a1bc97bbe.pdf

Shin, Chang-sik; Shaw, Ian. "Social policy in South Korea: Cultural and structural

factors in the emergence of welfare," Social Policy Administration, vol. 37, no. 4 (2003): 328-341.