23.5 Globalization and Culture
Beyond politics and economics, globalization has had cultural dimensions as well. Various linguistic, religious, culinary, and artistic traditions have spread globally. Among them is yoga, a mind/body practice from India that has become a part of global culture. Source 23.5 shows a yoga class in a treatment program for teenagers facing homicide and robbery charges in a Mexico City prison in 2013. The instructor is a thirty-
Source 23.5 Globalization and Culture Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images
- Why might yoga be a helpful tool in dealing with young people charged with serious crimes?
- What does the use of yoga in a Mexican prison tell us about the globalization process and the assimilation of foreign practices?
- The physical postures of yoga were long associated with and often a preparation for spiritual practices such as meditation, leading to a sense of union with the Divine. In what respects has yoga lost its original spiritual function as it has become assimilated into the cultures of many countries?
- What other cultural patterns from beyond the West have found a place in European and North American life as globalization has unfolded?