Question

Diffusion and Globalization

The integration of world markets and technological advances of the last decades have allowed for
greater exchange between cultures through the processes of globalization and diffusion. Beginning in
the 1980s, Western governments began to deregulate social services while granting greater liberties to
private businesses. As a result, world markets became dominated by multinational companies in the
1980s, a new state of affairs at that time. We have since come to refer to this integration of
international trade and finance markets as globalization. Increased communications and air travel
have further opened doors for international business relations, facilitating the flow not only of goods
but of information and people as well. Today, many U.S. companies set up offices in other nations
where the costs of resources and labor are cheaper. When a person in the United States calls to get
information about banking, insurance, or computer services, the person taking that call may be
working in India or Indonesia.

Alongside the process of globalization is diffusion or the spread of material and nonmaterial culture.
While globalization refers to the integration of markets, diffusion relates a similar process to the
integration of international cultures. Middle-class Americans can fly overseas and return with a new
appreciation of Thai noodles or Italian gelato. Access to television and the Internet has brought the
lifestyles and values portrayed in American sitcoms into homes around the globe. Twitter feeds from
public demonstrations in one nation have encouraged political protesters in other countries. When this
kind of diffusion occurs, material objects and ideas from one culture are introduced into another.
1. Are the following statements true or false? Write T (True) or F (False) for

each statement. Then correct the false statement(s).
a. Multinational companies started to dominate world markets in the 1980s.
b. Globalization and diffusion refer to the same processes of cultural

integration.
c. Diffusion is the spread of material and nonmaterial culture around

the globe.

Answer 1

A letra a é T
A letra b é T
A letra c é T