People and challenges of globalization

The author analyzes the processes of culture globalization, in which standardization and unification con- trary to the traditional identity. The standardization of culture is prevailing; it is the influence of the media and diffusion of new consumption ways. Mass cultures wider introduce a new form of high cultures, that is, technological or scientific ones, which promote harmonization and standardization. The content of the mate- rial culture is more uniform than in the past, many newest practices are in widespread use on large areas. As a result of the globalization the high cultural concentration and mobility increasingly provoke cross-cultural encounters. In the field of intangible components in the current cultural situation, there is cultural clash of traditionalism and globalization, while in the sphere of material components of the culture the contemporary person is becoming more and more follower of the products of globalization. Food culture as a method of study- ing social and cultural transformations indicates that nowadays there is cultural diffusion and the Islamization of a global culture. Studies of food consumption show that there is a strong link between religion and consumer choice of food. The motivation and behaviour of each person is different because they are based on cultural characteristics, which is most evident in consumer shopping behavior. In modern consumer culture the symbols often appear in the form of logos and trademarks. Often, they choose for logos the modification of the widely known traditional cultural symbols which are based on recognizable cultural meanings and which, at the same time, design modern world-view, creating modern myths based on traditional. The most popular trademark of modernity is the Apple logo or “Bitten apple.” A modern interpretation of this symbol is based on the fact that traditionalism is strong, but the active person is always out of the local area. As a result the person feels lonely due to the weakening of traditional ties and looks for replace lost forms of identity.