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Jjongoza »
The Village of Jjongoza in the Era of Globalisation
By Ambrose John Bwangatto (M.A; STL)
Globalization has become one of the most discussed concepts in
this 21st century. It has become a buzzword in almost all academic fields.
Globalization has become a standard vocabulary among journalists, politicians,
managers, advertisers, bankers, entertainers, officials, computer experts,
activists and researchers across the planet. This vocabulary of ‘globalization’
has entered almost all of the world’s major languages. Daily life now brings
continual references to global communications, global finance, global health
problems, global markets, global migration, global warming, and global justice.
It seems, apparently, that everybody feels the impact of this rather new
phenomenon which has pervaded the lifestyle of each either directly or
indirectly, negatively or positively. But despite the euphoria about
globalization, many people would, when asked about what they understand by this
concept, would reply with considerable hesitation, vagueness, and inconsistency.
Many people are puzzled by the pace at which changes are happening. Many debates
about globalization never get past disputes over starting premises regarding
definition, scale, chronology and explanatory framework.
On definition, people have often conceived of globalization in radically
different terms, thereby talking past each other from the onset. Disputes and
confusions about globalization often begin around issues of definition. Many
people invoke notions of globalization without indicating explicitly what they
mean by the term. Various commentators have described globalization as a stage
of capitalism or late modernity without specifying the content of such phrases.
Again other authors have made unfocused remarks that globalization is a ‘new way
of thinking’. Statements like ‘globalization is the process of becoming global’
are not of much help. There is a certain euphoria surrounding the meaning of
this term to the extent of becoming a label to cover whatever strikes the fancy.
One common notion has conceived of globalization in terms of
internationalization. From this perspective, ‘global’ is simply another
adjective to describe cross-border relations between countries, and
‘globalization’ designates a growth of international exchange and
interdependence. A second usage has viewed globalization as liberalization. Here
globalization refers to a process of removing state-imposed restrictions on
movements between countries in order to create an ‘open’, ‘borderless’ world
economy. On these lines one analyst suggests that ‘globalization become a
prominent catchword for describing the process of international economic
integration. Evidence for such ‘globalization’ in recent decades can be found in
the widespread reduction or even abolition of regulatory trade barriers,
foreign-exchange restrictions, capital controls and for citizens of some states,
visas. A third conception has equated globalization with universalization
whereby in this usage global means ‘worldwide’, and globalization is the process
of spreading various objects and experiences to people at all corners of the
earth. We could in this sense have a ‘globalization’ of automobiles, Chinese
restaurants, decolonization, cattle farming, and much more. A fourth definition
has treated globalization as westernization or modernization, especially in an
‘American’ form. Following this idea, globalization is a dynamic whereby social
structures of modernity that is, capitalism, rationalism, industrialism,
bureaucratism, individualism, are spread the world over, normally destroying
pre-existent cultures and local self-determination in the process. A fifth
approach has identified globalization as respatialisation. Following this
interpretation, globalization entails a reconfiguration of social geography with
increased transplanetary connections between people. Some authors have
associated contemporary globalization with a tendency towards
deterritorialisation, so that social space can no longer be wholly mapped in
terms of territorial borders. In spite of some overlap between these various
notions, their respective foci are significantly different.
However, the most prominent issue of globalization and social change that has
provoked considerable controversy relates to identity and associated
constructions of social bonds. In my country Uganda, many young people identify
more with American lifestyles rather than the Ugandan modes of living. One of
the popular singers in Uganda, called Ragga Dee, dresses himself and his dancers
in the colours of the American flag. Such a trend prompts many people to ask
whether globalization makes people more similar or more different. Many
commentators particularly those who conceive of globalization in terms of
liberalization or westernization have argued that the process brings a worldwide
cultural synchronization. They look at the world as moving towards total
homogenization, and that globalization has harmonized and unified, often
crushing traditional ways of life when they have deviated from the dominant
western pattern. Globalization is diffusing a single world culture centred on
consumerism, mass media, Americana, and the English language. A lot has been
written about globalization and it is quickly influencing almost all the
academic faculties in universities the world over. And since educational
institutions are the microcosm and macrocosm of society, so globalization
influences all human societies regardless of their degree of cultural
development. Africa, too, is caught in this rather complex maze. But the most
disturbing question is whether globalization encourages protection or
vulnerability, stability or uncertainty, wellbeing or misery, social integration
or alienation, calm or stress, hope or fear? Is a more global world a more
endangered world, objectively and /or perpetually? And above all, how is Africa
to participate in this process described as a ‘win – win’ scenario where
everyone in world society benefits? These are questions which are yet be
supplied with a satisfying answer. Again the whole process gets even more
complex when it is described as global pillage, global apartheid, and the global
trap and it undermines security, equality and democracy
The Small Village Of Jjongoza in the Era Of Globalization
Many readers I think will be amazed to find the name of a tiny rural and
peasantry village in Central Uganda also included in the debate on
globalisation. The choice of this village is not a mistake because it is the
home of this author but also it is used as a model for all rural and peasantry
communities in Uganda particularly and Africa generally. Jjongoza is in a
distance approximately 150kms from Kampala city the capital of independent
Uganda. It lies on the Bukoba-Masaka high-way and hence the people of Jjongoza
have access to all modern technology in automobiles, telecommunication sets, the
modern lifestyles and have acquaintances with foreigners since the road serves
as an international highway linking Uganda to Tanzania. Although the people may
not have direct access to some of these things, but they claim to have knowledge
of what is going on in the world. There is one rich son of Jjongoza who has a
big coloured television set. During the season of football world cup and Olympic
Games, or events which are broadcast live to the whole world like Kora Awards or
Live 8, he will bring the T.V set to the centre of the village and the people of
Jjongoza are able to follow what is going on in the world. There are a few
privileged Jjongozans with mobile telephones. The most prominent one is the
Catechist in the local church called Ssalongo Marsiale Lwanga. He is a
grey-haired old man aged about 70. He connects many people of Jjongoza who have
relatives in the city or overseas. They agree on the time they would call which
must coincide with the time of the church service when the catechist is at the
church. This makes a good connection. After people have connected with God, then
they can connect with relatives and friends who are living far away from home.
The nearby Kalisizo trading centre has an internet facility where some youths
from Jjongoza can go and begin fidgeting with the computers and browse through
websites especially those which they hear on the local FM radio like,
buganda.com or yahoo.com . They do this very quickly since the time runs
out very fast and they want to make utmost use of their money. There are many
Radio stations which are received in Jjongoza. Either they broadcast from
Kampala or from the nearby town of Masaka. This enables the people to follow
what is going on around them but also around the whole world. The residents of
Jjongoza are well informed of whatever is going around the world, from the
suicide bombers in the Middle East to the Germany election which was won on a
slim majority by an iron lady Angella Merkel, from the London bombings and the
continued terrorist threats in this country to the protests which greeted Bush
in Argentine, from the rapid economic development in China and India to the
devastating earth-quake in Pakistan. Again, the people of Jjongoza can tell
something, though with vagueness, about the feast of St. Patrick’s and how the
Irish traditional costume resembles a skirt. The people of Jjongoza can tell you
with utter certainty how America is a country of contrasts. The rich are
stinkingly rich while the poor as Katrina revealed also form part of this great
nation. Though they live in peasantry conditions with dim hopes of improving
their conditions, the people of Jjongoza are part of the global community and
try to participate in world affairs and world fortunes with difficulty but with
optimism and joy.
Many Europeans, who have not travelled much and rely on television for all their
information, would not imagine that Jjongoza is following what is going on in
Europe. The amazing thing about the people of Jjongoza is the lack they
experience in almost everything. They have one television set for the whole
village but can follow all the games in the UEFA cup and know the players in
different giant European soccer teams. They have one telephone set but they can
communicate effectively with their relatives and friends all around the world.
Many Europeans with television sets even in the toilets still know Idi Amin as
the President of Uganda and that he is a murderous dictator. Countless others
think that the whole of Africa is a starving continent as one friend of mine in
the Netherlands told me that I am going back home to starve after putting on
some weight in the Netherlands. The people of Jjongoza have used the era of
globalization to improve on their knowledge of the world and try in their simple
ways to make comparisons in the different parts of the world. But many Europeans
still believe that Africans are sleeping in trees and caves. There is a funny
scenario described of Africa in this age of rapid communication and knowledge. A
teacher told his students that Africa has no airports and that transport is very
difficult. Then one critical student asked him how he went there in a plane. And
the teacher replied that when a plane is landing, they gather elephants and the
plane lands on their backs. This is another form of ‘learned ignorance’ in its
pure form. The people of Jjongoza can use their knowledge to appreciate the
developed societies and they make wishes for themselves. They cannot rejoice
that Londoners have been bombed or that Bush was heckled. No. They just wonder
at what is going on in the world today and what really is driving people crazy
given countless anomalies reported in the media daily.
I think, we can learn in a simple way from the people of Jjongoza that we are
participating in the same humanity and sharing the earth among ourselves though
at different locations, we must try to cut across the boundaries which culture
and worldview put before us and promote what is genuinely human. We have to make
an initiative to reach out to others and see them and what causes anxiety in
their hearts and what makes their hearts glow. This will be the beginning of
peace and harmony among all peoples on our beloved planet. Globalisation has
created disquiet in many societies, but we can reap what is helpful for the
furtherance of the common good and welfare of the human race. |
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