A World of

Ideas
THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
 What is the relation of religion to globalization?
• First, globalization gave rise to religious nationalism that came
about after Second World War. Nationalism was closely
associated with particular religious beliefs and affiliations.
• Globalization led to the turn of religion into public life as a
reaction to post-World War II modernism. Religion goes beyond
the administration of sacraments for Catholics and focuses
more on the social concerns of the poor and the oppressed
inside and outside the church.
THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
• Globalization affected the proliferation of international terrorism.
- Religious extremist - a type of political violence anchored on
the belief that a supreme being grants violence in the act of
glorifying one’s faith – has become a central issue faced by global
community.
Example: In 2017, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a
known extremist group, triggered the locals of Mindanao to launch
the Marawi Siege for five months.
THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
• Finally, globalization prompted the increase of individual
religiosity brought about the individual’s need to rely on his or
her beliefs and relationship with the supreme being.

The Impact of Globalization

 Flattens cultural differences
 Erodes local custom and beliefs
 Spreads secular, capitalist way of life
 THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
What is Religion Nowadays?
• It’s no longer a set of beliefs that people arrive by reflection
• It’s a symbolic system which carries our identity and marks out
social/ethic and other boundaries
• It marks crucial moments in the life cycle with rituals
• It provides powerful mechanisms for psychological and social tension
THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
Role of Religion Today
Looking around the world today,
• it is clear that religion plays a role in many of the major conflicts going
on at various levels.
• Furthermore, religion plays an important role in people’s lives
worldwide, and
• has become one of the major ways people connect with each other
across the globe.
However, the role of religion in contemporary societies is still not sufficiently
understood in academic research and in the work of policy-makers, NGO’s and
journalists.
THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
 The interaction of religion and culture resulted in a global-local
religion. It is a global religion with a local mix.
 Roudometof (2014) developed a model of four distinct
glocalization –
1. Vernacularization – refers to the blending of universal
religions with local languages.
- For instance, Arabic is used as Islam’s sacred language
even outside the Arab world, while Greek and Latin remains to
be primary languages of Christianity.
THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
Indigenization blends religious universalism
with local particularism by adopting religious
ritual, expression and hierarchies into the
specifics of a particular ethnicity. 
Example:
"The practice of Islamism by various ethnic groups
in province of Zambales
THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
3. Nationalization – constructs a link between the nation and
church. Religious institutions relate to national identities and the
realities of that nation. Being part of the nation means belonging
to its national church.
Example:
- The Philippine Independent Church, an independent
Christian denomination, is an example of a national church in the
Philippines.
THE GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION
4. Transnationalization – has completed religious nationalization
by focusing groups on identifying specific religious traditions of
real of imagined national homelands.
Example: Iglesia ni Cristo
- The Christian organization is national in scope but it has an
international reach that is easily identified as Filipino in its roots
and central authority.
 MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION
Historically, media underwent five stages of development from
the earliest forms to the complex one. These stages affect
globalization progressively (Lule, 2014).
 It all started with oral communication. Language allowed
humans to communicate and share information. Moreover,
language became the most important tool for exploring the
world and the different cultures. It helped people move and
settle down. Oral communication led to markets, trade, and
cross-continental trade routes.
 MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION

 Culture refers to the unified style of human knowledge,

beliefs, and behavior from which people learn, and the
ability to communicate knowledge to the next generations.
Its development has been mainly influenced by media.
 MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION
 The next stage is the invention of script. Distance became a
hindrance to oral communication. Script allowed humans to
communicate over a larger space and for a much longer
duration. It allowed the permanent codification of economic,
cultural, religious, and political practice. Knowledge, beliefs,
and behaviors were written and made available for
transmission to the next generation and to other nations and
cultures.
 MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION
 Next followed the printing press. The introduction of the printing
press allowed the continuous production, reproduction, and
circulation of print materials. Written documents were mass
produced which gave everyone access to information that was
once available only to the rich, powerful, and religious. This
period of media development affected globalization by
transforming various institutions such as schools, churches,
governments, and armies, among others.
 MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION
 Another stage is the emergence of electronic media as
characterized by its use of electricity. Electronic media includes
the telegraph, telephone, radio, film, and television. The wide
reach of these media continues to open up new perspectives in
the economic, political, and cultural processes of globalization.
 The last stage is the digital media which relies on digital codes.
It can be created, modified, and stored in any digital electronic
device. Digitalized content is transmitted over the internet and
computer networks.
 MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION

 Media is a carrier of culture. It is a tool for the interaction of

people with different cultures. However, the real media is the
people. Marketing people seek the world for their cultural
products, and managers facilitate interactions of culture profits.
These interactions result in the integration of cultures.
 MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION
 The media have a very important impact on cultural
globalization in two mutually interdependent ways:
- Firstly, the media provide and extensive transnational
transmission of cultural products and,
- secondly, they contribute to the formation of communicative
networks and social structures.
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