#dmingml How will globalization transform the West?

The word “Globalization” conjures up many thoughts, ideas, concerns and fears, and yet never have I read such an in-depth or informative work on globalization as I have in the work of Jehu Hanciles from Sierra Leone, Africa.

Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration And The Transformation of the West, by Jehu J. Hanciles

As I read Hanciles' work, I had a de ja vu experience, recalling Fareed Zakaria’s work in The Post American World where he explores the changing shape and influence of America. Rather than focus on what some would argue as the decline of America being the reason for its waning influence, he chooses instead to focus on the ‘Rise of the Rest’: the increasing influence and affluence of other countries that enable it to have a stronger say in the political and economic landscape.

Hanciles’ work provides some fascinating perspectives on globalization and how it is impacting the West and the non-West. He looks at the impact of international migrations, the nature of mobility and human interactions, and how they are reshaping the world. He identifies processes of globalization that incorporate powerful trends and how these transcend territorial limits and cultural differences.

While there are some clear economic benefits of globalization to countries and communities due to the global reach of Western ideas and products, there still exist concerns that because this is not always based on reciprocity or where a genuine and reasonable exchange occurs between both parties, that it is potentially Western domination “disguised as a major strand of globalization and relationships of control, exploitation and dependency.” This is why Hanciles believes that sometimes globalization means marginalization and exclusion when countries and communities are prevented from becoming beneficiaries.

Hanciles provides some insightful thoughts as to the implications of globalization on the Global South (non-Western countries) and the West, of which one relates to the spread of Western secularism. While the loss of spiritual faith can be linked to modernization and economic prosperity in the West, “all forms of religion do not necessarily disappear as societies develop or modernize. Clearly, some rich nations are more religious than others, in part because the equitable distribution of resources is just as critical a factor as a nation’s economic development.” (41) Nonetheless, Hanciles addresses the growing religious gap between the West and the non-West, its relationship to economic prosperity, the absence of human security, and the issue of maintaining the integrity of one’s original culture and religious beliefs in the onslaught of conflicting values often exported through globalization.

Hanciles’ commitment to research and his detailed analysis of global trends and theories surrounding its implications on cultures and their indigenous beliefs, leads him to ague that immigrant groups will have a decisive impact on how the world is being reshaped. This is particularly true in relation to how he believes the West will change as South-North migration increases. This is one of the reasons why he believes globalization will not lead to a single global culture based on Western secular values. While Western secular values may continue to permeate other cultures through globalization, the increase in migration from the South to the North will continue to challenge and change the secular landscape of the West.

I would be doing Hanciles’ work an injustice if I failed to mention the strangely titled chapter, “A Wandering Aramean Was My Ancestor: Exile, Migration, and Mission in Biblical Perspective.” He touches on the theme of human migration through relocation, displacement, and population transfers.

Migration is a fact of history, and the cultural diversity that results from it, claims Hanciles, is indicative of a strongly biblical idea; the idea of a single global culture is not. The God of the Bible is a God of mission who seeks to make himself known through ordinary, culturally conditioned experiences. This is at the heart of Hanciles’ theory, that Christianity is the most universal of faiths precisely because it is “the ultimate local religion.”

This does not appear all that dissimilar to what Desmond Tutu was trying to say with the title of his new book, 'God Is Not A Christian: And Other Provocations.' Tutu essentially understands that our spiritual heritage is often linked to geography: where we are born, and how our culture and worldview becomes integrated with our faith and the lens through which we contemplate the ‘why’ of what we see. For those of us in the West, this lens sometimes only gives us a blurred perspective because of our arrogance and feelings of superiority over our non-Western friends for their seemingly naïve commitment to a faith that we have discarded.

Ironic isn’t it?

Our desire for independence and freedom along with our resourcefulness and sense of achievement has led us to discard the ‘sacred’ for the ‘secular’. And although we have given it away, we still feel the need to either control it or deny its importance for others.

I wonder if we may yet receive it back as a gift from those who aremigrating from the South?