Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 208

Although globalization is often associated with macro changes in world markets, production and trade, and telecommunications, the effects of globalization are also felt in the private realm. Globalization is not something that is simply ‘out there’; it is also ‘in here’, affecting people’s intimate and personal lives in diverse ways. Inevitably, personal lives have been altered as globalizing forces enter local contexts, homes and communities through impersonal sources – such as the media and popular culture – and through personal contact with people from other countries.

Today people have much more opportunity to shape their own lives than in the past, when the main influences were tradition and custom. Social class, gender, ethnicity and even religious affiliation could close off some life avenues and open up others. In the past, being born the eldest son of a tailor, for example, would probably ensure a young man would learn his father’s craft and practise it throughout his lifetime. Tradition held that a woman’s natural place was in the home, with her life and identity defined largely by those of her husband or father. Personal identities were formed within the context of the community into which people were born, and the values, lifestyles and ethics of the community provided a relatively fixed guide for life.