The Barometer Online

Issue date: 5/17/07 Section: Forum

Media Credit: Emily Riley

In almost every culture or anthropology class I have ever taken, the new age phenomenon of globalization is a hot topic. Professors inquire in essays and multiple choice questions, what is globalization, who does it affect, is it a good or a bad thing? For me, the answer is unclear, not because I didn't do my homework, but due to the fine line that globalization walks, between increased knowledge and exploitation. Globalization has given us a look into our own path, showing us where our distant relatives came from, linking our pasts that were filled with ink pens and migration, and traditions passed through stories, with a present influenced by technology and fast communication. On another positive note, globalization is a catalyst of exchanged information and has given us the chance to understand and relate to people on different continents, a feat that seemed distant years ago.

I am personally appreciative of what this increased global connectivity has brought me in my life so far - the chance to study and live in France and Senegal and grow from the experiences I encounter and the people that enrich my life. These possibilities are thanks to a greater capacity and interest of how others live and how that can contribute to our lives where we reside. Globalization, which is thought of as approaching people into one global system, has made my options as an up and coming Ethnographer endless, with possibilities to travel to places where I may still find some cultural similarities.

Upon hearing that I was accepted into an English teaching program in France through the French Embassy in Washington D.C, I was ecstatic to return to France after I had fallen in love with the country and its people. During which time I will not only be teaching English but also positive aspects of American culture. At the same time, I was following the French presidential elections between a Socialist and female hopeful Mrs. Royal and the staunch, pro-American and tough on crime conservative Nicholas Sarkozy. Although I am vaguely familiar with Mr. Sarkozy's politics, his promises to reform French economics concerns me. In 2005 I was deeply affected by his crude comments about immigrants and international citizens of France when riots ensued in Paris suburbs. These riots were a result of France's cold shoulder to its minority populations especially on the topic of employment, namely among Arab citizens and black African youths.

A pressing issue that Mr. Sarkozy is expected to address during his first months as president is the menacing high unemployment rate. At the same time he has made it his personal goal to help the French people be proud to be French once again. For an economy with an unemployment rate of about 9 percent, his plan seems to be to open up jobs and immigration possibilities only to those of merit. This merit is based upon work ethic, not necessarily social rank, but comments such as one he made during his speech after being newly elected as president of France in response to Jewish and slavery memorials highly favored by his successor Mr. Chirac; where the NY Times quotes him saying "I am going to bring an end to repentance, which is a form of self-hatred, and the battle of memories that feeds hatred of others," leaves me questioning whether merit is the only basis of immigration and better job markets.

After several conversations with friends and educated Senegalese people on the extreme difficulties of immigration out of their country and into countries such as France, I became disheartened by my situation in light of their own. For me, it is extremely easy to go live, work, or visit France. I only need a job and a boss that will sign off for a visa, and even then it is relatively painless to find someone who will hire me. My Senegalese acquaintances on the other hand have a particularly hard time getting into France just to visit; that is if their own country will let them migrate. Senegal wants to keep their educated citizens, and rightly so, to help with economic, political, and social efforts.

This leaves me feeling as if we have taken it as far as setting a limit on cultural cohesion, a sort of selective globalization if you will. What gives me more merit to profit from a life in France than that of my dear friends in Senegal and many other developing countries? What makes English more important for school children to learn than culture classes about past French colonized countries? Who made this decision? Why would you endorse an American citizen to come and benefit from the French social system, its six weeks of vacation, and paid health care for nine months only to then leave, as opposed to someone who wants to build a better life in France and translate their hard work to help build a struggling economy as many North Africans did after WWII? And where did that get them?

Although crossing borders, converging ideas and languages can be a positive way to connect the world's resources, there are also underlying negative effects. A common questionable result of globalization is the idea of assimilation. Learning a universal language sometimes demotes other languages literally and figuratively. It is sending a message that if you come to our country, we expect you to adhere to these cultural guidelines, giving a feeling that the values they already possess are not as important.

When Mr. Sarkozy says he wants to make the French proud to be French again, what does that mean? Who is French exactly? What must one do to become French? In a country that has such rich cultural diversity from the Bretons in Brittany to the Basque in the Southern region of France, and the North Africans in origin who are French citizens, who then are the real French people that should be proud to be such? If I choose to live my whole life in France would that not make me somewhat French too? Can I not live in France with French and American values, and merit as much of a chance to be part of France's economic force as my Senegalese friends? Why does one culture, one value system have more of an opportunity to integrate than another? If you ask me, merit is in the eyes of the beholder, and that is what scares me.

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Emily Riley is a senior in French and the international degree in anthropology. The opinions expressed in her columns, which appear every other Thursday, do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Riley can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.

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