Cultural Fragmentation

The concept of cultural fragmentation implies the disintegration of “singular” cultures and the formation of numerous diverse cultures, be they associated with particular ethnicities, religions, concepts of nationhood or people groups, or those associated with particular forms of lifestyle, values, or commodification.

The notion of cultural fragmentation has been linked with processes of globalization and is particularly associated with the ascendency of postmodernism as a condition of society. The connection between globalization and postmodernism and its relationship to cultural fragmentation is a complex one because of processes of globalization that create both homogeneity and heterogeneity. Some commentators argue globalization has produced increasing homogeneity (the serial repetition of processes and places, such as shopping malls, fast-food restaurants, retail chains, global consumer and pop cultures, Internet socialities) and that this threatens diverse cultural practices. Others argue the postmodern period has been associated with increased fragmentation and diversity with regard to social life, lifestyles, and identity choices.

Cultural fragmentation is also strongly linked to globalization through processes of commodification. The commodification of everyday life in a globalizing world has meant that more and more goods and services become subject to market relations of exchange. This has resulted in increased visibility and access to [Page 387]commodities for many people. The marketing and portrayal of the symbolic and representative qualities and images of things, services, and lifestyle practices conjures up particular imaginative visions of people and places, visions that construct differences between “self” and other. Regardless of whether people are able to possess such commodities, greater exposure to a range of both commercial and noncommercial images of people, places, and things presents individuals with increased possibilities for different lifestyle orientations and for constructions of identity. The rise of post-Fordist or flexible regimes of accumulation are also seen as important, enabling firms to produce short runs or batches of commodities that can be marketed to niche consumers. Niche products further encourage the development of fragmentation as new consumer cultures emerge around particular commodities and orientations (such as green consumerist movements, food cultures, brand followers and “tribes,” music and film genres).

Processes of cultural fragmentation have not only been facilitated by an increase in the scale and diversity of commodities, which can be used to shape individual and collective identities in the form of consumer cultures. Of particular significance in facilitating processes of cultural fragmentation has also been the role of new technologies, especially in media and communications. These have resulted in the creation of information-rich societies and increased exposure for individuals and groups to images of alternative ways of living and being. Exposure to media images and information, both in traditional print and visual media, has been extended through the use of new forms of billboard and advertising technologies, the rise of the Internet, and mobile phones and mobile computing technologies (including the development of web 2.0 tools, allowing new and varied forms of social networking).

Music, television, and film industries had also expanded over the course of the twentieth century, broadening the range of experiences and tastes an individual may be exposed to in his or her lifetime. These industries may, in turn, facilitate the development of their own forms of consumer culture and preferences (e.g., through fan clubs, fashion, and merchandising). New social networks and practices may be associated with these diverse consumer cultures, further fragmenting collective identities. Internet and social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Flicker, and Blogger, also allow individuals to personalize their interests, limiting their exposure to ideas, information, and relationships that specifically interest them and reducing the spaces in which they may encounter the views and perspectives of others. Although such personalization may be seen as a form of cultural fragmentation, it may actually enable the formation and aggregation of communities of interest across distant spaces that previously may have been formed in physical proximity.

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