Are we in the midst of a global identity crisis?

Whether we like it or not, the last 25 years have been an era of mass globalisation; consumers have now become more concerned with the cost of their goods, rather than their country of origin. While many world leaders have based their entire platforms on bringing industry back to their own countries, the positive financial impacts of opening up global trade and manufacture cannot be overstated.

While the effects of globalisation are widely debated in the economic sense, the cultural implications are slightly easier to get a handle on. By opening up borders to international companies, the risk of a multicultural world turning into a monocultural world is strong. As one Independent column put it, “what’s the point in travelling half-way around the world for the exact same experience you’d get at home?” But what impact is an increasingly homogenous world having on its inhabitants?

Global citizens are making sense of their own identity crisis

When British Prime Minister Theresa May stated in a speech that “if you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere,” her remarks rightly sparked controversy. Cultural homogenisation will impact citizens just as profoundly as cities, but as feelings towards national identity become more intertwined with political leanings than ever, how can citizens of anywhere feel sure of their cultural identity, be it on a local or global level?

Young children are particularly susceptible to this sense of internal dislocation, with a term coined in the fifties—“third culture kids”—experiencing a resurgence in popularity, describing “children who spend their formative years in places that are not their parents’ homeland.” This younger generation, as entrenched in their birth country as that of their parents, are the ones who were also less likely to have voted from Trump or Brexit, and arguably the most likely to proudly consider themselves “citizens of the world.”

In the wake of globalisation, the arts community has become particularly vocally concerned with exploring and representing identity. The work of contemporary artist Owais Husain explores this through its very form, mixing media and cultural imagery to portray the way he sees himself (and others) within the global population. Husain once stated: “We are all immigrants, driftwood in a ceaselessly dysfunctional world where a flux of identity in the nuclear and larger domains are elements of human nature.”

Is there an anti-globalisation sentiment?

However, not everyone is likely to be happy with being described as an “immigrant.” The distressing rise in nationalism around the globe does suggest that a number of people are entirely sure of their place in the world, and how world leaders can improve quality of life in their nations. The founder of the World Economic Forum went so far as to say that this identity crisis prompted the “anger of people against globalisation” which led to the UK and US election results last June and November, respectively.

A nationalist agenda means an anti-global one; an increasing number of regions are seeking independence, as highlighted by the controversial referendums in Catalonia and Kurdistan. But those who still consider themselves “citizens of the world” are still finding ways to resist (or should that be #resist?). That doesn’t necessarily mean that those on the left are entirely happy with the state of globalisation, but whether they like it or not, much of their identity comes as a result of it; hence the understandable desire to fight against those forces who seek to diminish that sense of identity.

Cultural convergence creates a more “eclectic and entertaining” world

As one think tank, Acton Institute, has pointed out, regardless of the pervading cultural influence of globalisation, “we are not powerless in our response.” Cultural globalisation is a two way street, and nations who are undergoing a pronounced socioeconomic change can give (if not necessarily fight) back on this front. Acton Institute uses Ireland as an example, noting that the rise in international cultures finding their way into day-to-day Irish life has led to many Irish citizen being driven to “defend, preserve and restore the cultural features they care about the most.”

Ultimately, the state of identity culture in the 21st century is as much a result of postmodern world as a globalised one. As people have gained more economic and cultural autonomy, they can cut and paste their own identities from all sorts of cultures; this has led to a number of justified concerns around cultural appropriation, but this sort of approach to self-definition has existed long before the seemingly worldwide swing to the right.

In the age of the thinkpiece, people of all ages and nationalities can now find their own meanings in anything from anywhere. A fitting example to close on is a retrospective review of “Odelay”, a two-decade-old album by the musician Beck; that record transcends genre and time, hopping from genre to genre via samples of other people’s work, albeit with the privilege of a white male musician with a major record deal. The writer of the piece cites the sound of “Odelay” as a counterblast to Trump’s nationalist viewpoint, managing to speak to a wider truth within the confines of a humble album review.

“We acclimate to the ambiguity,” she writes. “Not just because the dissolution of borders is inevitable and unstoppable in the modern age, but because the world’s better for it, and far more eclectic and entertaining.”