Globalization

Globalization tends to be studied as a macro economic, political, or socio-demographic process. We feel it is important to include the largely unheard voices and experiences of everyday people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds in the broader public debate on globalization. What meaning does globalization have for everyday people? How does the phenomenon of globalization play out in their lived behavior?

In the Metamorphosis Project, we have examined the visions and realities of globalization held by residents of 11 diverse residential areas in Los Angeles. We assume that people, individually and collectively, make their sense of globalization, and in so doing, become both reactive and proactive participants in the process.

As students of communication, we are particularly interested in understanding the ways in which new communication technologies are changing our world. By focusing on the everyday lives of people we are able to gain insights into why people usually surprise us in defying the proclamations of how new communication technologies will radically change the world as we know it.

In our studies, we examine whether people are incorporating the Internet to do new things (e.g., break down ethnic and cultural barriers), or to do old things in new ways (e.g., maintain or extend family and friend relationships). We also examine whether the communication opportunity structure of daily life is changing more rapidly for some groups than others. We find digital divides in access to the tools of the global era and inequalities in the breadth and depth of incorporation of these tools.

Research Team

- Sandra Ball-Rokeach

- Vikki Katz, Ph.D.

Publications

Books Matsaganis, M., Katz, V. & Ball-Rokeach, S. J. (In preparation). Understanding ethnic media: Their social and cultural roles in economic and policy contexts. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Sturken, M., Thomas, D. & Ball-Rokeach, S. J., (Eds.). (2004). Technological visions: The hopes and fears that shape new technologies. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Published Papers Ball-Rokeach, S.J., & The Metamorphosis Project Research Team, (2000). The globalization of everyday life: Visions and reality. Metamorphosis Project White Paper. Communication Technology and Community Program, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. Gibbs, J., Ball-Rokeach, S.J., Jung, J. Y., Kim, Y. C., & Qiu, J. (2004). The globalization of everyday life: Vision and reality. In M. Sturken, D. Thomas, & S.J. Ball-Rokeach (Eds.), Technological visions: The hopes and fears that shape new technologies. Temple University Press. Jung, J. Y., Ball-Rokeach, S. J., Kim, Y. C., & Matei, S. (2007). ICTs and communities in the 21st Century: Challenges and perspectives. In C. Ciborra, R. Mansell, D. Quah, & R. Silverstone (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies (pp.561-580). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kim, Y. C., Jung, J. Y., & Ball-Rokeach, S. J. (In Press). Ethnicity, place, and communication technology: Effects of ethnicity on multi-dimensional Internet connectedness. Information Technology and People, 20(3).
Papers in Preparation Ball-Rokeach, S. J., Migration and immigration. In W. Donsfach (Ed.), Blackwell International Encyclopedia of Communication. Kim, Y.K. & Ball-Rokeach, S. J., New immigrants, the Internet, and civil society. In A. Chadwick & P. Howard (Eds.), The Handbook of Internet Politics. New York: Routledge. Lin, W.Y, Song, H., & Ball-Rokeach, S. J. Local media, global content?: Exploring the transnational ties that bind in new immigrant communities.
Papers Presented at Professional Meetings Gibbs, J., Ball-Rokeach, S., Kim, Y., & Jung, J. (2000). The globalization of everyday life: Visions and realities of social justice in the Internet age. Paper presented at the Rochester Institute of Technology Conference on “"Social Justice, Peace, and International Conflict Resolution: Civic Discourse beyond the Millennium,” Rochester, NY. Lin, W. Y., Song, H. (2005). Local media, global content?: Exploring the transnational dialogue in the ethnic media in new immigrant communities. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, New York, NY. Song, H. (2006). The relationship between humans, space, and media in globalization: The role of local and global news in ethnic media on the sense of belonging toward the residential area. Paper presented at the Annual Conference at the Association of Pacific Rim Universities Doctoral Student Conference, Singapore.
Dissertations Qui, L. (2004). (Dis)connecting the Pearl River Delta: The transformation of a regional telecommunications infrastructure, 1978--2002. Dissertation Abstracts International, 65 (07), 2411.