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Christian Grados
September 18, 2015
PID: 5159710
REL 2011 U02
The Case for Contamination
What is Globalization? It can simply be defined as interaction amongst people,
companies and governments of different nations. In The Case for Contamination, author Kwame
Anthony Appiah analyzes the ways in which the world is becoming globalized. He includes
many detailed and extensive examples to show that our world is getting “contaminated”,
meaning that the mixture of all innovative values and traditions are damaging, eventually
terminating what our ancestors have left us. He describes the transformation of multiple cultures
and traditions to support his ideas, but in his personal standpoint, he is very understanding and
open-minded and is not entirely influenced by his very own religion. He informs and gives his
audience the freedom to choose between authenticity or traditions, globalization or
modernization. Even though Appiah focuses on globalization in his article, he brings about the
ideas of freedom of choice, the power of leadership and the ultimate message to respect other
religions.
First of all, freedom of choice and the power of free will are among the most significant
factors that influence the effects of globalization on cultures and religions. I strongly believe that
much of the evil brought upon in history and the world is because of human free will actions.
This same idea of human free will is present in Appiah’s analysis. Many people from different
nations are getting ‘contaminated’ with globalization because it leads to great opportunities. Just
like God gives the freedom of choice to humans to choose their path, globalization is also giving
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humans this freedom to either accept it or avoid it enduring their authentic traditions. Thus,
preservationists who are attempting to preserve cultures by denying this right to new
opportunities are trapping people in ideals they rather change.
Once a culture accepts the innovations that come along with globalization, it depends on
each community to either completely transform their way of living or keep their traditions. As
Appiah notes, “how people respond to these cultural imports depends on their existing cultural
context” (Appiah 3), meaning that people interpret the innovations according to their former
beliefs and cultures, since things might change, but their mentality does not. However, in my
opinion globalization has more advantages than disadvantages and it is up to each individual to
apply those advantages for the best while still following their old traditions. For example,
families that are secure and rich usually have the power to control their children in guiding and
