Contemporary Causes of Diffusion (College Board AP® Human Geography)

Urbanization is a growing global phenomenon, with more than half of the world’s population living in cities

Urban cultural traits diffuse from large cities to small cities and from cities to surrounding regions

Cities function as hubs for cultural diffusion because many different people from diverse backgrounds interact with one another and exchange:

• food

• language

• religion

• ideas

• fashion

Global cities, such as New York, London, and Tokyo, spread cultural phenomena because of their influence on:

• Media: Media influences cultural diffusion because technologies such as the internet, movies, and television rapidly spread cultural characteristics like music, language, and fashion

  • The rapid spread of media usually diffuses pop culture from more dominant locations, such as global cities, at the expense of folk culture

• Culture: Global cities often host cultural production facilities, such as movie studios, publishing houses, and art studios

  • As a result, these cities have significant influence on the cultural products used by others

• Economy: International corporations are often headquartered in global cities. In addition, global cities are usually centers of trade and finance, hosting many companies, stores, and a stock exchange

  • This allows them to have influence over the production of cultural trends exported to other locations

• Social relationships: Many people from all over the world converge in global cities

  • As a result of this mixing of people and cultures, global cities often become more diverse and serve as a “melting pot” of different cultures

  • As these cultures mix, individuals bring back trends observed in global cities to their own home locations, thus further spreading cultural traits

Increased globalization has led to greater interaction between diverse groups of people

Globalization has resulted in cultural convergence, as cultures become more similar to one another

Globalization, aided by increases in transportation and communication technology, has led to the use of fewer languages and the emergence of English as a lingua franca

• English is the most commonly-used language in business and diplomacy around the world

• The rapid expansion of the internet and social media, most of which is in English, has led to the diffusion of English globally. Similarly, the wide consumption of American and British movies and television around the world has led to the spread of the English language

• The historical colonization of multiple locations, including in Asia and Africa, by Britain, diffused the English language to multiple locations

• One location where English has not spread as the lingua franca is China

  • Due to the size of the country, as well as its position as a regional economic leader, Mandarin is the lingua franca within China

  • Therefore, the different historical trajectories of India, which was colonized by the British, and China mean that significantly more people in India speak English as a second language than in China

Time–Space Convergence is a result of improvements in transportation and communication technologies

Time-space convergence leads to:

• greater interconnection between groups of people

• increased cultural convergence, as groups become more similar to one another due to increased interaction

Airline travel and internet communication are examples of time–space convergence because both decrease the time required for travel or communication between two places

The internet has resulted in increased cultural diffusion

• Netflix, Korean dramas, and memes are examples of diffusion via the internet

• Social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, functions to quickly spread cultural traits and ideas

The spread of culture via the internet has led to English as a global lingua franca and the decrease in the use of local and Indigenous languages

The internet also allows for quick technological diffusion

• For example, apps and smartphones supported by internet networks have spread across the globe