What is Westernization and how did it start?
Westernization began with traders, colonizers, and missionaries from western Europe who believed that their way of life was superior to those of the peoples in the countries to which they traveled. The occupied peoples were required or encouraged to adopt western European business practices, languages, alphabets, and attire.
Who has used the term Sanskritization to explain Westernization?
M.N SRINIVAS a pioneer in Indian sociology has used the term sanskritization to explain westernization. According to M.N SRINIVAS when a low caste was able to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism and adopting the brahminical way of life has been called as sanskritization.
What was the impact of Westernization on the Indian culture?
Westernization brought social change in India which resulted in a change in culture. It brought western influences to the Indian society. Sanskritization was an essential groundwork for westernization in India
What is the history of Westernization in Korea?
In Korea, the first contact with Westernization was during the Chosun Dynasty, in 17th century. Every year, the emperor would dispatch few envoy ambassadors to China and while they were staying in Beijing, the Western missionaries were there.
How did westernization affect Brahmins?
While westernization was increasingly spreading , Brahmins found some aspects of westernization, such as British diet, dress, freedom from pollution difficult to accept.Bri tish rule widened the gap between the priests and other people because it provided with numerous opportunities to acquire wealth and power. British rule increased and brought western education as a central figure and a product of westernization in India. Aggressive priests (Brahmin) who once obtained a higher or dominant position found themselves nowhere in the society. Worse was to follow when priests themselves started becoming westernized, they started using electric lights, radio, water taps in houses, began riding cycles. They started sending their sons to western type schools
What did the lower castes want?
The lower castes always wanted to rise upwards in the hierarchy and wanted to be more sanskritized . The occupations, various items of diet and customs in the caste system were also segregated , for example, occupations such as butchery ,tanning, herding swine, handling toddy puts a caste into a lower position.
Why is sanskritization important?
In short , sanskritization enables a caste to obtain a higher position in hierarchy. It is in reference with Hindu society according to which caste is the structural basis of the society. The caste occupying the top positions in the hierarchy are more sanskritized than the castes in lower and middle positions.
How did Sanskritization help the spread of literacy?
The spread of Sanskrit literature, stories and texts increased under British rule. With the coming of British and western technology, such as railways, press radio, plane there was increased the spread of literacy and aided sanskritization. In another sense, there was a deep contrast between sanskritization and westernization. During the 19th century British found in Indian institutions practices such as slavery, human sacrifices, sati, female infanticide, and used all powers to fight against the institutions which they considered barbarous.
Why did the Brahmins disregarded the profession of Doctor?
Earlier they disregarded the profession of Doctor because it was related to the handling of a corpse and dealing with people ( untouchables) but later on many adopted this profession.
What is the meaning of the term "sanskritization"?
M.N SRINIVAS a pioneer in Indian sociology has used the term sanskritization to explain westernization. According to M.N SRINIVAS when a low caste was able to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism and adopting the brahminical way of life has been called as sanskritization.
Where did Westernization originate?
Westernization traces its roots back to Ancient Greece. Later, the Roman Empire would take on the first process of Westernization as it was heavily influenced by Greece and created a new culture based on the principles and values of the Ancient Greek society.
What is Westernization in the US?
Westernization ( US) or Westernisation ( UK ), also Europeanization/ Europeanisation or occidentalization / occidentalisation (from the Occident ), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economics, lifestyle, law, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, diet, clothing, language, writing system, religion, and philosophy. During colonialism it often involved the spread of Christianity.
What is the process of Westernization in Turkey?
In Turkey, the process of Westernization dates back to the 19th century, known as the Tanzimat (reorganization) period. The Ottoman Empire began to change itself according to western science, practice and culture. The Empire took some innovations from the West. Also, by the contribution of foreign engineers the Empire repaired its old arm systems. Newly-found schools, permanent ambassadors, and privy councils were essential improvement for the Empire. The Westernization efforts continued under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with the adaptation of the Latin-script alphabet and the French concept of secularism. As a result, Turkey is one of the most Westernized majority-Muslim nations.
What is the process of cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between cultural groups and their individual?
Westernization can also be compared to acculturation and enculturation. Acculturation is "the process of cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between cultural groups and their individual members.". After contact, changes in cultural patterns are evident within one or both cultures.
How did the Netherlands influence Japan?
In Japan, the Netherlands continued to play a key role in transmitting Western know-how to the Japanese from the 17th century to the mid-19th century , because the Japanese had only opened their doors to Dutch merchants before US Navy Commodore Matthew Perry 's visit in 1853. After Commodore Perry's visit, Japan began to deliberately accept Western culture to the point of hiring Westerners to teach Western customs and traditions to the Japanese starting in the Meiji era. Since then, many Japanese politicians have encouraged the Westernization of Japan with the use of the term Datsu-A Ron, which means the argument for "leaving Asia" or "Good-bye Asia". In Datsu-A Ron, "Westernization" was described as an "unavoidable" but "fruitful" change. However, in contrast, despite many advances in industrial efficiency, Japan has managed to sustain a culture of strict social hierarchy and limited individualization.
When did Korea become Westernized?
Through the missionaries, Korean ambassadors were able to adopt the Western technology. In 19th century, Korea started to send ambassadors to the foreign countries, other than Japan and China. While Korea was being Westernized slowly in late 19th century, Korea had the idea of "Eastern ways and Western frames (東道西器)", meaning that they would accept the Western "bowl", but use it with Eastern principles inside.
When did Iran start westernizing?
In Iran, the process of Westernization dates back to the country's attempt to westernize during the beginning in the 1930s , which was dictated by Shah Rezā Khan and continued by his son during the Cold War and agitated the largely conservative Shia Muslim masses of the country, was partly responsible for the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
What was the purpose of the railroad system in the 1860s?
To move troops during the rebellion, the Company built railway systems. This railroad network became an integral component in the following 1860s “improvement” movement. This movement focused on bringing changes to the material basis of the Indian economy , like plantations, mills, and factories. The Crown rewarded the Indian loyalists who from the beginning supported British rule by giving factories to them an issuing them to control the local industries in their regions. This gave birth to wealthy families like the Tatas and Tagores.…
What is the pre-renaissance period in India?
This article focuses on the 19th century India in the social, historical, religious, political and cultural contexts.The pre-renaissance period can be marked as the background to welcome the Renaissance in India with a special reference to the advent of the British in India as an external influence on the internal, as the influence of the West on the East.India as an identity rests not only on the history of discrete people but also on cultures given its socio-political, socio-religious and socio-cultural scenarios. The emergence of India today as a very strong and solid nation with a deep root in democracy owes to the long experience of imperial government, its cultures and civilization. Therefore, the omission of the mention of the British…
How did the British influence India?
However, the influence of the British in India brought with it the changes in economic trends, government systems, education, and idealism, which revolutionized the social groups in India and led to the independence of the country. Moreover, the British helped the Indian economy create an industrial system of manufacturing and changes in the industry and companies. The development and stabilization of the textile industries, ornaments production, and technology gained grounds as an influence from the British…
What is the concept of westernization?
Quite like sanskritisation the concept of westernisation is also employed for evaluating social change in rural India and elsewhere in the country. The concept was also constructed by M.N. Srinivas to describe the process of social and cultural mobility in the traditional social structure of India. It has also emerged, in Srinivas’ study of the ...
What was the idea of westernisation that was propagated by the British rule?
The idea of westernisation which was propagated by the British rule struck hard on social evils which eroded the Indian society. The introduction of British law put an end to certain inequalities that were part of Hindu and Islamic jurisprudence.
What was the emphasis given by Srinivas on westernisation?
The emphasis given by Srinivas on westernisation basically included humanitarianism and rationalism.
What is equalitarianism in Western society?
It is a democratic value and stands for minimising inequality, removal of poverty and liberty to all. The humanitarianism, as a characteristic of westernisation, stands for a society which could be called as a socialist society in the long run. 3.
What does Yogendra Singh argue about modernization?
Yogendra Singh argues that the use of the term ‘westernisation’ is pejorative for Indian elites. In place of westernisation, modernisation appears to be a better term. He observes: …modernisation in India cannot be adequately accounted for by a term like westernisation.
How did colonial rule affect Indian society?
The colonial rule, thus, integrated the different segments of Indian society . The modern state actually got its beginning from this period. The land was surveyed, revenue was settled, a new bureaucracy emerged, and army, police and law courts were established.
Does modernization include urbanization?
Modernisation also includes urbanisation. If also enhances media exposure and wider economic participation. “Modernisation also implies social mobility. A mobile society has to encourage rationality for the calculus of choice which shapes individual behaviour and conditions it rewards. People come to see the social future as manipulable rather than ordained and their prospects in terms of achievement rather than heritage.”
Overview
Process
From 1400s onward, Europeanization and colonialism spread gradually over much of the world and controlled different regions during this five centuries long period, colonizing or subjecting the majority of the globe. Following World War II, Western leaders and academics sought to expand innate liberties and international equality. A period of decolonization began. At the end of the 1960…
Western world
The "West" was originally defined as the Western world. A thousand years later, the East-West Schism separated the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church from each other. The definition of Western changed as the West was influenced by and spread to other nations. Islamic and Byzantine scholars added to the Western canon when their stores of Greek and Roman literature jump-started the Renaissance. The Cold War also reinterpreted the definition of the West by exclu…
Significantly influenced countries
The following countries or regions experienced a significant influence by the process of Westernization:
• Armenia. Geographically located in the Caucasus region of West Asia, Armenia's culture has been increasingly influenced by the process of Westernization. Throughout its history, Armenia has been influenced by Western and Eastern civilizations. Armenia became the first state in the worl…
Views
Kishore Mahbubani's book entitled The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World (Public Affairs), is very optimistic. It proposes that a new global civilization is being created. The majority of non-Western countries admire and adhere to Western living standards. It says this newly emerging global order has to be ruled through new policies and attitudes. He argues that the policymakers all over the world must change their preconceptions and accept that we live in …
Consequences
Due to the colonization of the Americas and Oceania by Europeans, the cultural, ethnic and linguistic make-up of the Americas and Oceania has been changed. This is most visible in settler colonies such as: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, and to a lesser extent, in some Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, where the traditional indigenous population has been predominantly replaced demographically by non-indigenous sett…
See also
• Acculturation
• Anti-globalisation
• Colonial mentality
• Colonialism
• Colonisation
Further reading
• 'Bonnett, Alastair (2004). The Idea of the West: Culture, Politics, and History. Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403900345.
• The Decline of the West (1918), written by Oswald Spengler.
• The End of History and the Last Man (1992), written by Francis Fukuyama.