"It's trite to say that the world has gotten smaller in the age of globalization, but my travels have told me that it's wrong to think this means there is some kind of uniform world culture"
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Spinrad starts by stepping on a familiar slogan: the world has “gotten smaller.” Calling it “trite” isn’t modesty; it’s a warning flare. He’s telling you the phrase has become a lazy substitute for thinking, the kind of cocktail-party wisdom that turns a complicated reality into a comforting graphic. Then he pivots to the authority that matters in a global era: not theory, not spreadsheets, but embodied experience. “My travels have told me” functions like a credential and a challenge, positioning the writer against armchair globalism.
The real target is the bait-and-switch hidden inside the “smaller world” metaphor. Shrinking distance and increased connectivity don’t automatically produce sameness; they can just as easily amplify difference, harden local identities, or create parallel cultures living in the same cities without merging. Spinrad is pushing back on a corporate-flavored fantasy of frictionless cosmopolitanism: one world, one market, one taste profile. That fantasy is seductive because it flatters the traveler (and the consumer) into believing they’re fluent everywhere.
As a science-fiction writer, Spinrad’s context matters: he’s professionally suspicious of grand narratives that pretend to be inevitable. The subtext reads like a critique of cultural imperialism with a twist of realism: yes, global networks spread images, brands, and English-language chatter, but culture isn’t a skin you peel off and replace with “uniform.” It’s stubborn, locally negotiated, and full of resistances that only show up when you actually go there.
The real target is the bait-and-switch hidden inside the “smaller world” metaphor. Shrinking distance and increased connectivity don’t automatically produce sameness; they can just as easily amplify difference, harden local identities, or create parallel cultures living in the same cities without merging. Spinrad is pushing back on a corporate-flavored fantasy of frictionless cosmopolitanism: one world, one market, one taste profile. That fantasy is seductive because it flatters the traveler (and the consumer) into believing they’re fluent everywhere.
As a science-fiction writer, Spinrad’s context matters: he’s professionally suspicious of grand narratives that pretend to be inevitable. The subtext reads like a critique of cultural imperialism with a twist of realism: yes, global networks spread images, brands, and English-language chatter, but culture isn’t a skin you peel off and replace with “uniform.” It’s stubborn, locally negotiated, and full of resistances that only show up when you actually go there.
Quote Details
| Topic | Travel |
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