Cultural Challenges and Transformations in the Context of Globalization of the Modern World

Abstract

This article examines the ambivalent impact of globalization on the sociocultural sphere of modern society. The author analyzes key mechanisms of cultural integration, including the expansion of information and communication technologies and the activities of transnational corporations. The focus is on the destructive aspects of globalization: the phenomenon of Westernization, the "McDonaldization" of social institutions, the crisis of national and ethnocultural identity, and the threat of the mass extinction of minority languages. The dialectical processes of glocalization and hybridization are examined as forms of adaptation of local cultures to global challenges, as well as radical forms of resistance in the form of cultural fundamentalism and defensive nationalism. Based on an analysis of international experience and institutional practices (in particular, UNESCO), systemic strategies for preserving cultural pluralism in the context of the formation of a unified macro-sociocultural space are proposed.