That increased connectivity is giving us the impression of Globalization is nothing new. McLuhan wrote about the global village in The Gutenberg Galaxy in 1962 and Timothy Wu explains in The Master Switch how the radio and telephone networks created a feeling of togetherness during the 1920s.
There are two elements today that make geography irrelevant one is obviously the Internet and the other is low cost travel. While the former is often discussed the latter is not given enough space. My physical reality is Göteborg: the countries second largest city on the West coast of Sweden. The dominant cultural norm – despite being very Americanized – is obviously Swedish.
Travel in and around Sweden is strange since our patterns of travel are not based on Geography but rather on cost and time. It may easier, quicker and cheaper to travel to a location that is geographically further away. This lessens the importance of the idea of geographical space.
An additional point that leads to the irrelevance of geography is our cultural consumption. For a long time our technology has been global: While sitting on a train in India I tried to talk my neighbor but failed miserably since we lacked a common language. But when his phone rang and played a melody from a popular Indian movie I took out my own phone and pointed to his phone and said “Bluetooth”? He smiled and sent me the song. We created a common micro-culture based upon our technology.
The discussion on cultural imperialism has been going on for a long time our clothes, music, films, books, magazines and political focus have been part of a global discussion with smaller or larger local variations. We are all branded.
But since I recently have become a podcast junky I have come to realize that I am letting go yet another local tether. Listening to fascinating podcasts from around the (English speaking) world I have managed to feel part of a discussion which is localized to no particular space. Or is it localized to any space where it is downloaded. Its a odd feeling to follow these podcasts no matter where I am physically located.