Globalization in Everyday Life of Iranian High School Students
Author: Pasha, Nourollah , pasha_np2@yahoo.com
Department: Youth Studies
University: University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Supervisor: Dr. Zaid Ahmad
Year of completion: 2014
Language of dissertation: English
Keywords:
Iran
, globalization
, pluralism
, de-territorialization
Areas of Research:
Youth
, Local-Global Relations
, Religion
Abstract
This research attempts to explore the Tehranian high school students' point of view about globalization and to explain the influence of globalization on students' daily lives, and to interpret the implications of alternation among these high school students. This research used qualitative methods to collect data from high school students in Tehran, the capital of Iran. A total of 31 in-depth interviews were conducted. The facts were gathered and presented qualitatively, illustrating globalization in the daily lives of Tehranian high school students. Iranian high school students perceive globalization in different ways and derive different meanings from it. They perceive globalization as development, open relationship, dissemination of a massive amount of information around the world, as well as suppression and exploitation of developing countries by the West. The findings indicate that globalization has influenced Tehranian high school students' daily lives across two dimensions, namely, de-territorialization and pluralism. In fact, globalization has influenced the students' eating and clothing habits, their communication and concerning distant events as well as their perception about other cultures and religions. Their everyday lives have been increasingly defined on a global level with global standards. Globalization in the students' everyday life has given birth to two types of students: globalized students and alternated students. Globalized students are those who mostly wear branded clothes, eat their meals in fast food restaurants, communicate with others, and use modern media. They are concerned about distant events, and have plural and tolerant perceptions of other cultures and religions. Alternated students are those who have negative perceptions of their culture and of being Iranian.
