Globalization, reflexivity, and the project of the self: a virtual intercultural learning process

Abstract

In this paper, the authors examine the consumption practices of young adult Iranians in the context of cultural globalization. Based on the analysis of qualitative data collected through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups with 28 individuals in Tehran and Karaj, the authors demonstrate how, through its cultural flow (circulation of images, signs, products, etc.) globalization stimulates reflexivity in “an ongoing process of virtual intercultural learning” through which people reconstitute their lives and change their everyday consumption practices and lifestyle choices. The key contribution of the study lies in the fact that it examines consumers’ subjective consumption experiences in a society where the traditional/institutional dynamics enforce their own values and ideal lifestyles on individuals.

Keywords:

• cultural globalization
• reflexivity
• virtual intercultural learning
• the self

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers and Lisa Peñaloza for their very insightful comments on earlier version of this paper. We also thank all those who participated in this study and shared their life experiences with us. We are also sincerely grateful to Pauline Maclaran, Fuat Fιrat, Craig Thompson, and Dannie Kjeldgaard, who provided us with helpful comments whilst we were conducting the research.

Notes

Due to ambiguity of regulations and complex power structures in Iran, “proper” is not defined and is left to the discretion of individual authorized forces such as the Morality Police and the Basij militia.

Moharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The Shia's commemorate the Martyrdom of Imam Hossein (the third Imam of the Shia's) and his family and disciples on Tasua (ninth of Moharram) and Ashura (10th of Moharram).

Charshanbe Soori (meaning Wednesday Feast) is a fireworks festival held on the last Tuesday night of the Iranian solar calendar year. The festival, which dates back to the eighteenth-century BC, is related to the beliefs of Zoroastrianism. At this festival people jump over the many bonfires they make on the street and sing happy songs.

The Iranian New Year marking the arrival of spring on 21st of March.

Member of the Basij, a paramilitary group of volunteers who get their orders from the Revolutionary Guard.

Quotation from “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost (1874–1963).