AP® Human Geography review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/geo/units/3/3-6)
Unit 3 · Topic 3.6
3.6 Contemporary Causes of Diffusion
Today culture spreads faster than ever because of urbanization, globalization and communication technology. That makes cultures more alike in some ways, threatens many small languages, and also sparks efforts to protect local identity.
Key terms
- globalization
- time-space convergence
- cultural convergence
- cultural divergence
- Indigenous language loss
Forces changing culture now
- Urbanization: as people move to cities, they mix with people from other backgrounds, adopt new foods, music and languages, and often leave rural traditions behind.
- Globalization: the growing connection of the world's economies and cultures. Global companies, brands and franchises put the same products in cities everywhere.
- Media and technology: streaming, social media and smartphones spread music, film and ideas worldwide. South Korean pop music and dramas, Japanese anime and Nigeria's large film industry, known as Nollywood, all have global audiences.
- Politics, economics and social relationships: government language policies, tourism, migration and online communities all reshape culture. Culture is socially constructed, meaning people create and change it through these interactions.
Time-space convergence
Time-space convergence is the shrinking of travel and communication time between places because of new technology. The geographer Donald Janelle introduced the term in the 1960s. It's closely related to time-space compression (topic 1.4). A letter that once took weeks to cross an ocean is now an instant message, and a trend can go global in days. This speeds up both contagious and hierarchical diffusion.
English rises, Indigenous languages fall
English is used worldwide in business, science, the internet and entertainment, and it is the language studied by the most learners. Counting first and second-language speakers, it is the most widely spoken language in the world (Ethnologue).
At the same time, many small languages are disappearing. There are a little over 7,000 living languages, and more than 40% are endangered, according to Ethnologue. Many endangered languages are Indigenous languages with few remaining speakers, often older people, as young people shift to national or global languages for school and work. When a language dies, knowledge of local plants, places, history and ways of thinking can be lost with it. The UN declared 2022–2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to draw attention to the problem.
Convergence and divergence
Cultural convergence is when cultures become more alike through contact, like teenagers in many countries wearing the same brands and streaming the same songs.
Cultural divergence is when cultures become more distinct, often because a group pushes back to protect its identity. Examples include language revival and protection efforts: Māori language preschools called kōhanga reo, begun in New Zealand in 1982; Hawaiian-language immersion preschools, begun in 1984; Welsh-language schooling and Wales's goal of a million Welsh speakers by 2050; Quebec's Charter of the French Language of 1977; and France's 1994 law requiring French in advertising and workplaces. The same technology that spreads global culture also helps small groups share music, teach languages online and connect with people abroad.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
One process, two outcomes
Explain how the internet can lead to both cultural convergence and cultural divergence.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Convergence: global platforms spread the same music, brands and slang to users everywhere, so young people in different countries adopt similar tastes.
- Step 2: Divergence: the same tools let minority-language communities create online lessons, music and social media in their own language, strengthening their distinct identity.
- Step 3: Tie both to time-space convergence: the internet removes the delay of distance, so global and local culture both spread faster.
Answer: The internet spreads global music, brands and slang, so cultures grow more alike (convergence). It also lets minority communities share content in their own languages and strengthen distinct identities (divergence).
Common mistakes
- Assuming globalization only creates convergence. It also triggers divergence and local pushback.
- Mixing up time-space convergence and cultural convergence. One is about shrinking travel and communication time; the other is cultures becoming similar.
- Blaming language loss only on the internet. Schooling, jobs, migration and past government policies matter too.
On the exam
- Expect questions that ask you to explain how a contemporary process, like globalization or social media, changes a cultural practice.
- For language loss, give a cause (like schooling or jobs in a dominant language) and an effect (like lost local knowledge).
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 3.6 Contemporary Causes of Diffusion. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
Which of the following best explains why English has spread so widely as a second language in recent decades?
In many Indigenous communities, fewer children learn their grandparents' language at home, and some languages now have only a few elderly speakers. Which of the following has most contributed to this trend?
Which of the following is the best example of cultural divergence?
A trip from New York to Los Angeles took several months by wagon in the 1840s, several days by train by the 1880s and about six hours by jet today. Geographers describe this change as
0 of 4 answered