The term acculturation is the one that is normally used to refer to the social process by which a person, a group of individuals or an entire community has its cultural system transformed through the acquisition of new elements or cultural values belonging to another community. The acculturation process can be seen as both a positive and a negative phenomenon insofar as it can represent integration but also the loss of identity.
The phenomenon of acculturation has existed since different human communities came into contact at different times in history, that is, since time immemorial.
The interaction of the human being with other human beings who lived a different social and cultural reality always represented a challenge: coming into contact with something that is not similar to one and that means another way of understanding the world can be a very strong shock. However, with the passage of time and with the progressive development of a world cultural system such as globalization, the isolation and maintenance of unique and particular cultural traits becomes increasingly difficult.
When we speak of acculturation we are referring to that process by which a person acquires or assimilates the cultural traits of another community. A clear example of this can be Japan, one of the countries furthest from the East, with a millenary and very rich culture that, however, has managed to perfectly assimilate many traits that have to do with comfort and lifestyle western.
When a community of people assumes a foreign culture as their own, a process of acculturation takes place. This process can be conscious or unconscious, peaceful or by force.
Different historical examples
When the Spanish conquerors arrived in the lands of the American continent, they imposed their language, their religion, their traditions and their way of understanding life.
The Roman civilization was, basically, the imposition of a cultural model to the different subject peoples.
The Nazi ideology was based on the subjugation of other territories and the supremacy of the Aryan race and culture.
Some minority cultures are in danger of extinction as a consequence of the hegemony of majority cultures. In this sense, certain communities in Latin America experience a gradual process of loss of identity as a people (for example, the Garífonas living in Central America make up a community that tries to maintain its roots but its culture is threatened by the dominant institutions).
When the Australian territory was occupied by the British, the aboriginal peoples were victims of a slow cultural extermination.
Globalization and acculturation
Globalization has two very different faces. In its most satisfactory dimension, it presents a series of advantages: greater access to all kinds of goods and services, lower production costs, elimination of economic frontiers, etc. However, not all benefits. In fact, the globalized world is associated with acculturation. Along these lines, some minority languages are in danger of extinction and, in general, isolated human groups are losing their traditions because their way of life does not adapt to the reality of global markets.
The most characteristic example in the globalization-acculturation binomial has to do with language. English is becoming the hegemonic language of human relations and this circumstance can be positive in the economic sphere, but it is very harmful from the point of view of culture.
Cultural domination and the corresponding acculturation of a community normally has three phases:
1) the development of science and technology,
2) the change of the economic model and,
3) the gradual incorporation of the new culture.
