Urban Youth Culture in Bangladesh under the Sway of Cultural Globalization: A Descriptive Analysis

Muhammad Zakir Hossin^1*, Mohammad Mohiuddin²

¹Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Stockholm University, Stockholm, Swede.
²Department of Sociology, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

DOI: 10.4236/sm.2015.53019                

Abstract

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study which aims to present the contemporary youth culture in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, with an emphasis on the underlying role of cultural globalization. To meet the objective of the study, a survey was conducted in 2012 among the students of three leading private universities in Dhaka city. The central theme of the study revolves around the idea that globalization as a process transforms our cultures and affects our lives wherever we live. There has been a heated debate among the researchers on the issue of media effects on the youths. The debate mainly centers around the question: Does what our young generation watch on the global media really influence their behaviors and choices, or the norms and values associated with those behaviors and choices are strictly learned through the guidance of parents, teachers, peers, and the society at large? This study documents that the global media have large-scale impact on the audiences who are exposed to them. As the survey findings indicate, the urban youth culture in Bangladesh is no longer identical to her long-standing traditional patterns but is found to be melting into western norms of dress-codes, food habits, attitude, and life styles. The study demonstrates that the young generation in urban Bangladesh prefers trendy clothes, fast food, western style of marriage and family, western music, movies, festivals, and so on, reflecting a shift toward a consumer culture with global values.

Keywords

Globalization, Culture, Media, Global Culture, Youth Culture

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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