The Universal Surname : a theoretical-empirical enquiry into the relationship between globalization and sameness

Abstract

The dissertation The Universal Surname - A Theoretical-Empirical Enquiry Into The Relationship Between Globalization and Sameness has developed a theoretical-empirical model of globalization and cultural sameness. The motivation for the research originated in a seemingly widespread societal fear that 'we will all become the same'. Observations made during a four year period when I worked for a multinational seemed to support a sameness-thesis. The purpose of this dissertation was two-fold. The first purpose was to lay out a theoretical framework for systematically thinking about the impact of processes of economic globalization on cultural practices. The second purpose of the research was to empirically investigate the relationship between processes of economic and cultural globalization on a local and small-scale level.