Vol 27(2): 153–175. DOI: 10.1177/0169796X1102700203 Cultural Changes and Challenges in the Era of Globalization The Case of India

Contemporary globalization has produced many changes in our economy, society, culture, and politics. To many, the quality of resilience that Indian culture had shown earlier is slowly diminishing now. But, this article argues that globalization is not a unidirectional process and there are several contrary trajectories, which have generated opposite reactions. Hence, along with homogenization of certain aspects of Indian culture, globalization has also helped in accelerating the growth of self-consciousness and cultural identities. The growing disparities among dif-ferent segments of Indian population and the resultant unevenness in the spread of a global culture also proliferates diversity. As a corollary, several aspects of our custom and tradition continue to exist side by side as there is both adoption and rejection. The process of globalization is, therefore, much broader, complex, and multifaceted. The challenge today for us is to recognize and respect plurality and multiplicity as a better model of globalized social life