Local Convergence and Global Diversity:The Robustness of Cultural Homophily

Introduction Cultural diversity is both persistent and precarious. People in different regions of the world are increasingly exposed to global influences from mass media, internet communication, interregional migration and mass tourism. English is rapidly becoming Earth’s Lingua Franca, and Western music, films, and fashions can be found even in remote villages around the globe. While some authors point to the pervasiveness of cultural differences, others expect globalization to lead to the emergence of a universal monoculture (cf. Greig, 2002). This expectation is grounded not only in empirical observation of recent trends (Friedman, 2005) but also in formal theoretical models of social influence that predict an inexorable tendency toward cultural convergence (French 1956; Abelson 1964). Abelson proved that convergence to global consensus was inevitable in what he called a “compact” network – in which there are no subgroups that are entirely cut off from outside influences. Friedkin and Johnson (1999) showed later that even in compact networks some diversity may remain if actors’ initial opinions reflect persistent individual interests that are entirely neutralized by outside influences. [....