Globalization and the Transformation of Social Structure: A Sociological Perspective on Cultural Identity Change in the Era of Global Connectivity
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Abstract
Globalization the intensification of cross-border economic, political, cultural, and informational flows that has accelerated dramatically since the late twentieth century has generated profound transformations in social structures and cultural identities across the globe, with particularly consequential effects in rapidly developing societies like Indonesia. This article develops a sociological analysis of globalization's impact on social structure transformation and cultural identity change in the era of global connectivity, integrating four major theoretical perspectives: Anthony Giddens's theory of reflexive modernity and the transformation of intimacy and trust; Ulrich Beck's risk society framework and the individualization of social biography; Manuel Castells's network society analysis; and Arjun Appadurai's global cultural flows and 'scapes' framework. Through systematic qualitative literature review and secondary analysis of national survey data and social indicators from Indonesia (2019–2024), the study examines how globalization is restructuring four dimensions of Indonesian social life: class structure and mobility patterns, institutional trust and social cohesion, family structure and kinship formation, and cultural identity construction. The analysis reveals a characteristic pattern of 'reflexive globalization' in the Indonesian context: rather than producing either cultural homogenization or defensive cultural nationalism, globalization generates a field of creative and contested social transformation in which Indonesian actors selectively appropriate, resist, and hybridize global social forms in ways that reflect their specific cultural, religious, and national contexts. The findings contribute to comparative globalization sociology by demonstrating the specificity of Indonesian social structure transformation and challenging universal models of globalization's social effects.
Keywords
Appadurai; Beck; Castells; cultural identity; globalization; Giddens; Indonesia; reflexive modernity; social structure transformation
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