westernization
Adopting European ways
Westernization is the process of adopting Western cultural practices, values, or systems—particularly those associated with Europe and North America.
The term often appears in discussions of globalization and cultural change: Critics worried that westernization was eroding traditional customs.
It can be neutral or carry negative connotations depending on context, suggesting either modernization or cultural imperialism. (Capitalized Westernization is more common.)
Adopting another group's customs
- homogenizationMaking things the same
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- adoptionLegal family formation
- borrowingTemporary taking of another's
acculturation
Adopting another group's customs
- homogenizationMaking things the same
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- adoptionLegal family formation
borrowing · imitation · influence · syncretism · hybridization
- Meiji JapanEmperor Meiji, modernization, privy council, prefectures, extraterritoriality
- globalizationglobalization, free trade, global village, global trade, multinationals
- 1800s AsiaQing dynasty, Opium Wars, Boxer Rebellion, British Raj, Emperor Meiji
- Peter Itsar, Romanov dynasty, Russia, Russian Empire, modernization
- social changecultural shift, social progress, social norms, cultural fusion, globalization
- social trendsincome inequality, feminism, social mobility, environmentalism, wealth gap
westernizationeasternization
Adopting Asian cultural patterns
Arabization · Russification · Islamization · Japanization · Africanization
westernizationcultural preservation
Protecting community traditions and artifacts
traditionalism · nativism · cultural authenticity · indigenization · cultural nationalism
west, western, southwest, westward, northwest, westerner, westbound, westerners, westwards