Comparative Summary of Un and Arnett

In the past few decades, globalization has become a widespread subject of study in various fields and contexts. Despite the various perspectives that scholars take, in broad terms, globalization can be defined as the spread of global cultures, global economy and western social values. Furthermore, the term can also refer to the integration of trade, immigration, communication and transport through the spread of capital, goods and technology. The main drivers of globalization can be summarized in two points, the economic and the cultural aspects. As a consequence, globalization has significant influence on everyone all over the world, especially for young people. Young people, especially adolescents, who are in a transitional period of life, which influences them to become the main consumer group of global media, cultures and products because they are more vulnerable than adults to the allurements of the global culture. Nevertheless, a number of issues have been raised concerning some negative effects of globalization on youth, such as economic, social and psychological effects. It is therefore important to focus not only on the effects of globalization on young people but also on the responses from young people, and in particular their response to the main drivers.

Within this broad framework, two important articles that discuss some of these issues from different perspectives are the UN's ‘Young People in a Globalizing World' (2003) and Jeffrey Jensen Arnett's ‘The Psychology of Globalization' (2002). The UN examines the economic and social effects of globalization on young people. Moreover, the UN analyses the main drivers of globalization and the response from youth to it. The UN argues that some key drivers such as western media and multinational corporation, contribute to the development of globalization, which has negative effects on young people overall. Furthermore, the UN also points out that due to the conflict between global and local cultures, the issue of homogenization has arisen. In contrast, Arnett mainly focuses on the effects of globalization on youth's psychological well-being and the formation of young people's identities. Arnett claims that globalization influences young people in a positive way and offers youth more choice and opportunities. Arnett also points out that most young people have formed bicultural identities which provide them with a chance to embrace the cultural diversity.

Even though the two articles are quite divergent in their approach and overall perspective on the effects of globalization, they cover some similar issues. Both articles acknowledge the importance of young people, who are vulnerable to various allurements around them, and states the spreading global media has significant influence on youth. Specifically, they both refer to western culture as the main culture of the world whose dominant value is consumerism. However, in terms of the effects, they