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随着全球化一词的提出，文化全球化一词也经常出现在各种媒体。对这一概念需从对文化全球化的理解，结合经济、政治、社会生活等方面综合分析。

“全球化”（globalization）一词，是80 年代在西方报纸上出现的。90年代以后，联合国秘书长加利宣布“世界进入了全球化时代”。“全球化”一词被广泛地引用到各个领域，与此相关的概念如经济全球化、全球一体化等概念也随之而来。

对全球化的理解也是众说纷纭，一般有以下几种理解：

第一，全球化主要指世界经济一体化，各个国家经济相互交织，相互融合，以至形成了全球经济整体。

第二，全球化也即经济、政治、文化和生活方式的全球化。

第三，全球化至今尚未有统一的界定。经济学家、政治学家、社会学家和文化学家都从各自的领域作出解释。文化学家多指商业文化、大众文化以及消费主义占领文化市场的世界现象。

第四，应当从更深层次上理解全球化的概念。全球化描述的是一种全球范围的深刻变化，这样的变化并不是新现象。从西欧资本主义在全球的扩张开始，国际分工与世界经济的形成，各种知识体系的形成，意识形态和宗教的世界范围的影响，到今天货物、服务、技术、资本、信息、人员的跨国流动与资源配置，都是全球化的表现。

'All that is solid melts into air.' This quote by Karl Marx is important in understanding the relationship of modernity, postmodernity, and globalization because the one thing all three terms have in common is that they are ever-changing. The ideas of modernity and postmodernity are always changing along with time, as are the flows of globalization. I think the three terms are ever-changing because they are affected by the world we live in, which is always changing.

Since the world is always changing, what is considered 'modern' will never stay the same. Everyday new ideas are being thought, knowledge is being created, and new relationships are formed. As long as time keeps changing, the three terms will too. Going back to the quote before, nothing lasts forever.

No one really agrees as to what modernity, postmodernity, and globalization really mean. There are various opinions on each term. The only thing people manage to agree on is that postmodernity is a reaction to modernity and that globalization connects everybody in the world in some way.

In the article, 'Modernity: An Introduction to Modern Societies,' it defines modernity with four characteristics. In order for a time period to be considered 'modern', it must have a dominance of secular forms of political power and authority, a monetarized exchange economy, a decline of the traditional social order, and a decline of the religious world-view. Each characteristic has to do with a change in what came before it. In order for a society to be considered 'modern', it must change completely from the prior society.

The ideas of Modernity can be traced back to the Enlightenment period. On page 25 in the article, 'Modernity: An Introduction to Modern Societies,' it describes the Enlightenment as 'the creation of a new framework of ideas about man, society, and nature, which challenged existing conceptions rooted in a traditional world-view, dominated by Christianity.' Before that time period, the only thing people were allowed to believe was what the Church told them. During the Enlightenment, people began to think rationally and have their own beliefs. The Enlightenment period began the times of progress we would enjoy to the present time.

In the book, 'Cosmopolis,' on page 14 it says, 'We were taught that this 17th century insistence on the power of rationality, along with the rejection of tradition and superstition reshaped European life and society generally.' If people never began to think rationally and still believed in the Church, there would be no such thing as modernity. Imagine what the world would be like if change was never possible. This is why I think we are lucky to live in these times of constant change.&nbs