*** Welcome to piglix ***

Indigenization


Indigenization is the act of making something more native; transformation of some service, idea, etc. to suit a local culture, especially through the use of more indigenous people in administration, employment, etc.

The term is primarily used by anthropologists to describe what happens when locals take something from the outside and make it their own (e.g. Africanization, Americanization).

In world politics, indigenization is the process in which non-Western cultures redefine their native land for better use in agriculture and mass marketing. Due to imperialism and the impetus to modernize, many countries and cultures invoked Western values and ideals of liberalism, democracy and independence in the past. But now, along with experiencing their own share of cultural confidence, they desire to revert to their traditional cultures and values.

However, the word indigenization is also used in almost the opposite sense, it means: to increase local participation in or ownership of, to indigenize foreign-owned companies, or to adapt (beliefs, customs, etc.) to local ways.

The word indigenization first appeared in a paper about studies conducted in India about Christian missionaries. The word was used to describe the process of making Churches indigenous in southern India. From there, it spread to The Economist where it was used to describe managerial positions and to a book by John Spencer, named English Language in West Africa, where it was used to describe the adoption of English. Indigenization is often used to describe the adoption of colonial culture in Africa because of the effects of colonialism by Europe in the 19th and early 20th century.

Throughout history, the process of making something indigenous has taken different forms. Other words that describe similar processes of making something local are Africanization, Localization, Glocalization, and Americanization. However, these terms describe a specific case of the process of making something indigenous. These terms may be rejected in favor of the more general term of indigenization because the others may have too narrow of a scope. For example, Christianization was a form of indigenization by converting areas and groups to follow Christianity.


...
Wikipedia

...