TERMS:

Popular Culture - Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that

shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.
Local Culture - a group of people in a particular place who see themselves
as a collective or a community, who share experiences, customs, and traits,
and who work to preserve those traits and customs in order to claim
uniqueness and to distinguish themselves from others.
Material Culture - The physical manifestations of human activities; includes
tools, campsites, art, and structures. The most durable aspects of culture.
Nonmaterial Culture - ideas, knowledge and beliefs that influence people's
behavior, not physical objects.
Assimilation - When people lose their local culture and get into the popular
culture.
Custom - accepted or habitual practice.
Cultural Appropriation - The process by which culture adopts customs and
knowledge from other cultures and use them for their own benefit.
Neolocalism - The seeking out of the regional culture and reinvigoration of
it in response to the uncertainty of the modern world.
Ethnic Neighborhood - an area within a city containing members of the
same ethnic background.
Commodification - the process though which something is given monetary
value.
Authenticity - in the context of local cultures or customs, the accuracy with
which the single stereotypical or typecast image or experience conveys an
otherwise dynamic and complex local culture or its customs
Time-Space Compression - the social and psychological effects of living in
a world in which time-space convergence has rapidly reached a high level of
intensity
Reterritorialization - with respect to popular culture, when people within a
place start to produce an aspect of popular culture themselves, doing so in
the context of their local culture and making it their own

Placelessness - defined by the geographer Edward Relph as the loss of

uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape so that one place looks like the
next
Global-Local Continuum - The notion that what happens at a global scale
has a direct effect on what happens at the local scale, and vice versa.
Glocalization - The process by which people in a local place mediate and
alter regional, national, and global processes
Cultural Landscape - the visible imprint of human activity and culture on
the landscape

ESSAY:
Placelessness is defined by the geographer Edward Relph as the loss of
uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape so that one place looks like the
next. Popular culture produces a profound placelessness, which can be
largely seen in the United States. For example, one can see this phenomenon
in many airports, which host fast food chains such as Wendy's and the
ubiquitous Dunkin' Donuts. One can also see how this phenomenon
manifests itself outside of the United States. Walking down the streets of
Rome, McDonald's and Pizza Hut are commonly seen establishments. These
places take away from the uniqueness of Rome and may also drive away
potential customers from local eateries. Due to globalization, it comes as no
surprise that marked landscape similarities can be found outside of Western
societies. Global corporations that develop spaces of commerce have a
profound impact on cultural mixing, as they construct buildings and
skyscrapers in different parts of the world that share a striking resemblance.
This "blending" of culture is damaging to the locals of such places. Local
establishments may lose money or go bankrupt as big name chains drive
profit away.