Cultural Globalization and its Effects on Urban Lifestyle: A Case Study of Isfahan

One of the important issues related to globalization is the impact it has on the local culture. There is a fear that the spread of globalization may lead to obliteration of local cultures and homogenization of societies across the world. Actually, this is the only point on which most countries, except United State, agree. The present paper aims to investigate the impacts of cultural globalization on urban lifestyles in the city of Isfahan. The main orientation of the paper was a comparison of lifestyles of different urban groups which are exposed differently to technology and other trends of globalization. Pierre Bourdieu’s views were used in explain lifestyle indices. The theoretical framework of the paper was based on cultural differences, cultural convergence and cultural hybridization theories. The author specified which one fits to the region of study. The present paper was a qualitative study, and the data collection tool was questionnaire. The results showed that the differences in lifestyles were visible mostly in media, and different social groups acted similarly in other indices such as food, clothing, religion and leisure.