Globalization and Beauty: A Historical and Firm Perspective

本文以美麗產業為例，探討全球化長久以來的影響。當近代第一波的全球化在十九世紀開展之後，全球對於美的觀念開始邁向同質化的趨勢，此趨勢多少延續至今，並對社會及文化帶來巨變，而企業也在這過程中扮演極為重要的核心角色。本研究探討企業家與企業如何將社會價值轉化成品牌，並將其推展至世界各地，最後進而改變整個社會對美的認知。本文也揭示，儘管在全球化最激烈的時刻，由企業所推動之全球同質化的成效相當有限，最後本文提出有力論據，證明全球化浪潮再次有助於當代美感觀念的更多元化發展。

關鍵字

美；全球化；文化

並列摘要

This paper uses the beauty industry to explore the impact of globalization over the very long run. When the first wave of modern globalization struck in the nineteenth century, a homogenization of global beauty ideals began- one which has, to some extent, continued until the present day. This has had enormous societal and cultural consequences, and business enterprises are at the heart of this process. The paper explores how entrepreneurs and firms translated societal values into brands, globalized them, and changed societal perceptions of beauty as a result. It also shows the limitations of the homogenization achieved by firms even at the high point of globalization, before making the case that contemporary globalization is working to facilitate greater diversity in beauty ideals again.