Globalization, religious fundamentalism and the need for meaning

Globalization may well be the meta-context of our time. This paper seeks to enhance a theoretical understanding of the relationship between globalization and religious fundamentalism. Previous papers [Salzman, M. (2001). Globalization, culture & anxiety. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 10(4): 337–352; Salzman, M. (2003). Existential anxiety, religious fundamentalism, the “clash of civilizations” and terror management theory. Cross Cultural Psychology Bulletin, 37(3): 10–16] utilized a Terror Management Theory perspective in the exploration of the interaction of globalization, culture, anxiety, fundamentalism and intercultural conflict. [Salzman, M. (2006). “Culture Wars” and intercultural conflict from three theoretical perspectives. Paper presented at the XVIIIth international congress international association for cross-cultural psychology] expanded this inquiry by looking at intercultural conflict through the theoretical perspectives of Social Identity Theory, Modernization Theory and Terror Management Theory. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize and extend this inquiry by specifically focusing on the phenomena of religious fundamentalism and its relationship to the processes and dynamics of globalization. This inquiry is anchored by the bedrock question of what human beings truly need and how they seek to address and satisfy real needs. This paper, then, examines the nature of religious fundamentalism, culture-threat, globalization and their interactions through multiple perspectives and considers their implications for conflict, terrorism, development and peace.