First, the kind of ‘taking of control’ that we refer to when we talk about empowerment is linked to the wealth of individuals in a society. The first have to be able to empower themselves with all kinds of tools, that most often cost money. In countries where a middle class is still in development, such as the BRIC-countries, this still isn’t the case. Which makes them lag behind in the transition to a new phase of individual power.

But more importantly, their cultures differ. For instance: if you tell a Dutchmen he’s bad in something, he’ll get offended. More so than if you were to say to him that all Dutch are bad in that particular thing. It is a sign of the focus on the individual. However, if you were to say the same to somebody from China, he would be more offended in the latter instance. That is a result of the strong social bonds that are part of the fabric of that culture (and stem from philosophers such as Confucius).

What does that do to the change to empowerment? Well, Im thinking that maybe it won’t happen in these emerging regions. Maybe their sense of belonging together is of such an extent that their empowerment will look very different than we have become accustomed to in our societies. Although they as a country are getting more and more powerful, I wonder if the same applies to their internal structuring. Maybe, they’ll grow stronger and stronger internally and become less and less individualistic.

I guess what I’m saying is that the empowerment of the emerging regions and their impact on the world, might not only be a shift in control and power to these regions, but it might also bring a societal shift that will even have a more profound impact on us than that we’ll just see more Chinese coming here. Will our cultures change and become more inclusive again than exclusive or individualistic?