FIAT-IFTA Federation

The vision of FIAT-IFTA of the Future of the Funeral Industry is the total of the opinions of our members, mainly of our National Members who represent the Unions or Associations of Funeral Directors of their country. Follows the outlook of some of our National Members and FIAT-IFTA views on globalization.

More than two thousand five hundred years ago Confucius said, “Carefully dealing with parents' funeral ritual and piously memorializing the ancestors can make people's moral customs simple and kind ", which nowadays is still the core idea of China's funeral industry to provide service for the dead, improve service quality for the family.

FIAT-IFTA and the GLOBALIZATION IN FUNERALS

FIAT-IFTA fosters local and national funeral business and yet embraces globalization. It is the core business of our World Federation. Our Members – National Active or Associate – expect from us an international attitude and demand also our interest for local issues. The composition of the FIAT-IFTA Board assures this mindset based on the input we get from our Members. It is the challenge of our Federation to provide the right answers or at least to try to find them.
Globalization is such a complex phenomenon that here we are going to dissect its pros and cons of two different dimensions or angles: economic and cultural.

ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION

Economic globalization echoes the views of neoliberal thinkers in which states lose prominence and the world becomes a single global market of individual consumers. These consumers are characterized by their material and economic self-interest – rather than cultural, civic or other forms of identity. The expansion and dominance of global companies and brands in the funeral industry is another key feature. These corporations contribute to deepen global interconnectedness not only by uniformly shaping consumption patterns across societies, but by binding economies together through complex trade networks, flows of capital.

Pros of economic globalization

Cheaper prices for products and services through more optimized supply chains)
Better availability of products and services
Easier access to capitals and commodities
Increased competition
Cons of economic globalization
Some countries struggle to compete
Extractive behavior of some foreign companies and investors in resource-rich countries preventing economic diversification
Strong bargaining power of multinational companies vis-à-vis local governments
Contagion effect is most likely in times of crises

CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION

It refers to the process of transmission of values, ideas, cultural and artistic expressions. In the era of the Internet and fast communications people can interact more easily with each other. We notice the uniformity of the internet obituaries and digitalized expressions of mourning. Multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism are to some extent manifestations of cultural globalization. Communities are less insulated than ever in history, even those who cannot travel can have today a good understanding of other cultures and meet virtually people from other parts of the world. People change their views and lifestyle influenced by global cultural and consumption trends.

Pros of cultural globalization

Access to new cultural products and international education Better understanding of foreign values and attitudes. Less stereotypes and misconceptions about other people and cultures

Capacity to communicate and defend one’s values and ideals globally Instant access to information from anywhere in the world Adaptation of global cultural trends to local environment
Cons of cultural globalization
Dangers of cultural homogenization
Westernization, cultural imperialism or cultural colonialism
Some small cultures may lose their distinct features
Spread of commodity-based consumer culture.

Main objectives of FIAT-IFTA are to distribute the data collected from all over the world to our Members and to facilitate access to these data at our Conventions, in our publications and through Thanos.org.