In the past the perception of cultural reality was influenced by the tendency to construct the world image in terms of the dichotomy: centre-peripheries. Owing to technological, scientific and military superiority and mobility of western culture, a great part of the world came under influence of European culture, which has been a driving force behind economic, social and political development of the world. The well-known phrase “the West and the rest” expressed adequately the situation. In the aftermath of the Second World War the old imperial order has changed radically. The years 1960s saw an independence boom in Africa and other parts of the world. Post-colonial processes that followed resulted in a new, totally different ethnic order. At the same time, representatives of “peripheral” cultures came to Europe and North America, forming ethnic minorities that gradually became permanent elements of ethnic landscapes. The centre-periphery concept became antiquated. The world became a global ecumene, although ethnic and national considerations did not lose their importance. Turn to ethnic roots and tribal groupings is a phenomenon evident in the modern world dominated by international corporations and information networks (Burszta 1998). Multiculturalism of the world becomes increasingly apparent, although in a different way than it was described by traditional geography or cultural anthropology. Today multiculturalism manifests itself, first of all, as a problem of cultural differences within individual states where ethnic, religious, sexual minorities struggle for their place in the national culture.

Świat staje się dziś coraz bardziej wielokulturowy. Procesy społeczne, ekonomiczne, kulturowe i demograficzne w coraz większym stopniu przekraczają tradycyjnie rozumiane granice narodowe, państwowe i kulturowe. W efekcie migracji i działalności mediów pojawia się zjawisko nazywane globalną implozją albo peryferyzacją centrum. Dochodzi do procesu deterytorialności kultur.

Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę.