Cultural Imperialism Is A Very Old Phenomenon Media Essay

Cultural Imperialism Is A Very Old Phenomenon Media EssayDuring the manytime(prenominal) five hundred years, European countries colonized southern countries in the evoke of disseminateing Christian civilization to the primitive race in opposite parts of the orb, as well as securing resources and workers for scotch outturn. As hea because olympianism occurs, it is said to be for the own good of the former(a), conquered civilization, to break up oecumenic determine, respectables and standards of development. The joined States ar currently non the plainly pagan imperialists, but the spread of American determine in the entire introduction is at the jumper troika edge of a wave of spread of Western goods and consumerist civilisation. Today, the phenomenon might grapple a different form, as it is a lot more(prenominal) penetrating and less brutal than the European colonization it is being d unity in the name of freedom of the commercialize and freedom of expre ssion.There are cardinal sides and two major views on the ongoing process. Some consider the annex of the American close as unavoidable and beneficial to the earth, for some American ethnical imperialism is a threat to different cultures.I get out assay to review both of them to make a better and more liable assumption.People who do non imagine the hegemony of American culture as a threat, state that through the media, the United States is spreading some universal values and kind rights. To some authoritarian countries, it spreads ideas of freedom of expression, land, stirity, and rights concepts that should be, in some sights opinion, universal. Universality of some values may be possible human spirit is not that different from one culture to anformer(a), and many values are shared across cultures. However, the majority of the manhoods cultures undervalue women and children in pull if not in ethos. Fin eachy, the majority of the populations people, regardless of the names shewn to semipolitical regimes by those with potentiality, continue to live without real participatory democracy. American ideals of equality, freedom, and democracy now available in the reality may give more freedom to women, children, and to minorities in every last(predicate) cultures, and will promote anti-racist, anti-sexist or anti-authoritarian messages and regimes.Irving Kristol, in The emerging American Imperialism, presents imperialism as an unintended sequel of market amplification rather than a conscious goal one of these days, the American people are going to awaken to the occurrence that we sire constitute an imperial nation. But he later argues that it is not something unintentional, but that in fact many nations fork out facilitated and welcomed American cultural values along with American products and panaches of life it happened because the macrocosm wanted it to happen. To him, the American missionaries live in Hollywood, which is differ ent from the Old European imperialism, which was based on bureaucratic colonial political sciences and resource extraction.Christopher Dunkley, in American Cultural Imperialism No Bad issue says that America provides some of the best available anywhere in the sphere. wizard of the reasons that American series are so prosperous in the world is that thanks to its immigration policies, the US has a population with a completelyoy of Anglo Saxons, Scandinavians, Asians and so on that provides American broadcasters with a domestic audience which is, to completely intents and purposes, intertheme. Please the American audience and you can guarantee you will occupy the world.Some theories of sphericization see, kinda of cultural imperialism, the movement of products and ideas from across national and cultural borders in way of lifes that produce real changes in cultures corresponding that of the United States. In 1994, MacQuail wrote in his book Mass Communication possibility t hat not only was United States influencing other cultures, but other cultures were likewise influencing the US firearm one-way flow may be unadorned in equipment casualty of nurture flows on an schooling theory three-figure estimate, the reality is that as media technology and economies become more intertwined, this seemingly one-way flow reverses itself into a two-way flow in which what sells abroad mildews what Americans see at home. In that perspective, we can talk about an interpenetration of cultures instead of the invasion of American culture in the world.Language is another good will when articulateing about cultural imperialism. incline is indeed the lyric poem of business, higher(prenominal) education, diplomacy, the Internet, science, popular music, entertainment and international travel. The importance of learning English is not just a political or economic issue4. Logic wholey and arguably, the world needs to have one kind of universal words at a basic level. Economically, having a central language could prove as a great reinforcement when companies can use the same calculating machine programs in one language. As of 2006, an estimated 1 billion people speak English5. There has been a greater desire to learn English since the Internet has made such a big regard on the world. The reality is that language and cultural barriers and misunderstandings can get in the way of exerciseive communication and create complications in the work world. With the aid of having a universal language, work can be done more efficiently, safer, and with a few(prenominal)er complications than when there is the factor of a language barrier. For international companies, which have branches all over the world in hundreds of different countries with different languages, this universal language could mean a whole new level of production and growth, and in essence, raise the standard of living for many. Richard Pells states that the effectiveness of the English language as a mass communicator has been essential to the acceptance of the American culture. unlike other languages, the simpler structure, grammar, and use of more concise sentences in the English language, are all advantageous for the composers of ad slogans, cartoon captions, newspaper headlines, and movie and TV dialogue. English, Pells says, is gum olibanum a language boot outionally well suited to the demands and spread of American mass culture10.The American cultural imperialism as a threat to other culturesWe should not forget that the differences in cultures make the world a productive and diverse place. Every individual of each country should have the right to express his or her own culture. A cultural uniformity would lead to the extinction of cultures and it would definitely represent a great loss.However, the American culture is intruding on approximately cultures in the world, in many cases overweight their existence. Superman, Spider-man, and Batman replace t opical anesthetic heroes Pepsi and Coke replace local anesthetic fruit drinks and ruse or treat begin to replace Dia de los Muertos. Perhaps more insidious, to cope with American cultural imports, local varieties and products begin to mimic American products. every(prenominal) the exportation of goods and information from the United States to the entire planet contributes to the exportation of the American culture.We know that the United States is the leader in exporting its information. One problem is that the United States sells its information and media products so cheaply that it is impossible for the whole world to compete. The American producers budget to cover their costs within the US market and can consequently sell at unbeatable prices internationally. A consequence is that it is much cheaper to barter for, for example, a blockbuster Hollywood movie made in the United States than to make a less expensive local production in another country. As a famous movie film dir ector George Lucas says, the United States is a provincial country with a culture that has invaded the world via Hollywood. As long as there has been a talking Hollywood, Hollywood has had a huge refer on the rest of the world. Lucas points out that people in other countries are troubled by what they see as US culture squashing local art and cinema.The motivations behind American cultural imperialism parallel the justifications for U.S. imperialism throughout history the desire for access to remote markets and the feeling in the transcendency of American culture. Though the United States does boast the worlds bigheartedst, nigh mogulful economy, no business is completely satisfied with restrainerling only the American market American corporations want to control the other 95 percent of the worlds consumers as well. Many industries are incredibly successful in that venture. According to the Guardian, American films accounted for approximately 80 percent of world-wide corner office revenue in January 2003. And who can forget good honest-to-goodness Micky Ds? With over 30,000 restaurants in over one hundred countries, the ubiquitous golden arches of McDonalds are now, according to Eric Schlossers Fast Food Nation, more wide recognized than the Christian cross. Such American domination inevitably hurts local markets, as the majority of foreign industries are unable to compete with the economic strength of U.S. application. Because it serves American economic interests, corporations conveniently ignore the detrimental impact of American control of foreign markets.It is easy full to convince Americans of the superiority of their culture, but how does one convince the rest of the world of the superiority of American culture? The answer is simple marketing. Whether attempting to sell an item, a brand, or an entire culture, marketers have always been able to successfully associate American products with contemporaneity in the minds of consumers worldwide. While corporations seem to simply sell Nike shoes or Gap jeans (both, ironically, manufactured outside of the United States), they are also merchandising the image of America as the land of cool. This indissoluble association causes consumers all over the globe to clamor ceaselessly for the same American products.In recent years, American corporations have developed an even more successful global outline instead of advertising American conformity with blonde-haired, blue-eyed, uninventive Americans, they pitch kind. These campaigns-such as McDonalds new international Im lovin it campaign-work by drawing on the United States history as an ethnically integrated nation quiet of essentially every culture in the world. An early example of this global marketing tactic was found in a Coca cola commercial from 1971 featuring children from many different countries innocently singing, Id like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony/Id like to buy the world a Coke to keep it compan y. This commercial illustrates an attempt to portray a U.S. goods as a product capable of transcending political, ethnic, religious, social, and economic differences to unite the world (according to the Coca- sess Company, we can achieve world peace through consumerism).Today, the spread of American culture goes through every communication medium 90% of the information available on the Internet is in English, CNN is seen in 120 countries, Stephen might is the number one best seller in the world. Obviously, there is already a process of cultural uniformity going on, and this can be seen as a great loss.More recently, Viacoms MTV has successfully adapted this strategy by integrating many different Americanized cultures into one unbelievably potent American network (with over 280 million subscribers worldwide). According to a 1996 innovative World Teen Study conducted by DMBBs BrainWaves division, of the 26,700 middle-class teens in forty-five countries surveyed, 85 percent watch M TV every day. These teens absorb what MTV intends to show as a diverse mix of cultural influences but is really nada more than manufactured stars singing in English to appeal to American popular taste.If the strength of these diverse American images is not powerful enough to move products, American corporations also appropriate local cultures into their advertising abroad. Unlike Levitts weak multinationals, these corporations dont bend to local tastes they merely insert indigenous celebrities or trends to present the facade of a customized advertisement. MTV has spawned over twenty networks specific to definite geographical areas such as Brazil and Japan. These specialized networks further spread the association between American and modernity under the pretense of cater to local taste. Similarly, commercials in India in 2000 featured Bollywood stars Hrithik Roshan promoting Coke and Shahrukh Khan promoting Pepsi (Sanjeev Srivastava, Cola Row in India. BBC News Online). By using popular local icons in their advertisements, U.S. corporations successfully associate what is fashionable in local cultures with what is fashionable in America. America essentially samples the worlds cultures, repackages them with the American swopmark of materialism, and resells them to the world.Compounding the influence of commercial images are the media and information industries, which present both explicit and unuttered messages about the very real military and economic hegemony of the United States. Ironically, the industry that claims to be the source for fair and balanced information plays a large role in the propagation of American influence around the world. The submerging of media ownership during the 1990s enabled both American and British media organizations to gain control of the majority of the worlds news services. Satellites allow over 150 million households in approximately 212 countries and territories worldwide to subscribe to CNN, a member of Time Warner, t he worlds largest media conglomerate. In the words of British sociologist Jeremy Tunstall, When a government allows news importation, it is in effect importing a piece of another countrys politics-which is true of no other import. In addition to politics and commercials, networks like CNN also present foreign countries with unabashed accounts of the military and economic superiority of the United States.The internationalization of telly news, while unquestionably a crucial aspect of the processes generally lumped unneurotic as globalization, seems paradoxically to be the least well examined, yet approximately alluded to, aspect of the globalization phenomena. (Paterson, C. orbiculate television news services, Media in world-wide Context A Reader, Oxford University Press1997, p.145). As Paterson points out in his article, few people actually seem to know that roughly television broadcasters buy international news from transnational news agencies like Rauters, Worldwide idiot b ox News and Associated Press Television. Or as Paterson puts it since television is the major great power in shaping how Europe and America see the world, and is becoming so in the rest of the industrialised world and much of the developing world, then the images selected by these few television diary keepers of similar training and background, are dead crucial determinants of how people world-wide perceiver other nations and global issues.Some of these major news corporations are more closely allied with Rupert Murdoch, and Rupert Murdoch is widely believed to have used his print and broadcast news holding in Britain to embellish Thatcher and Thatcherism (Bagdikian1989, found in Paterson, C. Global television news services, Media in Global Context A Reader, Oxford University Press1997 p.154).Commercialisation gives further reason for touch on about international news. The tabloidization regarding printed media, and overflow of clichs in television, as Paterson points out, is c hiefly a process of dumbening down news, and putting emphases on news concerning sports and stars and so forth which may perhaps have further impact on peoples political perception (or maybe lack of it). This trend rises questions about consumerism in the west, and what impact this may have on a global scale. But wherefore is it happening and with such success?cultural imperialism is understood in the terms of the imposition of one national culture upon another and the media are seen as central to this process as carriers of cultural meanings which penetrate and dominate the culture of the subordinate nation. (Barker, C. Global television, Blackwell Publishers 1997 p.183).In conclusion media have speeded up the society between cultures and thereby started to erase the boundaries of space, and even more profound boundaries of nations and government ensuring free flow of information and influence. The fact that America arguably is in the centre of this development rises concerns abo ut which influences and the voice of whom we are hearing. The homogenisation dissertation involved, as posed by many theorists, is both seen as an advantage and a reason for concern. This concern perhaps mainly because of the threat of American cultural imperialism and a consequent loss of diversity, and the possible immense power of position for whom leads this trend because of what seems to be an ability to override governments. The capitalistic nature of media prevents any revolt against the almost monopolistic position the western world has on globalisation via media, and there seem to be no authority that can intervene in this process preventing a monopoly. So notwithstanding romantic the idea of cultures being brought closer together is, there are also power struggles and the possibility to exploit this development, which American officials openly conduct to be attempting.The rise of English as an international language of trade and politics has been one of the strongest veh icles for the transmission of American culture. The place of English in the world has crystallized in the past decades you can read signs in English in every capital, and fluency in English has become a taken-for-granted prerequisite for upper-level positions in international trade and politics. While the forces leading to the rise of an international language differ greatly from cultural imperialism, it would be difficult to separate the two. As English becomes a global language, it becomes clear that language and culture cannot be separated. The AP National Writer journalist Anthony Ted says every one from the French to the Indonesians worry that where English goes, America will follow. Scholars Nye and Owen admitted that it is the goal of the United States to have English as the international language It is in the economic and political interests of the United States to ensure that, if the world is pitiable to a common language, it be English that if the world is becoming join ed by television, radio and music, the programming be American and that, if common values are being developed, they be values with which Americans are comfortable. According to them, not only it is intentional, but also it is a developing reality. If this spread of values, language, and information is purely because of economic and political interest for the United States, the well-being of other cultures and their freedom of expression are not taken into consideration except instrumentally can they be bought and sold for a profit, or can they be used to political advantage to the profit and advantage of the US.Not all social critics see the Americanization of the world as a negative phenomenon. Proponents of cultural imperialism, such as David Rothkopf, a former senior official in Clintons Department of Commerce, argue that American cultural imperialism is in the interest not only of the United States but also of the world at large. Rothkopf cites Samuel Huntingtons theory from T he Clash of Civilizations and the Beginning of the World Order that, the greater the cultural disparities in the world, the more likely it is that involvement will occur. Rothkopf argues that the removal of cultural barriers through U.S. cultural imperialism will promote a more stable world, one in which American culture reigns supreme as the most just, the most tolerant, the most willing to constantly reassess and improve itself, and the best manikin for the future. Rothkopf is correct in one sense Americans are on the way to establishing a global society with minimal cultural barriers. However, one must(prenominal) question whether this projected society is truly beneficial for all involved. Is it deserving sacrificing countless indigenous cultures for the unlikely promise of a world without conflict? Around the world, the answer is an overwhelming No Disregarding the fact that a world of homogenized culture would not necessarily guarantee a world without conflict, the complex fabric of diverse cultures around the world is a fundamental and indispensable basis of humanity. Throughout the course of human existence, millions have died to preserve their indigenous culture. It is a fundamental right of humanity to be allowed to preserve the mental, physical, intellectual, and creative aspects of ones society. A single global culture would be nothing more than a shallow, artificial culture of materialism dependent on technology.The attempt by UNESCO to regulate a more equal flow of communication between the North and the South, to protect cultural diversity and to protect countries from cultural imperialism unfortunately resulted in the withdrawal of the United States because it did not correspond to its financial interests. Since 1984, which is the date of the American withdrawal, UNESCO keeps trying to influence and give recommendations to governments, but it has no power over the main country that owns most of the communication flow in the world the Unite d States of America.