Cultural Globalization

Cultural Imperialism

Americanization

Disney-fication

Coca-colonizatio

n

McDonald-ization

Universalization of

Pop Culture

Cultural Globalization

Cultural globalization is the growth of cross-cultural contactsOne such cross-cultural contact is between America and other nationsThere are opposing viewpoints on cultural globalizationSome believe globalization hurts cultures while others believe it is a benefit

Cultural Globalization occurs through:

●greater international cultural exchange●spreading multiculturalism/diversity via export of pop culture such as through Hollywood●greater international travel and tourism●greater immigration●spread of local consumer products like McDonalds and Coca-Cola●world-wide fads such as the Idol series, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook●world-wide sporting events such as FIFA World Cup●formation of a universal set of values

Cultural Imperialism

● Imperialism: empire building; spreading one’s empire; increasing control of other territories

● Cultural Imperialism: practice of promoting or artificially injecting the culture or language of one nation in another

● It is usually the case that the former is a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter is a smaller, less affluent one.

● Cultural imperialism can take the form of an active, formal policy or a general attitude. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_imperialism

Cultural Imperialism (cont’d)● There is a much-debated position that the

globalization of communication has been driven, particularly since the Second World War, by the commercial interests of the large US-based corporations, often acting in collaboration with American political and military interests.

● Sometimes used interchangeably with ‘media imperialism’.

● Can also refer to other dominant cultures, especially European.

Source: freespace.virgin.net/brendan.richards/glossary/glossary.htm

Americanization●Defined:

●1. To make American in form, style, or character.●2. To absorb or assimilate into American culture.●3. To bring under American influence or control. Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by

Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003.

●What is assimilation?●The culture of a minority group is absorbed by another culture, and minority identity disappears

Amerika

Video Questions●What American images and products were shown or sung about?●What is satire? What is satirical about the video?●What do you think the message is during the part of the video that shows natives of various countries covering their mouths, ie. The man who put a black handprint over his mouth?●What are people in all the different countries watching on their tvs? What is the message that the band is sending when they show the moon set at the end of the video?●Is the video Anti-American or just anti-coca-colonization?

Examples of AmericanizationDisneyficationCoca-ColonizationMcDonaldizationUniversalization of Pop culture

Images of Americanization

Disneyfication Defined●This term describes what some see as the way principles of Disney theme parks are spreading throughout society●The principles include: stripping a real place or event of its original character and repackaging it in a sanitized form, in a way that may encourage tourism, but that does not encourage exposure to, and may trivialize, the actual history or real environment. ●Merchandizing and consumerism are paramount Source: http://www.allwords.com/word-Disneyfication.html

Case Study: EuroDisney - Paris●The theme park faced protests by commentators who argued a Disney theme park would harm French culture with its American influence●Ariane Mnouchkine, a theater director in Paris, and a friend of EuroDisney president Robert Fitzpatrick even called the project a “cultural Chernobyl”

●source: www.dlp.info/History/Chapter4-1.htm

●There is now a Hong Kong Disneyland and a Tokyo Disneyland

EuroDisney (cont’d)●“the fear against a “Coca-Colonization” was a hot topic in the Old World. During the 20th Century, more and more of American culture had reached Europe – and was warmly welcomed by its population. Charleston, Jazz, bubble gum, Elvis, countless Hollywood moves and even Mickey Mouse had come from the United States”.

●Source: www.dllp.info/History/Chapter4-1.htm

●“Euro Disney seemed like the final blow to European culture to some intellectuals, who started a fierce crusade against an ever-smiling Mouse (no matter that the rest of Europe was actually embracing Disney).

●Source: www.dlp.info/History/Chapter4-1.htm

Coca-Colonization Defined

●It is a term used interchangeably with globalization or cultural colonization●Generally, it is a pejorative term (has negative implications)

McDonaldization● Term was used by George Ritzer who defines it as

“principles of the fast food restaurant that are coming to dominate more and more sectors of the American economy and the rest of the world”

● Four components:● Efficiency – the optimal method for accomplishing a task● Calculability – objectives should be quantifiable (i.e. sales)

rather than subjective (i.e. taste)● Predictability – standardized and uniform service● Control – standardized and uniform employees and

mechanized labour where possible● He argues this method can lead to outcomes that

are harmful● As well, McDonalization can refer to the

replacement of traditional restaurants with McDonalds

McDonaldization (cont’d)

● According to the data from McDonald's website www.mcdonalds.com. (May 8. 2001), worldwide, McDonald's serves 45 million people in nearly 29,000 restaurants, in 120 countries, in 5 continents per day.

Universalization of Pop Culture● Refers to trends spreading to multiple

countries● Trend is youth-driven and business driven● Includes tv shows, movies, toys, music,

videos, iPods, e-bay, YouTube, MySpace etc.● Some of what has been universalized is

American, but not all of it eg. Anime, Diesel● As such, some argue that cultural

imperialism is carried out by all nations with strong economies