Theory Oncampus cohort
IICS515—Intercultural and International Communication Theory Oncampus cohort — October 8, 2014
(1) Introduction to International Communication as an Academic Field within the Communication Discipline
(2) The History of International Communication as a Phenomenon and Practice
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key concepts
electronic colonialism
electronic colonialism theory
cultural imperialism
world system theory
neoliberalism
hybridization
glocalization
deterritorialization and reterritorialization
Bollywood movie poster from the 1930s
Music in introduction and conclusion of podcast is from the U.S. band, Apache Relay, and the song is called “Katie Queen of Tennessee”
See video of this song here
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outline
(1) Defining International Communication as an Academic Field
(2) The History of Communication as a Phenomenon and Practice in the World
(3) Overview of the chart detailing the history of communication from oral to print and then to electronic culture (see attachment to lecture notes)
(4) Review of chapter 1, “Global Communication: Background,” in the McPhail textbook, Global Communication
(5) Cultural imperialism: arguments against and for the spread of Western culture (using the chart built into the Powerpoint slides)
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1. Defining International or Global Communication as an Academic Field
Definition:
“International communication refers to the cultural, economic, political, social and technical analysis of communication and media patterns and effects across and between nation-states. International communication focuses more on global aspects of media and communication systems and technology, and as a result, less on local or even national issues.”
Chapter 1, McPhail, “Global Communication: Background,” p. 3
Definition:
“International communication is a field of inquiry and research that consists of the transfer of values, attitudes, opinion, and information through individuals, groups, governments, and technologies, as well as the study of the structure of institutions responsible for promoting or inhibiting such messages among and between nations and cultures. It is a field of study and research that entails an analysis of the channels and institutions of communication. More importantly, it involves examination of the mutually shared meanings that make communication possible.”
From Hamid Mowlana (1994). “International Communication Research in the 21st Century.” Mass Communication Research: On Problems and Policies.
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Contrasting intercultural and international communication
Intercultural communication is communication as experienced at the interpersonal and inter-group level among people who, typically, are from different ethnic, religious and racial categories
International communication is defined normally at an epic and systemic scale, and canvasses on a global basis the following issues:
the international and global flows of media content
the worldwide corporate infrastructure for media production and distribution
the policy architecture for media and culture; the dynamics of audience reception
indigenous media creation in various cultures and countries
historical and contemporary debates on the relationship between media, culture and economic development
identity formation on the individual and collective level
the ways ethnicity and race, gender and sexuality, class and caste, are implicated in the global system
technology and the “digital divide” between developed and developing world
the historical patterns and issues relating to pre-Contact societies, colonialism, slavery, and post-colonialism
2. A history of global communication source: Allen Palmer, “Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication.” From Global Communication, ed. Y. Kamalipour.
Antiquity (before the birth of Christ in 1 CE)
Ancient peoples saw the world as a dangerous and magical place
Stories circulated of mythical creatures and strange distant lands populated by monsters
Writing is invented in ancient Sumeria (now Iraq) in approximately 3500 BCE
Early Greek and Arab philosophers begin to define the world on rational terms
The boundaries of the known world are expanded greatly by Alexander the Great in 4th century BCE, as his Mediterranean empire makes contact with Persia and India
Maps provide some of the earliest media concerned to understand other cultures
Other media used in ancient world include:
fires and beacons to send signals
couriers on horseback to deliver messages
carrier pigeons to carry messages
drums, trumpets, and even shouting from person to person in a kind of human “telegraph” arrangement
Seshat, Egyptian goddess of writing, image from stone carving, 1250 BCE
Our musical interlude here is a clip of Tuvan throat singing; the Tuvan are a people located in Russia
Original video clip for this music is here
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The medieval period
Early middle ages or the “Dark Ages” (from collapse of Rome in 476 century CE to 999 CE)
The collapse of the Roman Empire brings renewed isolation to Europe, and the knowledge of science, math, and the known world enjoyed by the Arabs, Greeks, and Romans is lost for hundreds of years
Europe thereby enters a period of endemic warfare and loss of ancient learning known as the “Dark Ages,” the name used to refer to the early part of the medieval period
A lack of good roads meant that travel and exploration were limited
Reading and writing is largely controlled by Catholic clergy in Europe, as the vast majority of the population is not literate
Books and other manuscripts are very expensive and rare, since all reading materials are hand-copied by monks and secular copyists
Printing is invented by the Chinese in the 6th century, but doesn’t come to Europe till 15th century
“Middle” middle ages (1000-1200 CE)
The manufacture of paper, originally a Chinese invention, comes to Europe in 1150, greatly reducing the cost of reading materials
“Later” middle ages (1300-1500 CE)
There is a revival of learning in the later Middle Ages, and increasing demand for reading materials
The re-invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450 in what is now Germany brings a revolution in media
The printing press makes possible cheap reading materials, and encourages the explosive growth of literacy in the general population in Europe
Printing press invented in China in 6th century CE
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Modern era
Early modern era (Renaissance, Reformation, and Scientific Revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries)
There is a rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman writing that restores knowledge of antiquity to early modern Europe
This is the period we now call the “Renaissance,” referring to the “rebirth” of Antiquity’s learning in the West
The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century creates a huge demand for literacy (because of the Protestant imperative to read the Bible for one’s self), and the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century (Copernicus, Galileo, Francis Bacon, Newton) reframes our understanding of the world and its place in the universe
Late modern era (the Enlightenment in the 18th century and the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century)
The first daily newspaper, The Daily Courant, appears in England in 1702
The first transatlantic steam ship in 1819, and first steam-powered railway in 1830, allow for rapid distribution of mail
The invention of the telegraph in 1838 allows for rapid transmission of information in the form of electrical pulses translated into a coding system (Morse Code)
The advent of telegraphy also encourages greater international cooperation with respect to scientific research, development of time zones, and other agreements
The first international news syndicate, Agence France-Presse (AFP), is founded in France in 1835, and is later followed by other major news agencies such as Associated Press (1848), Reuters (1850), and United Press International (1907) to report and distribute news worldwide
The telephone was invented in 1876; wireless telegraph in 1894; first transmission of a human voice by radio, 1901; regular television broadcasting begins in 1939
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General themes in history of global communication
There is the gradual compression of time and space, as the world gets progressively faster and smaller
This phenomenon of compression is famously captured in McLuhan’s concept of the “global village,” and in a different way, in the Jesuit scholar Teilhard de Chardin’s idea that a global human consciousness called the “noosphere” was emergent in our technological, globalizing world
Literacy is transformed from an elite, rare skill to one commonly held thanks to general education, cheaper printed materials, and Protestantism
Technology is an increasing factor in communications, leading to greater centralization of communicative power, e.g., early monopolies in telegraph, telephone, radio and television
There is growing tension between different media epistemologies, i.e., oral, print, and electronic media culture, as peoples worldwide get access to media technologies on unequal terms and with different degrees of readiness
“Epistemology” is the branch of philosophy, and the dimension of life, concerned with the nature of knowledge, i.e., how and what we know, how can we confirm what is true, do empirical methods help us understand reality better, what part does deduction and intuition have in knowledge, etc.
There is greater immediacy and transparency in global communications
That is, we know more about the world, know it faster, and participate in events around the world “virtually” as they happen
A beautiful, brief and wordless short film on the history of communication
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See attached chart of global communication history for details about the features relating to communication, culture and related phenomena in the eras of oral, print, and electronic media.
3. Thomas McPhail, Chapter 1, “Global Communication: Background”
Thomas McPhail, author of our textbook
McPhail’s website is here
We are receiving our first direct exposure to the McPhail textbook here
McPhail is a professor of media studies at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Like any textbook, it comes with its own biases, choices, voice, and selection of what it thinks relevant to the study of a given area
International communication is surprisingly not well-served with good textbooks, and McPhail’s has its problems too
The particular benefits of the McPhail text are as follows:
It is a brand-new edition (2014)
It offers a reasonable overview of a number of topics typical of international communication
McPhail is originally from Canada, and so offers some Canadian examples and references
Let’s appreciate that McPhail’s book is a good place to start our studies of international communication, but is not a complete account of what the field actually involves
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The decline in our understanding of international issues
McPhail opens with an outline of the end of the Cold War, and how the dynamics of global communication have changed since the collapse of Soviet communism in 1991, when the Soviet Union formally dissolved
He argues that the world since has become more complex and diverse, and yet North Americans (and many others around the world) have suffered a decline in their understanding of global affairs and their access to international news
This reduction in the average person’s literacy with regard to global issues is consistent with a decline in the coverage of international news, the closing of expensive foreign news bureaus, and the economic challenges that print media are facing today
“Yet the problem is that though we know the global economy is expanding, the amount of international news coverage, particularly in the United States, is declining.” (McPhail, p. 2)
Ironically, the Cold War – the 50-year proxy war between the Soviet Union and the democratic capitalist bloc of nations led by the United States – meant that people followed international issues avidly because there was so much at stake with regard to global power, ideology, etc.
There are three reasons for this decline:
The end of the Cold War meant that people in the West had less of an investment in following world events, because the global drama of possible nuclear war captured everyone’s attention
The decline of the print media because of its business problems, which have historically been the major sources of international news
The global economic crisis of 2008, which has made the situation of the print media worse, as it has affected the economic viability of print media
International news has has declined from 30-40% of all news a generation ago to merely 14% of all news coverage today
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Growing global interdependence
The end of the Cold War and the growth of a global market have brought about a growing interdependence among nations and peoples, an interdependence we often call “globalization”
This same global interdependence has a cultural dimension that invites 3 questions for McPhail:
How much international media content is made available to domestic publics around the world?
How is that international media content transmitted? And what form does it take? Example: international news, movies, TV programs, software, etc.
How are domestic and indigenous cultures, i.e., those older cultures that inhabit nation-states, such as Canada’s First Nations, being affected by this international media content?
The United States is by far the largest source of this media content, notably in the form of Hollywood films and TV programs
Still from Disney’s film, Pocahontas
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Latin American case study in interdependence
To illustrate his point about growing global interdependence, McPhail develops a brief case study in Latin America and their media
He notes that Latin America – that is, Central and South America – has historically been home to significant government regulation, authoritarian governments, the weak rule of law, oligarchy, economic inequality, and journalists intimidated by violence
In recent decades, Latin America has moved in the direction of neo-liberal policies, which have brought deregulation of markets and greater market and corporate influence on government policy and society
What is neoliberalism?
“An approach to economics and social studies in which control of economic factors is shifted from the public sector to the private sector. Drawing upon principles of neoclassical economics, neoliberalism suggests that governments reduce deficit spending, limit subsidies, reform tax law to broaden the tax base, remove fixed exchange rates, open up markets to trade by limiting protectionism, privatize state-run businesses, allow private property and back deregulation.”
Where media are concerned, this neoliberal direction has meant more private and less government ownership of media in Latin America
Latin American countries have enjoyed several advantages where their exposure to U.S. media and culture is concerned
These advantages include the languages of Spanish and Portuguese (which provide natural insulation against American English media) and a healthy and active Latin American media industry, e.g., the production of telenovelas (which are Latin American soap operas with a global audience)
Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, self-portrait with monkey, 1938
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The New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO)
McPhail addresses a phenomenon here – the New World Information and Communication Order – that we will address in more detail in a later lecture
The NWICO was an attempt in the 1970s at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a major United Nations agency, to create new conditions in the aftermath of the breakup of the large European colonial empires after World War II
The NWICO was a plan, developed by a special UNESCO group called the MacBride Commission, to create what the Commission argued was a more balanced and equitable cultural environment for the nations of the developing world emerging from colonialism
Many developing nations in Africa, Latin America and Africa had complained that, even after colonialism had formally ended, the West maintained undue influence over culture and consciousness in the developing world because of the significant presence of Western media there
The NWICO met with much resistance from Western governments and media corporations, who saw it as a challenge to free speech, the free flow of information, and the ability of Western media corporations to do business there
The recommendations of the MacBride report were never adopted, and the Western pressure to prevent their implementation was successful
Many Voices, One World: The MacBride Commission Report published in 1980
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| Arguments in favour of the NWICO | Arguments against the NWICO |
| It was organized around the idea of a “balanced flow” of information The “balanced flow” of information is the idea that governments, notably in the developing world, would reduce the flow of Western news, media and culture into their countries so as to support the production of news, media and culture within the country by their own people The NWICO provided a means for developing countries to end the “colonialism” of their culture and consciousness, even after the Western empires had ended The NWICO offered conditions in which culture and media industries within the developing world could flourish because they would have some protection from Western media’s influence The NWICO criticized the Western argument for the “free flow of information,” arguing that the flow was only in one direction – from the West to the rest of the world – and made the West richer and extended its influence on too great a scale | It was organized around the idea of a “free flow” of information The “free flow” of information is the idea that economic development, human freedom, and cultural growth are best served when there are few or no restrictions on the ability of news and media corporations anywhere in the world to reach the public The NWICO supported significant government involvement in newspapers and other media, meaning that information would not be free The NWICO was contrary to Western journalistic values of editorial independence and objectivity The NWICO constrained the ability of Western media corporations to find markets and do business Those against the NWICO argued that the “balanced flow” was really a pretext for antidemocratic control of society by autocratic governments in the developing world |
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History of colonialism: definitions
McPhail then offers us a four-part history of colonialism
Before we consider that history, let’s define the relevant concepts
Definitions are from Ania Loomba. Colonialism/Postcolonialism. Routledge, 1998, and other sources.
i. colony
“A colony is a settlement made by emigrants from the mother country, who typically live as a class superior to the indigenous inhabitants of the colonized area.”
Example: Algeria was a colony of France in the 19th and early 20th century
ii. colonialism
“The conquest and control of other people’s land and goods.”
Example: the British empire colonized India in the 19th century
iii. imperialism
“Imperialism refers to the practice of extending political power, especially through the acquisition of conquered territory.”
Example: Rome was an empire that lasted 1000 years
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History of colonialism
McPhail offers the four-part history of colonialism as follows:
Military colonialism (1000 BCE-1000 CE)
This is a form of colonialism defined notably by the overt and sustained use of military power
McPhail cites the Roman Empire as an example here, though we could include other ancient world empires such as Persia
(2) Christian colonialism (1000-1600 CE)
This represents the European Crusades to take territory in the Holy Land (notably Jerusalem) from Islamic control, and also to seize control of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) from the Greek Orthodox Church
(3) Mercantile colonialism (1600-1950)
This represents the so-called “Age of Empires,” a time when countries in Western Europe established global empires with colonies in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and North America
This period begins with Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America after Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World in 1492, and ends with the break-up of the European and Ottoman Empires after World War 1 and especially World War 2
McPhail notes how important the printing press was to this era of colonialism, and how this period also supported the development of capitalism
(4) Electronic colonialism (1950-present day)
This represents the era of dominant U.S. and Western media and cultural influence, and the expansion of English as a language spoken around the world (a “lingua franca” or universal language)
Note: we use the secular dating system in this class. Instead of BC and AD, we use BCE (before common era) and CE (common era). The dates are the same as for the older Christian system of dating. Example: 1500 AD is 1500 CE.
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What is the phenomenon of electronic colonialism or cultural imperialism?
Electronic colonialism or cultural imperialism – they are synonyms or words meaning the same thing – is the phenomenon whereby one dominant culture has disproportionate influence over the cultures of others living in different countries
It was long identified as the pattern that defined the relationship between the Western liberal democratic and capitalist world and the countries of the developing world, both as they emerged from their colonial status after World War II and in the present day
Note that McPhail makes a distinction between the phenomenon of electronic colonialism (or cultural imperialism) and the theory of electronic colonialism or cultural imperialism
Here are some definitions:
Definition:
“Electronic colonialism represents the dependent relationship of poorer regions in the post-industrial nations which is caused and established by the importance of communication hardware and foreign-produced software [McPhail means here movies, TV shows, print media, etc.] and foreign-produced software, along with engineers, technicians, and related information protocols.”
McPhail, chapter 1, p. 13
Definition:
“The central proposition of the cultural imperialism thesis is quite straightforward: the idea that certain dominant cultures threaten to overwhelm the other more vulnerable ones. So applying this means roughly that the globalization process is seen as the global working through of some familiar patterns of cultural domination: of America over Europe, the ‘West over the Rest’, the core over the periphery, capitalism over more or less everyone.”
John Tomlinson, Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction, p. 122
Cultural imperialism was long thought to lead to the loss of the less dominant culture, to the loss of cultural diversity in the world, and to the extension of consumerist and Western stories and ideas to the non-Western world without reciprocal influence back to the West
Cultural imperialism has been debated since the 1950s, and been an interest of many of the major writers and scholars in international communication
These include:
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth
Herbert Schiller, Mass Communication and American Empire
John Tomlinson, Cultural Imperialism
Cultural imperialism within North America: the National Football League team, the Washington Redskins, a source of much controversy because of its use of a pejorative or negative term for “Indian” in the name of the team
McPhail’s two theories of international communication
McPhail introduces two theories of international communication that provide, in his view, a means of making theoretical sense of international communication
These theories are as follows:
Electronic colonialism theory
This theory is better known as “cultural imperialism theory”
It’s a body of work notably concerned with media and culture in an international context
It’s a body of work interested in understanding what cultural imperialism, is, how it works, whether it is real and a problem, whether cultural contact between the West and the rest of the world leads to positive benefits, etc.
In McPhail’s chapter, electronic colonialism theory serves as a way to understand the media and cultural dimension of how cultures relate to each other
(2) World system theory
This theory is identified with a political scientist called Immanuel Wallerstein
It’s a body of work notably concerned with politics and economics in an international context
Media and culture are secondary features of world system theory
In McPhail’s chapter, world system theory serves as a way to understand the economic and political dimension of how cultures relate to each other
(i) Electronic colonialism theory (or the theory of cultural imperialism)
This is the theory that McPhail and others have developed to study the phenomenon of electronic colonialism or cultural imperialism
McPhail notes how major bodies of theory like the Frankfurt School and major theorists like Herbert Schiller and Robert McChesney have contributed to the theory of cultural imperialism
Again, McPhail distinguishes the phenomenon of electronic colonialism from the actual theory of electronic colonialism (that is, how we understand it and study it)
Definition:
“Electronic colonialism theory focuses on how global media, including advertising, influence how people look, think, and act. The aim of electronic colonialism theory is to account for how the mass media influences the mind.” (McPhail, p. 16)
McPhail notes how much of North American media production is now oriented toward international markets
We see this international orientation in the pattern of producing “blockbuster” films with large budgets, the heavy use of special effects, and limited dialogue so that they can be translated and sold more effectively in international markets
An example of this is the film, Transformers 4: Age of Extinction, a film that received universally bad reviews (18% on Rotten Tomatoes), but made over $750 million overseas (and just $250 million in the U.S.)
McPhail notes how important the rise of massive vertically integrated media companies on a global basis are to electronic colonialism (or cultural imperialism)
“Now with electronic colonialism theory a new culture has emerged that is a global phenomenon driven primarily by large media conglomerates. They control, reproduce, and spread the global flow of words, images and sounds. They seek to impact the audiences’ minds without regard to geography.” (McPhail, p. 17)
A list of the 30 largest media corporations in the world (2014) is provided in the next slide
Transformers 4 first film to make over $300 million in China
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Global media ownership in 2014: Top 30 media corporations worldwide
Source: Zenith Optimedia
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(ii) World system theory
World System Theory is identified with the work of political economist Immanuel Wallerstein
Definition:
“World system theory states that global economic expansion takes place from a relatively small group of core-zone nation-states out to two other zones of nations, these being in the semi-peripheral and peripheral zones. These three groupings or sectors of nation-states have varying degrees of interaction, on economic, political, cultural, media, technical, labour, capital and social levels.” (McPhail, p. 18)
Where cultural imperialism focuses on media and culture, world system theory is more interested in the economic and political dimensions of the world
World system theory examines the entire world and understands the world economy as a formal and integrated system of wealth extraction and exploitation
World system theory allows for some fluidity in the categories within the world system, i.e., that some countries may move from the periphery to the semi-periphery by making economic progress and winning political influence, e.g., China’s movement from periphery to semi-periphery as it has become a low-cost manufacturer of many and diverse goods
The various actors in the global economy, including core states, multinational corporations, and international financial institutions, together create a world system in which the wealth is systematically exported from peripheral and semi-peripheral nations to the core
Neo-liberalism – the ideology that favours markets over states, and advocates maximum freedom for economic forces and minimal regulation by states – is the idea that holds the world system together
Nations in the peripheral zone – the poorest nations in the world – suffer a number of crippling problems: corruption, pollution, health problems – and world media attention turns to them typically when very bad things happen there, e.g., Ebola in Liberia
Immanuel Wallerstein is a regular commentator on global issues. Here is his website.
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McPhail’s concluding thoughts
Mexican film poster, 1965
Issues relating to electronic colonialism theory and world system theory are of greater importance today for the following reasons:
The future economic success of countries increasingly depends on their capacity to produce information, media, and services in a world where the post-industrial economy is growing, and industrial production is being moved to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations
The more that countries are not in control of their own cultures, because they are subject to “cultural imperialism,” the less able they are to produce distinctive information, media and cultural goods because they lack infrastructure and an appealing and desirable set of stories and ideas to share
There is growing tension between the neoliberal impulse to sell information technology and related services abroad, e.g., Google, and the national security implications of that technology, e.g., the “Great Firewall” in China, the new encryption technology on iPhones that makes the U.S. government nervous because it is more difficult for spy agencies to gain access to data
As the business model for print media, e.g., newspapers, magazines, continues to suffer, those media will move to the electronic environment, and there be subject to more regulation than has been true of them historically
The fact that 1/3 of the world’s population is online is changing how we look at culture, regulation, and the nature of expression in general
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Cover of How To Read Donald Duck, a classic study of U.S. media influence in Latin America that takes the “cultural imperialism” view
We’ll use the chart below to discuss two prevailing views on the nature of the relationship of Western culture to the rest of the world:
(1) The ideas in the left column relate to a view that argues that cultural imperialism is a dangerous and destructive problem
(2) The ideas in the right column relate to a view that speaks to a view that Western and other cultures will inevitably come into contact, and that this contact is mostly positive
Cultural imperialism: is it real or is cultural contact between Western and non-Western cultures a largely positive and necessary phenomenon?
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Glocalization: deliberately adapting global products, brands, and media messages to national contexts
Ronald McDonald in Thailand giving the Thai “wai” sign
Glocalization=word combining globalization and the “local”
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| The extension of Western culture worldwide is equal to cultural imperialism | The extension of Western culture worldwide is part of an inevitable and largely positive phenomenon of globalization |
| How is culture defined?
. Western culture is the vehicle or tool by which capitalism extends itself for good or ill . Western culture itself has no autonomy or independent value, but is alibi or medium for the expression of the dominant ideology |
How is culture defined?
. Western culture is too complex to be owned or controlled by any one country or culture, including the U.S. . Western culture presents itself not as a powerful homogenous force, but as an internally contradictory and complex phenomenon defined by ethnicity, technology, finance, media, and political ideology |
| How do people relate to Western culture?
. Western culture acts to adapt people to their circumstances, indoctrinating them to accept global capitalism and Western (notably U.S.) values . Western culture suppresses the creativity and autonomy of non-Western people, reducing the symbolic richness in their lives |
How do people relate to Western culture?
. Western culture generates enormous symbolic (or semiotic) riches, insofar as it produces an enormous number of new meanings, identities, products, categories, lifestyles, images, stories, etc. . people can appropriate and give new meaning to Western culture through a process of “indigenization,” whereby they take Western media and cultural products and creates local forms, e.g., “Cantonese pop stars”, Indian rap artists, Bollywood . we now live with a sense of that billions of people co-exist with us, and that we must consider them in our thoughts, feelings, and decisions (Lull calls this “global sociality”) . we also experience emotions on an increasingly global basis, e.g., Princess Diana’s funeral, Olympics and World Cup euphoria |
| What are the consequences of cultural imperialism as a cultural process?
. Western culture acts to “homogenize” Third World cultures (i.e., makes them into clones of First World cultures or “McWorld”) . this homogenization leads to the extinction of world languages, cultures, and peoples, and reduces the cultural diversity we need to survive on this planet (insofar as the Western liberal lifestyle is deadly to the planet with respect to environmental destruction, problems in Western democracy, etc.) |
What are the consequences of globalization as a cultural process?
. more homogeneity can be a good thing insofar as it leads to the building of clean water and good sewer systems, or the adoption of human rights laws . but homogenization is not the most characteristic feature of globalization: hybridization is . globalization creates hybrid cultures defined by the exotic combinations created as Western culture and non-Western cultures meet in worldwide media networks, migration, travel, and other opportunities for encounter . culture has historically always been “hybrid” in character, and globalization thus merely accelerates a process already intrinsic to culture (i.e., culture has never been “pure”) . globalization leads to “deterrorialization,” a process whereby culture is detached from its historical identification with a geographical “place” |
| How do individuals relate to cultural imperialism as a cultural process?
. individuals are inevitably incorporated into the capitalist system . they are seduced by consumer goods, and compelled to identify with Western culture, celebrities, ideas and images irrelevant to their lives . traditional culture is inevitably erased (which is a good or bad thing, depending on whether modernization or dependency is one’s position) . individuals interpret culture as the dominant ideology dictates, and absorb the ideology present in media texts uncritically . individuals are subject to “false consciousness,” i.e., they see the world on Western terms, and thereby don’t act on their own interests . individuals are thus passive subjects of ideology |
How do individuals relate to globalization as a cultural process?
. individuals have an important degree of interpretive control over media texts, and read the texts they receive as “active audiences” . individuals are the best judge of their own interests, and these interests are filtered through history, local culture, socio-economic context, etc. . this creativity is evident in what Lull calls “reterritorialization” . “reterrorialization” is the process whereby diasporic peoples establish a new sense of “home” while living in new countries far from their original country . “reterritorialization” leads to groups demonstrating enormous creativity in blending elements of their original culture and their new culture, e.g., establishing “Chinatown” in Vancouver or Victoria |
| What part do advertising and consumer culture have?
. advertising manipulates naive consumers in the Third World into buying products they neither need nor afford . peoples in the developing world are being transformed into consumers, and are becoming materialistic . Third World peoples need to resist consumerism and preserve the purity of their cultures and values . consumerism encourages selfishness and dissolves community |
What part do advertising and consumer culture have?
. we indulge a centuries-long Western habit of attributing to non-Western peoples an essential purity when we worry about the loss of their moral integrity through consumerism . in criticizing consumerism in the developing world, we displace self-reflection on our own consumer culture . many developing world cultures benefit from consumer goods, . one problem that does arise is “glocalization,” the process whereby companies take global products and adjust them slightly to suit local conditions, e.g., the mutton Big Mac in India, in that this represents a cynical and insincere attempt to adjust to local cult |
