Transcript ECON-220 HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
AND
GLOBALIZATION
DR. PETROS KOSMAS
LECTURER
VARNA FREE UNIVERSITY
ACADEMIC YEAR 2010 - 2011
LECTURE 5
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Cultural Imperialism
Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting a
more powerful culture over a least known or desirable
culture.
It is usually the case that the former belongs to a large,
economically or militarily powerful nation and the
latter belongs to a smaller, less powerful one.
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Forms of Cultural Imperialism
 Cultural imperialism can take the form of an
active, formal policy or a general attitude.
 A metaphor of colonialism is employed: the
cultural products of the first world "invade"
the third world and "conquer" local culture.
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Forms of Cultural Imperialism
 In the stronger variants of the term, world
domination (in a cultural sense) is the explicit
goal of the nation-states or corporations that
export the culture.
 The term is usually used in a pejorative sense,
usually in conjunction with a call to reject
foreign influence.
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Theory and Debate
 It can refer to either the forced acculturation of a subject
population, or to the voluntary embracing of a foreign
culture by individuals who do so of their own free will.
 Since these are two very different referents, the validity
of the term has been called into question.
 Cultural influence can be seen by the "receiving" culture
as either a threat to or an enrichment of its cultural
identity.
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Theory and Debate
 It seems therefore useful to distinguish between cultural
imperialism as an (active or passive) attitude of
superiority, and the position of a culture or group that
seeks to complement its own cultural production,
considered partly deficient, with imported products.
 The imported products or services can themselves
represent, or be associated with, certain values (such as
consumerism).
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Theory and Debate
 According to one argument, the "receiving“ culture does not
necessarily perceive this link, but instead absorbs the foreign
culture passively through the use of the foreign goods and
services.
 Due to its somewhat concealed, but very potent nature, this
hypothetical idea is described by some experts as "banal
imperialism."
 Some believe that the newly globalised economy of the late 20th
and early 21st century has facilitated this process through the
use of new information technology.
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Theory and Debate
 This kind of cultural imperialism is derived from what is
called “soft power".
 The theory of electronic colonialism extends the issue to
global cultural issues and the impact of major multimedia conglomerates, ranging from Viacom, TimeWarner, Disney, News Corp, Sony, to Google and
Microsoft with the focus on the hegemonic power of
these mainly US-based communication giants.
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Theory and Debate
 This kind of cultural imperialism is derived from what is
called “soft power".
 The theory of electronic colonialism extends the issue to
global cultural issues and the impact of major multimedia conglomerates, ranging from Viacom, TimeWarner, Disney, News Corp, Sony, to Google and
Microsoft with the focus on the hegemonic power of
these mainly US-based communication giants.
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Cultural Diversity
 One of the reasons often given for opposing any form of
cultural imperialism, voluntary or otherwise, is the
preservation of cultural diversity, a goal seen by some as
analogous to the preservation of ecological diversity.
 Proponents of this idea argue either that such diversity
is valuable in itself, or instrumentally valuable because it
makes available more ways of solving problems and
responding to catastrophes, natural or otherwise.
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Edward Said and post-colonial studies
 Palestinian writer, philosopher, and
literary theorist, Edward Said, who
was one of the founders of the field
of post-colonial study, wrote
extensively on the subject of
cultural imperialism.
 His work attempts to highlight the
inaccuracies of many assumptions
about cultures and societies, and is
largely informed by Michel
Foucault’s concepts of discourse
and power..
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Edward Said and post-colonial studies
 The relatively new academic
field of post-colonial theory
has been the source for
most of the in-depth work
on the idea of discursive
and other non-military
mechanisms of
imperialism, and its validity
is disputed by those who
deny that these forms are
genuinely imperialistic.
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Edward Said and post-colonial studies
 Edward Wadie Saïd (1 November 1935 – 25 September
2003)
 Robert Fisk described him as the Palestinians' "most
powerful political voice."
 Said was an influential cultural critic and author, known best for
his book Orientalism (1978), which catapulted him to
international academic fame.
 The book presented his influential ideas on Orientalism,
the Western study of Eastern cultures.
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Edward Said and post-colonial studies
 Said contended that Orientalist scholarship was and continues
to be inextricably tied to the imperialist societies that produced
it, making much of the work inherently politicized, servile to
power, and therefore suspect.
 Grounding much of this thesis in his intimate knowledge
of colonial literature such as the fiction of Conrad, and in
the post-structuralist theory of Foucault, Derrida and others,
Said's Orientalism and following works proved influential in
literary theory and criticism, and continue to influence several
other fields in the humanities.
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Edward Said, Orientalism (1978)
 Said claimed a "subtle and persistent Eurocantric prejudice
against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture.
 He argued that a long tradition of false and romanticized
images of Asia and the Middle East in Western culture had
served as an implicit justification for Europe and the US'
colonial and imperial ambitions.
 Just as fiercely, he denounced the practice of Arab elites
who internalized the US and British orientalists' ideas
of Arabic culture.
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Edward Said, Orientalism (1978)
 Said asserted that much western study of Islamic
civilization was political intellectualism bent on selfaffirmation rather than objective study, a form of racism,
and a tool of imperialist domination.
 According to Said, the history of European colonial rule
and political domination over the East distorts the
writings of even the most knowledgeable, well-meaning
and sympathetic Western ‘Orientalists’ (a term that he
transformed into a pejorative):
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Edward Said, Orientalism (1978)
“I doubt if it is controversial, for example, to
say that an Englishman in India or Egypt in
the later nineteenth century took an interest
in those countries which was never far from
their status in his mind as British colonies. To
say this may seem quite different from
saying that all academic knowledge about
India and Egypt is somehow tinged and
impressed with, violated by, the gross
political fact – and yet that is what I am
saying in this study of Orientalism…”
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Edward Said, Orientalism (1978)
 Said argued that the West has stereotyped the East in art and
literature.
 Even more so in modern times, Europe has dominated Asia
politically so that even the most outwardly objective Western
texts on the East were permeated with a bias that Western
scholars could not recognize.
 Western scholars appropriated the task of exploration and
interpretation of the Orient’s languages, history and culture for
themselves, with the implication that the East was not capable of
composing its own narrative.
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Edward Said, Orientalism (1978)
 They have written Asia’s past and constructed its modern identities
from a perspective that takes Europe as the norm, from which the
"exotic", "inscrutable" Orient deviates.
 Said's critics argue that by making ethnicity and cultural background
the test of authority and objectivity in studying the Orient, Said drew
attention to the question of his own identity as a Palestinian and as a
“Subaltern“.
 Orientalism is regarded as central to the postcolonial movement,
encouraging scholars "from non-western countries...to take advantage
of the mood of political correctness it helped to engender by
associating themselves with 'narratives of oppression,' creating
successful careers out of transmitting, interpreting and debating
representations of the non-western 'other.'"
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David Rothkopf on dealing with
cultural dominance
 Rothkopf says that the US should embrace "cultural
imperialism" as in its self interest.
 His definition of cultural imperialism stresses spreading the
values of tolerance and openness to cultural change in order
to avoid war and conflict between cultures as well as
expanding accepted technological and legal standards to
provide free traders with enough security to do business
with more countries.
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David Rothkopf on dealing with
cultural dominance
 Rothkopf's definition almost exclusively involves allowing
individuals in other nations to accept foreign cultural influences.
 He also mentions, but only in passing, the use of the English
language and consumption of news and popular music and film
as cultural dominance that he supports.
 Rothkopf additionally makes the point that globalization and
the Internet are accelerating the process of cultural influence.
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David Rothkopf on dealing with
cultural dominance
 Culture is sometimes used by the organizers of society
— politicians, theologians, academics, and families —
to impose and ensure order, the rudiments of which
change over time as need dictates.
 One need only look at the 20th century's genocides. In
each one, leaders used culture as a political front to fuel
the passions of their armies and other minions and to
justify their actions among their people.
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David Rothkopf on dealing with
cultural dominance
 The most important way to deal with cultural
influence in any nation, according to Rothkopf, is to
promote tolerance and allow, or even promote,
cultural diversities that are compatible with tolerance
and to eliminate those cultural differences that cause
violent conflict:
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David Rothkopf on dealing with
cultural dominance
 "Multicultural societies, be they nations, federations, or other
conglomerations of closely interrelated states, discern those aspects of
culture that do not threaten union, stability, or prosperity (such as food,
holidays, rituals, and music) and allow them to flourish. But they counteract
or eradicate the more subversive elements of culture (exclusionary aspects of
religion, language, and political/ideological beliefs). History shows that
bridging cultural gaps successfully and serving as a home to diverse peoples
requires certain social structures, laws, and institutions that transcend
culture. Furthermore, the history of a number of ongoing experiments
in multiculturalism, such as in the EU, India, South Africa Canada and the
US, suggests that workable, if not perfected, integrative models exist. Each is
built on the idea that tolerance is crucial to social well-being, and each at
times has been threatened by both intolerance and a heightened emphasis on
cultural distinctions. The greater public good warrants eliminating those
cultural characteristics that promote conflict or prevent harmony, even as
less-divisive, more personally observed cultural distinctions are celebrated
and preserved."
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