Culture is defined as “the distinctive ideas, customs, social behaviour, or way of life of a particular nation, society, people or period.” Imperialism comes from the word “empire” and it is defined as the “extending of a country’s power and influence through colonisation, use of military force, or other means. Cultural Imperialism is defined as “the extension of influence or dominance of one nation’s culture over others, through the exploration of culture commodities. Cultural imperialism has been accelerated by the rise of globalisation, which is the “process by which businesses or other organisations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.” The American Empire Domination is an example of Cultural Imperialism which is accelerated by globalisation through the use of media influences and online social networks.
An example of how the american empire dominants is through the influence of celebrities over fashion. Celebrities such as the Kardashians and models advertise fashion trends which influence young girls all over the world through social media and networks. Although a negative to this influence leads to the loss of cultural fashion which can be neglected.
There are many negatives of cultural imperialism which include;
- Export of American Culture such as fast foods including McDonald’s, Burger King and Subway. This industry has lead to an increase of obesity and health issues all over the world.
- Export of cultural principles such as Television and Hollywood movies which affect individuals ideas and values. It may shift values leading to changes of their individual culture.
- Loss of Languages – With the rise of globalisation, this has lead to an increase of individual’s speaking english as a first or second language. This has caused a drop of people speaking their native language due to communication barriers which could then be affected.
This loss of culture can be blamed by the large influence that the American Culture has over less influential cultures. This includes the impact of celebrities who have such a large positive and negative influence over the younger generation who are easily convinced.
Although these negatives are such a large loss in cultures there are many positives of globalisation. These positives include the better (faster) communication and relationships all over the world, accessibility of products from all over the world, ease of travel, growth of the five scapes, instantaneous communication, interconnection and interdependence. This positives don’t excuse the effects of cultural imperialisation but with all these positives the effects could be minimised through the ease of communication between nations to help resolve these issues.
Sources;
Drysen, E. (2016). A Critical Examination of Cultural Imperialism and its Impact on Global Communication Today. [online] Linkedin. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/critical-examination-cultural-imperialism-its-impact-global-drys%C3%A9n [Accessed 5 Aug. 2017].
Public Diplomacy and Global Communication B. (2017). CULTURAL IMPERIALISM: THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF THE POWER OF MEDIA. [online] Available at: https://pdgc2012b.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/cultural-imperialism-the-negative-side-of-the-power-of-media/ [Accessed 5 Aug. 2017].
Ashleigh Lockton 