Question

Is the idea of ‘cultural imperialism’ an adequate way of describing how globalization affects non-western societies? (anthropological lens)

Answer 1

Cultural imperialism, in anthropology, sociology, and ethics, the imposition by one usually politically or economically dominant community of various aspects of its own culture onto another, nondominant community.Historically, practices of cultural imperialism have almost always been linked with military intervention and conquest. The rise and spread of the Roman Empire provides some of the earliest examples of cultural imperialism in the history of Western civilization and highlights both negative and positive aspects of the phenomenon. Romans secured a fairly long period of relative peace and stability among previously war-torn territories through a unified legal system, technological developments, and a well-established infrastructure. Western imperialism destroyed the indigenous cultures in South Africa with colonisation. They did this through technological superiority and control of the mass media. People came to accept the inferior version of themselves as portrayed by Western culture. Hollywood films became a way of exporting American culture and create an acceptance of Western heroism. South African artists aspire to overseas recognition rather than building their own culture. Asia is the world's largest regional market, and it is no longer just a consumer of Western culture but also a significant exporter of its own brands of indigenous and hybrid musical and dance forms. Asia has also a considerable diaspora population, which itself is a carrier and bridge of Western and Asian cultures. This flow of Asia-centric culture in turn challenges existing models of cultural power, and raises new questions about the changing roles.

It is a form of imperialism in that the imposing community forcefully extends the authority of its way of life over the other population by either transforming or replacing aspects of the nondominant community’s culture. In 20th century, cultural imperialism was no longer so closely linked with military intervention but rather with the exertion of economic and political influence by some powerful countries over less powerful countries. Many observers view the Soviet Union’s forceful attempts to impose communism on other countries as a form of cultural imperialism. Charges of cultural imperialism have been aimed at the United States by critics who allege that imperial control was being sought economically by creating a demand for American goods and services in other parts of the world through aggressive marketing. This type of culturisation is used for saling products to the non-western countries. Globalization is characterized by homogenization of economy and culture. Some equate the modern trend of world integration to the expansion of cultural imperialism on a broader scale where the world is increasingly becoming homogenized and westernized while others believe that the impact of globalization is mixed. Because there is the significance of increased connection and sharing of cultures. In the early stage of cultural imperialism, researchers focused their efforts mostly on nation-states as primary actors in international relations. They imputed rich, industrialized, and Western nation-states with intentions and actions by which they export their cultural products and impose their sociocultural values on poorer and weaker nations in the developing world. This argument was supported by a number of studies demonstrating that the flow of news and entertainment was biased in favor of industrialized countries. This is what happen in non western countries in Asia and africa.

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