Aericanizm In The Modern World
The influence of Hollywood, McDonald’s or Burger King fast food, Coca-Cola drinks and Nike sports shoes refers to global processes of production, circulation and reception of cultural commodities, where there is no doubt that American products dominate. All around the world Americanization has been equated with American cultural imperialism. In this way, consumers all around the world are seen as passive victims of a globally mediated American mass culture that threatens local and national cultures. Using Gunnar Myrdal’s Cumulative Causation theory and Benjamin Barber’s book ‘Jihad vs McWorld’ This essay will show how those theories applicable to USA in case of corporate colonialism and suggest reasons of such Americanization trend in modern world. Also, it will exam whether consuming American products is act of liberalism and democratic choice or proficient exploiting of global market. Debates take place over the transformation of society into the influence of American culture often featured as ‘Americanization’.
Term ‘Americanization’ refers to a process of cultural and social cultural adaptation to the standards set by the society of the United States. (Schildt, 2004, 1). USA’s such economic engagement with the rest of the world considered and estimated by most of the researchers today by using certain principles and theories. Political scientist Benjamin Barber in his book “Jihad vs McWorld” mentioned issue of Americanization and anti-Americanization in today’s world, including whole ‘McWorld community’ and opposed group of people ‘Jihad’, who is associated with ‘struggle of identity’. Both forces, consumerist capitalism and tribal fundamentalism have an equal strong strength, though in opposite direction, one driven by parochial hatreds and another by universal market. Although there is one similarity: both offering democracy for its own reasons as freedom or tolerance. Warnings exist that a homogenization will generate national distinctiveness because of Americanization and threat of transnational corporations. A Paradox occur, Serbian assassins wear Adidas sneakers and listen to Madonna, Chinese entrepreneurs pursue KFC franchises in cities like Nanjing and Hangzhou, where outlets serve over 100,000 consumers a day. (Barber, 2001, 5).
McWorld’s culture represents a kind of soft imperialism in which those who are colonized are said to ‘choose’ their commercial preferences. However, real choice demands real diversity and civic freedom (Barter, 2001, 5). Regarding USA aims to create products, which will be consumed by everyone despite their nation or integrities and spread them by most powerful tool - mass media and technology. It can be described as kind of strategy which transnational corporations in the United States engaged for. Moreover, theory of Mydral describes those relation between omnipresent United States and influenced by its power world community. Gunnar Mydral used spread and backwash effects concept to explain how jobs, population and wealth spill over between communities and influence of dominate level of economic activity of certain countries.
In case of America “spread effect” manifests by advertising and importing goods, capturing global economy with transnational corporations, using Internet and mass media, spreading ‘American’ style in production of films, music and literature. In addition, although these pop songs, television shows, and Hollywood movies are made in the USA, they are also mediated around the world, thereby helping to shape the way non-Americans view ‘America’. (Jaap Koojiman, 2006, 15). Furthermore, what distinguishes globalization from Americanization is the flow of people, ideas, and things not only from the USA to the world, but also from the world to the USA. As a result, ‘backwash’ effect follows, accompained by brain drain and immigrating of people to United States in the seek of ‘American dream’.
American culture has spread throughout the world because it has incorporated foreign styles and ideas. As a nation of immigrants, the United States has been a recipient as much as an exporter of global culture. Moreover, the impact of foreigners on the USA explains why its culture has been so popular for so long in so many places. What Americans have done brilliantly is repackaging the cultural products they receive from abroad and then retransmitting them to the rest of the planet. That is why a global mass culture has come to be identified, perhaps simplistically, with the United States. Americans mentality and exceptionalism allows them to lead on the world platform and penetrate its own vision, ideology and principles by dominating in global economy and influencing throughout mass media.
Firstly, this kind of spread is based on improvement of technology and mass media. Mass communications are a main tool in maintaining and expanding American influence abroad. Furthermore, American media are used for cultural imperialism, in which american products, value, and way of life dominate the society and culture of some other countries.
Secondly, the ability to speak English grants one access to almost the entire U.S. population, as well as hundreds of millions of other people around the world. Also, the line between Americanization and globalization has become blurred, suggesting that the language of American pop culture - both the literal use of American English as well as audiovisual language in the form of Hollywood and American television genre conventions - functions as a global lingua franca. (Jihaad Koojiman, 2006, 16). Thirdly, American content in films, music lyrics, advertisement and generally, entertaining products is key to such rapidly transforming the world’s diverse populations into a blandly uniform market.
Koojiman (2006,13) using term ‘lightweight, argues that lightweight pop culture tends to be so effective, because its content is ‘light’ (as opposed to ‘heavy’ meaning ‘serious’) and thus is easily taken for granted. Usually, people choose to watch ‘Friends’ after tough day rather than watching sophisticated films with complex thoughts in there. Moreover, such popular tendency of American pop-music proved by its ‘light’ content, which probably everybody finds pleasurable. Furthermore, throughout twentieth century, American popular culture has been approppirate by subcultures, often youth subcultures, which use American popular culture as a liberating form of expression. Rather than denouncing American pop culture as empty and shallow, youth subcultures welcomed the freshness and intention.
To conclude, in a certain sense, the present human world is more tightly integrated than at any earlier point in history. In the age of the satellite dish, the age of global capitalism, the age of omnipresent markets and global mass media, various commentators have claimed that the world is rapidly becoming a single place. (Daghrir, 2013, 21). The basis for the impact is, of course, America’s position as the world’s dominant superpower. Not only does the USA have “hard power” – the ability to get people to do what it wants. It also has enormous “soft power” – the ability to get people to want what it does. As long as Americans remember their immigrant roots, don’t lose their popular cultural touch, and aid and educate the world, soft power will remain America’s most effective tool for influence in these uncertain times.
