Is
the transfer of the American culture an instrument of power and
cultural transmission actually cultural imperialism?
To
answer this question one has to take a look at history, especially at
the time after World War II in Europe. As the article clearly states,
there are two opposing answers to this question. On the one hand
people say that the United States consciously tried to export their
culture in order to get access to cheap labor, new markets etc., but
on the other hand people argue that it is a more fluid concept of
giving, taking and adapting cultural products and values which would
make "transmission" the more appropriate term.
Taking
a closer look at American history one can discover that the U.S.
actually founded a propaganda organisation right after World War II
with the single purpose of transmitting the American culture to other
countries. These plans developed mainly due to the political and
economic competition between the U.S. and the communist Soviet
States, as well as the fact that America had a rather bad reputation
all over the world. But even if the main reason for establishing this
institution was based on the intention to spread the well-working,
supposedly universally beneficial democratic way of life, it is hard
to imagine this without a certain amount of pressure being put on
societies to adopt American culture, making it seem imperialistic
rather than just a form of transmission.
But
the concept of cultural imperialism also pictures the countries to
which the American culture is transferred as passive victims, which
is simply not the case when looking at the different countries of
Western Europe.
Of
course, American culture has influenced those countries but the most
influential organisations where in fact non-governmental. Studies
also showed that societies do actively resist to American (or any
other) cultural influences if they feel it threatens their own
traditions and values or they adapt and modify it to their specific
needs. Other cultures adopt new cultural products from the U.S.
knowing that it does not interfere with their "old"
cultural values and is just too different. These facts show that
American culture or any other culture cannot be forced on other
countries so easily because the individual cultural identity as well
as resistance play an important role in this process.
So
maybe "transmission" is the term that describes the process
of cultural transfer more accurately than "imperialism".
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