Coming back to Cultural Imperialism. We would like to start with the most rudimentary questions. What is culture. Why do we need to talk about it. What does Imperialism have to do with culture. And what is Cultural Imperialism. When Steger talks about the cultural dimension of globalization, he uses the words “symbolic construction, articulation, and dissemination of meaning” (90). Culture can define an individual, a group, a society, a nation or even the globe. Humans are social beings and since pre-historic times humans have been inquisitive and have embarked upon journeys to find new civilization. Today we are looking for life on other planets. When a person interacts with another, the first judgment he makes is about his nature. Similarly when we find ourselves in a new atmosphere, a new culture, the first few things we pick up are the culture not the economic status or the political scenario. It could be as simple as a greeting in the native language, or knowledge about the local cuisine, clothes or traditions. We all know that Vasco Da Gama brought along spices from his visit to India. What intrigues us so much, must be of huge importance. Culture exists in the form of ideas, language, identity, images and everything the human mind can perceive. Cultural is the inherent reactions, the way we behave socially, what we believe in and what makes us stand apart or defines us as a group. An interesting term at the heart of our discussion is ‘cultural products’. According to
There is an appallingly long standing history of white supremacy in this world, embedded in the anglo-saxon cultures of Britain, France, and The United States. Past and some present leaders of these nations claimed that their Christianity and invincible military powers gave them the inherent right and obligation to conquer and manage the world. Whiteness was considered a direct assertion of superiority and with this racial superiority came a mission. In the late 19th century, the British and Americans assumed the responsibility of “educating” and “civilizing” victims of their colonization, which included almost all of Africa and large parts of Asia. The rise of imperialism prompted a desire to learn about the inhabitants of these colonies (Mullings). The resulting study of human beings-including the language, culture, and physiological makeup- is now known as anthropology. Anthropology is the study of the development human societies and cultures based on biologic and social observation (Britannica). It is fair to say that given the European perspective on Africans and Asians at the time, the researchers likely viewed their subjects through condescension (Mullings). The mere fact that historians felt entitled to simply utilize a group of humans as a subject field, with or without their consent, in an experiment demonstrates a complete disregard of ethical and moral principles of human rights. Despite a transformation in the anthropology field, white supremacy remains a
In my opinion I do believe that U.S. cultural imperialism exist. Many countries in a way look up to the United States. There are maybe a variety of people that wish they could live in the United States. Especially since it is always advertised as a free country. People come to the United States and change their culture and there believes just to fit in. Another sign of U.S. imperialism is the food. McDonald’s started in the United States and now there are a variety of restaurants around the globe. It is little by little that things that start trending in the U.S. later begin to trend in other countries. A product that was first major in the U.S. was the soda Pepsi and now it is all over the world. Another example is fashion trend work places
The political cartoon and poem both called “The White Man’s Burden” portrays how imperialism was viewed by white man. Both sources portray the hard work the white men have to do to help improve the other cultures. In the political cartoon there are two white men dressed in American clothes that are holding a basket of individuals that are Japanese and Native Americans. The white men are holding a basket up a hill with no reward at the top of the hill; which explains that imperialism benefits others. Similarly to the political carton, the poem also describes that imperialism as working for the benefit of others. “To seek another’s profit, and work another’s gain,” quote from the poem “White Man’s Burden”. This specific line from the poem says
The drastic change in punishment for the crime of theft in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Britain, demonstrates the social and cultural shift away from capital punishment. The two court cases from the Old Bailey, that will be used in this paper demonstrate the changing social and political attitudes toward thieves. This change is ultimately connected to the slow growing humanitarian sentiment of society along with alternative punishment options.
It has become one of the leading issues especially in the United States in the past few years. In the world today, many people are witless as to what is cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation defines as when one culture adopts an element of another culture. (Uwujaren 9/30/13) When it comes to Cultural appropriation a lot of the South Asian culture get appropriated. Being a South Asian myself I feel obligated to let people know.
James Petras states, “ We must reconsider the profound psychological impact of state violence, political terror, and the deep penetration of cultural / ideological values propagated by the imperial countries and internalized by the oppressed peoples.” The victims of cultural imperialism become inherently fearful than their oppressor and the oppressors become arrogant and of the belief that they are superior to the oppressed nation and its people. James Petras goes on to say, “The state violence of the 1970s and early 1980s created long term, large scale psychic damage -- fear of radical initiatives, distrust of collectives, a sense of impotence before established authorities -- even as the same authorities are hated.” The violence committed during colonized creates a fear in the people, they become helpless and lose all hope. Many would argue that imperialism is not oppression, that in fact, Europe is doing these nations a favor by introducing these nations to modern technology and Christianity.
The film, Logan is laced with a couple of the course concepts which are powerlessness, othering, cultural imperialism, marginalization, and lastly violence. Regardless, the two concepts discussed in class which impacted the most while analyzing the film are violence and cultural imperialism. Certainly, violence stood out like an oasis in a barren desert when Wolverine’s hand is covered in blood and shaking at the beginning. Cultural imperialism is a key concept when Dr. Xander and Pierce are together getting out of the helicopter. Which means they are human and are working together to destroy all mutants.
Cultural imperialism left the colonized in a state of cultural disorientation which is vulnerable to cultural invasion.” (Akande) The following quotation explains how imperialism/colonization created many political problems. European nations disrupted many traditional political units and attempted to unite rival peoples under single governments that tried to impose stability and order where there already was, such as in Nigeria. To go into further detail, by undermining the cultural heritage of the natives the Europeans proceeded to not only stun African culture, but then continued to invade and destruct the civilization of the tribes.
Na'vi, an eco-conscious, blue-skinned alien tribe with no understanding of modern advancements and technologies. A handicapped Marine, played by the Australian actor Sam Worthington, is sent to get into the tribe but soon "goes native" and leads them in a protection of their tribe against the white invaders. The plot sounds well known however the movie is a sci-fi story set in the future year 2154 and the allegories to the history of colonization should be somewhat evident to everyone whosoever goes through the history book — Europe’s conquest and exploitation of Native Americans, Asians, and Africans which is driven by greed. Roger Ebert, a critic, suggests that the movie can easily be watched as an allegory for contemporary politics because
Not to mention whites were raised to believe that they have the upper hand; in other words, they feel obligated to power. “White colonialism was romanticized and portrayed as an acceptable, even normalized part of history”(Q3.1). White colonialism was indoctrinated that what they were doing to minorities is acceptable. This is because cultural appropriation is apart of history. In Taylor Swift music video for “Wildest Dreams”, she showed appropriation and colonialism. In her video, which is shot in Africa, is only consisted of whites. In this video, there are no African or people of color, which is not normal. Africa is predominantly black, so how there were no Africans in the video with their cultural landscape.
Revisionists solidified the term “Cultural Imperialism.” Four arguments dominate the topic of Cultural Imperialism: the media, national domination, capitalist domination, and the critique of modernity. The media is in a partnership with politicians to dominate the minds of Americans and Foreigners. National Domination was an attempt to draw similarities and create common ground between the United States and other nations. Capitalist domination was the use of capitalist culture and economics in an effort to gain access to a nations markets and raw materials. Those who criticized modernity reshaped Cultural Imperialism to also include the Western European nations as well, and criticized the process of Cultural
Imperialism is commonly defined as "the policy of extending the rule or authority empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies." Therefore, one can assume, cultural imperialism can be defined as the promoting of the culture or language of one nation within another. Mass media incredibly influences how countries are seen by other parts of the world. It allows for what Under the government of Salvador Allende Gossens, Chile was undergoing a revolutionary transformation. Chile attempted to break out of its economic and cultural reliance on the United States, and part of this process included critiquing the propaganda and mass media exported by the United States to the third world.
When people think about culture, we tend to think of art, literature. Possibly even the identity of a person through their language, common practices, rituals and traditions. According to Rivkin and Ryan (2004), culture is composed of domination and resistance (p. 1233). They also view subculture as having double connotation (p. 1259). In other words, culture and subculture has the power to rule over others or resist power and go against the flow respectively. In a capitalistic society, the ruling class has more power and resources over the working class. They generate their own ideas and values into the norm and are accepted by the working class/society. It works like a pyramid. Power is not distributed evenly to members in society. It is
One day the god Shiva teased his wife, the goddess Parvati, about her dark skin; he called her ‘Kali’ and said that her dark body against his white body was like a black snake coiled around a pale sandalwood tree. When she responded angrily, they began to argue and to hurl insults at one another. Furious, she went away to generate inner heat in order to obtain a fair, golden, skin.’
The important texts in every different time period arose from different composer’s ways of thinking and pose a lasting significance on society. These themes arise uniquely in an array of texts including Shamus Heaney’s poems Digging, Punishment and Funeral Rites , Sofia Coppola’s film Lost in translation, Eat Pray love written by Elizabeth Gilbert and in the 2011 Television series Off The Map directed by Jenna Bans. The values explored in these texts are fundamentally linked to the religious, philosophical, scientific and cultural paradigms of the twenty and twenty first century , are a reflection of society and literature in that time period. These texts have formed new ideologies and different ways of thinking in society and have