The Cultural Imperialism in the Globalization
The Cultural Imperialism in the Globalization
INTRODUCTION
In the era of imperialism, empire authorities controlled people in their colonial territories by attaching great importance to imperialism culture. Colonial people were easier to be ruled when they adopted same culture and received same education as in the imperial nations. After the World War II, the colonial nations declared independence one after one and the era of imperialism came to the end. The center of world has been transformed from Europe to US. However, the ex-colonial nations often found it difficult to detach themselves culturally from the developed capitalist countries. Furthermore, many other developing countries are also losing out in culture trade with the developed countries. Instead of using military force to dominate the culture of colony, the economically powerful nations, mainly US, exported value, culture and ideology through mass communications to every corner of the world. The theory of cultural imperialism emerged in 1960s in response to the global media expansion of the US.
This essay firstly reviews the development of cultural imperialism theory presented by some renowned scholars from the 1960s-1990s. It then goes on to discuss the theory 's applicability to the 21st century, also known as the era of globalization. In this section two categories of opinions are analyzed - one insists that culture imperialism is still prevailing in the form of cultural globalization, while the other claims that culture globalization has replaced the cultural imperialism.
REVIEW OF CULTURAL IMPERIALISM THEORY
Background and evolution of the theory
The cultural imperialism theory arose from the following reasons. First of all, during the cold war, the United States and the Soviet Union competed to expand into developing countries. The declaration of independence did not really make the ex-colonial nations to break away from the super powers ' control. Moreover, 1960s witnessed a
INTRODUCTION
In the era of imperialism, empire authorities controlled people in their colonial territories by attaching great importance to imperialism culture. Colonial people were easier to be ruled when they adopted same culture and received same education as in the imperial nations. After the World War II, the colonial nations declared independence one after one and the era of imperialism came to the end. The center of world has been transformed from Europe to US. However, the ex-colonial nations often found it difficult to detach themselves culturally from the developed capitalist countries. Furthermore, many other developing countries are also losing out in culture trade with the developed countries. Instead of using military force to dominate the culture of colony, the economically powerful nations, mainly US, exported value, culture and ideology through mass communications to every corner of the world. The theory of cultural imperialism emerged in 1960s in response to the global media expansion of the US.
This essay firstly reviews the development of cultural imperialism theory presented by some renowned scholars from the 1960s-1990s. It then goes on to discuss the theory 's applicability to the 21st century, also known as the era of globalization. In this section two categories of opinions are analyzed - one insists that culture imperialism is still prevailing in the form of cultural globalization, while the other claims that culture globalization has replaced the cultural imperialism.
REVIEW OF CULTURAL IMPERIALISM THEORY
Background and evolution of the theory
The cultural imperialism theory arose from the following reasons. First of all, during the cold war, the United States and the Soviet Union competed to expand into developing countries. The declaration of independence did not really make the ex-colonial nations to break away from the super powers ' control. Moreover, 1960s witnessed a
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