Cultural Imperialism: Essays on the Political Economy of Cultural Domination / Edition 1

by Bernd Hamm, Russell Smandych, Russell Charles Smandych

Overview

What is cultural imperialism? What are the arguments made by critics and apologists of recent well-documented efforts at American global cultural domination? How is cultural imperialism related to neo-liberalism and globalization? Is cultural imperialism a one-way process, or is it inherently recursive, involving many possible reverse cultural flows? How is American, and more broadly Anglo-Western, cultural imperialism revealed in specific cultural institutions, processes, and recent geopolitical global developments, including: the Hollywood motion picture industry and the culturally-homogenizing influence of powerful Western cultural and media industries; the battle over the "hearts and minds" of the masses during the US-led "War on Terrorism"; the neo-liberal attack on the humanities; GATS agreements on trade liberalization and the commodification of education; the forced imposition of World Bank-initiated "good governance" regimes in developing countries; and the current human catastrophe we are experiencing from our seemingly inevitable move toward global ecological destruction? These are some of the many questions answered by the authors in this book.

Critical thinking on cultural imperialism now cuts across many academic disciplines and subfields of interdisciplinary study. This is clearly reflected in the contents of the current book, which offers a diverse range of essays on the state of current research, knowledge, and global political action and debate on cultural imperialism. These 19 chapters, written by authors coming from many fields of interest and geographical backgrounds, provide compelling evidence of the close connection between cultural imperialism and the global power structure and the political and economic objectives behind current American attempts at global domination. However, as several of the chapters also show, cultural imperialism is certainly, historically, not an American invention, and it will probably long outlive the current American Empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781551117072
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press, Higher Education Division
Publication date:	02/23/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Bernd Hamm is Professor of Sociology, Jean Monnet Professor of European Studies, and UNESCO Chair in Europe in a Global Perspective at the University of Trier, Germany.

Russell Smandych is Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Notes on Contributors

Part 1: Defining Cultural Imperialism

Introduction

Chapter 1. Cultural Imperialism and Its Critics: Rethinking Cultural Domination and Resistance,
Russell Smandych

Chapter 2. Cultural Imperialism: The Political Economy of Cultural Domination,
Bernd Hamm

Part 2: Cultural Imperialism: History and Future

Introduction

Chapter 3. Cultural Imperialism: A Short History, Future, and a Postscript from the Present,
Susantha Goonatilake

Chapter 4. Imperialism as a Theory of the Future,
Ashis Nandy

Chapter 5. Cynical Science: Science and Truth as Cultural Imperialism,
Bernd Hamm

Part 3: Media Imperialism and Cultural Politics

Introduction

Chapter 6. Legitimating Domination: Notes on the Changing Face of Cultural Imperialism,
Katharine Sarikakis

Chapter 7. Content Industries and Cultural Diversity: The Case of Motion Pictures,
Christoph Germann

Chapter 8. Cultural Imperialism, State's Power, and Civic Activism in and Beyond Cyberspace: Asia's Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs) in Comparative Perspective,
On-kwok Lai

Chapter 9. Media Transmitted Values Transfer: The US at "War Against Terrorism" and its Implications for the Information Society,
Elvira Classen

Part 4: Neo-Liberalism, Globalization, and Cultural Imperialism

Introduction

Chapter 10. Neo-Liberalism and the Attack on the Humanities: The New Social Science of Cultural Imperialism,
Herbert Schui

Chapter 11. The Role of GATS in the Commodification of Education,
Christoph Scherrer

Chapter 12. From White Man's Burden to Good Governance: Economic Liberalization and the Commodification of Law and Ethics,
D. Parthasarathy

Chapter 13. Deradicalization and the Defeat of the Feminist Movement: The Case of the Philippines,
Sheilfa B. Alojamiento

Part 5: Linguistic and Ecological Imperialism

Introduction

Chapter 14. Analyzing and Resisting Linguistic Imperialism,
Fritz Vilmar

Chapter 15. Protection of the World's Linguistic and Ecological Diversity: Two Sides of the Same Coin,
Hermann H. Dieter

Chapter 16. Eco-Imperialism as an Aspect of Cultural Imperialism,
Gustav W. Sauer and Bernd Hamm

Part 6: Postcolonialism and Cultural Imperialism

Introduction

Chapter 17. The Cultural Imperialism of Law,
Russell Smandych

Chapter 18. Enrique Dussel and Ali Shari'ati on Cultural Imperialism,
Abbas Manoochehri

Chapter 19. Redefining Cultural Imperialism and the Dynamics of Culture Contacts,
Biyot K. Tripathy

Index

What People are Saying About This

Rodney Kueneman

[...] the material in this text comes from around the globe, and these local stories aptly demonstrate that it is the logic of capitalism, especially in its neo-liberal form, which is shaping market, state, and culture to support it. The chapters in this text repeatedly point out that the assault on non-capitalist cultures has been relentless, insidious, ingenious, and imperial. It is also shown to be extremely dangerous because it encourages a way of life that not only creates inequality, human suffering, and desperation but is also unsustainable. [...] This work provides each of us with an opportunity to reevaluate the emphasis that we place on the political, economic dimensions of human society and to reaffirm the central place of culture in our understanding of human affairs. It makes an excellent multidisciplinary contribution to the political economy literature.