americanism the concept

7/23/2019 Americanism the concept

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AMERICANISM



Globalization –

•A “smaller world”

•People are closer together •A world closer in time and space

•A world without borders

•Goods, services and ideas move faster or instantly.

•riven by technology!ransportation – "hipping, #ontainerization Air travel

#ommunication – !elevision, the $nternet



AMERICANISATION

• The Americanism is based on its custom,

linguistic usage, or other feature peculiar to or

characteristic of the nited States, its people, or

their culture and lo!alt! to the nited States"• Americanism is a term to characteri#e the

influence of the nited States in other cultures

around the $orld"



%The US has been a beneficiary of the free markets, free trade

and free flow of financial resources that are at the heart of

Globalization.

The US is the center of both world finance and technologicalinnovation and has the world’s most vibrant democracy, besthigher education system and strongest military. However,Globalization has brought the rise of emerging !owers" thathave the ca!acity to catch u! with and even sur!ass the US inseveral areas, !rinci!ally economic.

The US is vulnerable to the kind of im!erial overstretch,"where military involvement abroad overtakes the ca!acity of

the nation’s economy to sustain it. However, until now, no other!ower a!!ears to be close to amassing the kind of !ower thatthe US has.



Americanization – the spread of Americanculture

• The U.S. is “selling” their culture to the rest ofthe world

• The U.S. entertainment industry generateshigh revenue from overseas sales•Spreads through music, television, lms, the!nternet, and American corporations in foreign

countries•"#$ of movie tic%et sales in &anada are fromAmerican movies•'T( Ara)ia was launched recently

•!mpacts local cultural traditions.



*ow does glo)alization a+ect culture

- “!t is argued that one of the conseuences ofglo)alization would )e the end of culturaldiversity, and the triumph of a uni/polarculture serving the needs of transnational

corporations. *ence the world drin%s &oca/&ola, watches American movies and eatsAmerican 0un% food.

- American culture is seen to )e dominated)y monetary relationships and commercialvalues replacing traditional socialrelationships and family values.”



-“!t does not ma%e sense to tal% of aworld of 1 )illion people )ecoming amonoculture. The spread of glo)alizationwill undou)tedly )ring changes to the

countries it reaches, )ut change is anessential part of life. !t does not meanthe a)olition of total traditional values.

!ndeed, new glo)al media, such as theinternet, have proven a powerful meansof a+ecting traditional culture.



- “capitalism,” “democracy” and

“Americanism” are used as synonyms.

- The anti/glo)alists portray glo)alization

as an American neo/li)eral pro0ect,accusing U.S. )ased multinationalcorporations to have severely magniedthe trade con2icts and 0o) insecurity,e3ploited indigenous resources, andthreatened local culture.



#ominance of American mass media

$ligo!oly &the domination of a mar'et by a fewfirms( of big media companies)* isney, +arner,

"ony etc

%mbalance of cultural flows) from core- to

!eri!hery-, not vice versa



&merica 'uts a (an on the (oon, )*+*



esternisation - &mericanisation of the world

omination of &merican consumer brands)conalds, /i'e, #oca*#ola, Gap&“c+orld” * 0en1amin 0arber(

Global cultural homogenisation*"ame consumer goods everywhere*"ame ways of thin'ing everywhere

This is bad &left*wing critics e.g. /oam#homs'y(This is good &right*wing critics e.g. 2rancis2u'uyama(



A multinational Enterprise (MNE) is anybusiness that has productive activities in two

or more countries



$ne !articular local culture !lays leading role in global !rocesses, and

this !articular local culture is &merican one. The content of cultural

flows mostly have &merican



•Associated with the “American $mage” A new one opens every

three hours 2ound in 334 countries

•!a'es away from local cultures a'es more revenue fromoverseas than from America



TH US& %S &/ %/#%S'UT&01 1&#2 $3

TH ($#2/ G1$0&1 (#%& (&24T

•)* of to! 56 global audiovisual com!anies have the US origin.

•!he 5"A is also a leader in media content production and e6port.

• 557 of overall television !rogramming in the U countries isthe US im!ort8 in 1atin &merica it runs u! to 9:7.

•ven in the U more then 967 of films have the US origin,

and only about ;7 from the rest of the orld.

!hese are not 1ust material goods7 these are strong images and

brands which bring certain values, style of life, behavior models.



Universal <alues

"ystems of socio=!olitical values which aredisseminated all over the +orld via global

institutions and organizations &governmental

and nongovernmental( and which consideredas universal &human rights, democracy,

liberal mar'et( have western culture

provenance &origin(.!he 5"A is the main articulator and promoter

of these values.



•!he 5"A has the great !ower in world economy

and !olitics.

•American culture has “greater technical capacity”)greater information, communication and social

technologies, which ma'e American cultural“goods” much more competitive.

•ost of modern !/#8/# have the 5" origin.!he level of American economy and effectivemanagement give much more possibilities totransformed local companies into global

corporations.



•$mpact of the Global 9conomy on #ulture hasresulted in a consumer culture built on a tendency

toward homogenization of cultural products andheightened awareness of local tastes and values

•!his homogenization is often called the

“Americanization” or “conaldization” of theworld• !hrough advertising, American music, fashion,fast food, etc have spread throughout the world

•At the same time, global mar'eting oftenemphasizes the local or indigenous value of a product.



"cholar >ose!h /ye introduced the notion of ?soft

!ower’ @ the power of conalds and #oca*#olaor the inherent appeal of American style

democracy –to describe America-s supposedly

uni:ue e6ercise of global power during thetwentieth century.

;e argues that this disembodied power, the ability

to getting others to want what you want, is farmore important for America-s hegemony than the

hard power of military might.



<obert Gilpin constructs globalization as a form of

internationalization that is a byproduct of an 5.". initiated

multilateral economic order. ;e argues it is 5.". politicalleadership that shaped international economic management

and created an impetus for the liberalization of national

economies.

!homas 2riedman also believes that globalization has a

distinctly American face &or Americanization*

globalization,- as he calls it(, but he describes it as a

process that is inevitable but not politically guided.



2eluctant globalizationA U.S. $verseas

B!ansion, )C+6=)*5)

•5.". pre*2irst +orld +ar history as an era

characterized solely by economic eB!ansion void

of any state intervention.

•5.". foreign policy aggressively sought to open

mar'ets by combining it with the establishment of

a naval !ower around the globe when 9uropeanstates were engaged in the imperial power grab in

Africa.



&merica and GlobalizationD E)*)* =

)*5:FD !he period to be considered as aconfirmation of America as a world

!ower militarily. !he 5.". committed

itself further to =atin America, Asia,

and the Pacific, while economically,

financially, and culturally it e6pandedin 9urope during this period.



2osenberg has !ersuasively argued, the

U.S. government !layed a decisive role in

the eB!ansion of media and !o!ular

culture industries and the further

develo!ment of information and

communication technologies @ the very

sectors that have come to symbolize

globalization to its theorists.



•The U S government was actively engaged in the eB!ansionist

develo!ments of !rivately owned media, !articular during timesof hot and cold wars when eB!ort of information, film and radio

transformed into &merican s!ecialty !roducts.

•The U.S. governments’ war !ro!aganda agency broke the

1ondon mono!oly in film for Hollywood during the 3irst orld

ar. &s a result of that government !olicy, *: !ercent of films

shown in 0ritain and anada, 96 !ercent in 3rance and C6

!ercent in South &merica were Hollywood !roductions.

•&merican eB!ansion occurred through civil=society

organizations that were closely tied to the government.



3irst orld arD

&llianceD 0ritain 3rance 2ussia <s entral 'ower

EGermany, &ustria and Hungry

•<ictory of &llies ountries because of US&, entered in the

war in the last !hase

•Treaty of <ersailles )*)* and 'resident oodrow ilson$rigin of Second orld ar E)** to 5:F

•2ise of /azism and 3ascism

•ar started with invasion of 'oland by /azi Germany

•>a!anese attack on US military base in 'erl Harbour base

in Hawai on 9th #ec )*5)

•nds with &ugust )*5: when US dro!!ed atomic 0omb in

>a!an



&merican=led Globalization since )*5:

•!he Post*"econd +orld +ar era &34>?*34@( brings into

sharp focus a new global partnership among an activistAmerican state, corporate business*union coalition, and

international non*governmental organizations that closely

collaborated on the basis of a shared global vision and

strategy.



•The cold=war global reordering combined a set of

tools of control involving military Ealliance systems

and interventionsF, economic Edollar aid andinvestmentsF, !olitical Eleverage and sanctions as

su!er!owerF, and cultural Eimage of &merica as leader

of the free worldF means. The combination was

tremendously !owerful and involved both hard and

soft !owers, economic !rowess, military hardware, and

cultural authority.

•There is a broad consensus that during the !ostwar

!eriod, the years between )*5: and )*9; mark an era

of classic &mericanization.



!he new cor!oratism was an outcome of an

American government that had established an

international financial system &0retton +oods( that

came to determine the global economy with new

institutions, such as the +orld 0an', $2, and

GA!! after ta'ing off in 34?B. At the same time,American /#s became a new international

phenomenon. !he American styled globalism that

merged an economic and military comple6 with acultural production was probably uni:ue. Cne finds

little of it in theories of globalization.



!he proponents and the historically*

minded s'eptics of globalization, and

the 5.". role in it, are correct in their

assessment to temper the 5.". role in

shaping and directing globalizationduring the twentieth century. !he

effects of 4833 have forced scholarship

to rethin' the framing of 5.". global power in new ways.



The ca!italism and &mericanization are more

multidimensional forces than (c#onaldization. That is, they

are more likely to bring with them both something and

nothing. hile the im!act of the United States has itsambiguities, and is not as !owerful as ca!italism, it is clearly an

enormously !owerful force throughout the world.

The !ower of &mericanization comes from its strength in all of

the sectors being discussed hereIcultural, economic, !olitical,and institutional. hile ca!italism affects all of these realms,

its greatest im!act is obviously in the economic realm.

&mericanization is not only a !otent force in these realms, but

its !ower eBtends much more into the !olitical and institutionalareas, including the military. The !olitical and military

hegemony of the United States in the world today accords it

enormous !ower.



/o doubt America is playing a crucial role inthe process of globalisation but

Americanisation should not be understood as

synonymous of globalization.

americanism the concept

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