Lovemore Mataire The Reader
A historian from Burkina Faso, Joseph Ki-Zerbo, once remarked that: “Our cultures are being reduced little by little to nothing. These technologies have no passport and no visa, but they are affecting us and shaping us.”

In the midst of meeting the daily survival dynamics, most writers have become oblivious to the devastating effects of cultural imperialism, a term that can loosely be defined as a new form of colonialism that refers to the worldwide spread and dominance of American consumer culture and products, which many nations claim are eroding their local traditions and values.

Indeed, the spread of American consumer culture goes beyond mere consumption. It raises questions of the US’s dominance in the cultural sphere and the effects of such cultural commodities on the values of societies and also on the realm of politics.

The term cultural commodities refers to products of print and audio visual industries that include movies, television, publishing, radio and music, products that are vehicles for transmission of values, lifestyles and ideologies that many see as corrosive to the recipient culture. Thus, the term cultural imperialism raises both questions of cultural identity and government policy.

While cultural exchange between nations is not in itself a harmful thing given the fact that throughout human history, nations have exchanged cultural experiences, ideas, values, and goods through art, trade and migrations, the advent of technology has rapidly changed the whole spectrum of mutual exchange of goods and cultural products.

The state at which US cultural products are being distributed and consumed has reached such an alarming level that has raised the concern of both state and non-state actors to critically examine the possible effects of the globalisation of American culture. The concern of both state and non-actors on the impact of American products on the indigenous cultures of less powerful nations is not without basis.

Even nations like France, a developed Western nation, has also been at the forefront of criticizing America’s obtrusive promotion of its cultural products on other nations.

This is so because, according to Emile Rauschenberger in Examining the Mechanisms Behind US Domination of the Global Cultural Trade (2013), states that in France, American films accounted for more than 60 percent of box office revenues according to figures obtained from that country’s Ministry of Culture in the early 1990s.

“Back in US, American films make up only 0,50 percent of the American market. Other American cultural products have become widely popular in this country of 60 million. France’s former Minister of Culture, Jack Lang has been particularly critical of the globalization of US consumer culture, calling for a ‘real crusade against . . . this financial, and intellectual imperialism that no longer grabs territory. . . But grabs consciousness, ways of thinking, ways of living,” says Rauschenberger.

The French are not the only ones apparently scornful of American cultural hegemony. Individuals and governments around the globe continue expressing similar concerns regarding the influence of American cultural products on both local and national cultures. According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), there has been a significant increase in cultural imports from $47.8 billion in 1980 to $213,7 billion in 1997, a jump from $12 per capita in 1980 to $44,7 per capita. The significant expansions of the demand for cultural goods particularly music, games and sporting goods have made the US the largest exporter of cultural goods, according to the UNESCO’s Human Development Report.

Accordingly, the US has remained the dominant player in the global cultural trade, especially in the audiovisual sector. Indeed, UNESCO states that of the films shown globally, 85 percent are produced in Hollywood. Even in Europe, US films dominate the list of imported movies, which account for more than 80 percent of films shown in cinemas throughout Europe.

This is despite the fact that statistically, the top film producing countries in the world are India, China, Hong Kong and Philippines with US coming fourth yet its films are the most widely distributed and watched. Another disturbing factor is that 60 percent of television programming watched in Europe is from non-European countries particularly the US.

 

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey