Chrizshane Jean Penuela The Contemporary World(GEC103)

Neah Hazyl Joy Palmos I – BSCE/ TFR 1:00 – 2:30

Danica Cantoja Instructor: Jayboy M. Sartorio
Ryan Jay Rodriguez

Globalization and Cultural Imperialism

1. Discuss the relationship of globalization and Cultural Imperialism. Discuss the

severity of the problem.

Chen and Shen (2021) states in their review that globalization is a further
process in the later stage of internationalization development. Mirrlees (2013, as cited
in Chen and Shen, 2021), stated that this trend of globalization can be seen as the
astonishing expansion of transnational capitalism and its control over the global
communications infrastructure, and based on the state to achieve its marketing,
operation and opinion control purposes. To understand what cultural imperialism is,
one must first define “culture” and “imperialism” separately. Oxford English
Dictionary (2008) defined culture as the distinctive ideas, customs, social behavior, or
way of life of a particular nation, society, people or period. OED (2014) gave meaning
to imperialism that stems from the word “empire”, and is the extending of a country’s
power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means. In
general, cultural imperialism means that foreign cultures invade local cultures with
the intent of elevating them above them.

Cultural imperialism today presents itself mostly through the media,

particularly mainstream and mass media. Media is one of the most visible and
important channels of global communication. One may say that cultural imperialism
and global communication are both related to globalization. It is because globalization
allows global communication and the spreading of different cultural viewpoints
throughout the world through new media and various technical advancements.
Therefore, we can say that globalization is a great tool for cultural imperialism
(Tomlinson, 2001).

Like many other things, cultural imperialism can also impact global
communication in both positive and harmful ways. It can lead to positive agendas like
promotion of equal rights and it can improve people’s quality of life. However, it also
has the capability to develop a single, globally homogeneous culture and this could
greatly affect 'inferior' cultures and cultural values. Furthermore, cultural imperialism
can be considered to be pervasive in today's media environment, since core countries
own the majority of global media and the export of cultural values and ideals (Drysén
2016).

2. Discuss the actions taken by the government and its people to solve Cultural
Imperialism.

Cultural diplomacy is also to blame for a country's own traditions crawling

under the dominating foreign culture, to the point where even imperialistic countries
that extend further diplomacy to other nations with hidden agendas are wary of the
said possible cultural imperialism on their own country, which may still sneak in
through various forms or means. Just take China as an example that although they are
as much guilty of the worldwide ideological campaigns, they have established various
counter-measures against cultural imperialism in their land. One of them is Digital
self-isolation wherein they have restrictions in accessing various information on
different social media platforms that could potentially pose a threat to their state
(Varpahovskis, 2019). As the lurking threat was officially recognized by the
authorities, a law that was immediately formulated by the Central Chinese
Government commonly known as the Chinese Great Firewall policy was declared on
January 23, 1996. Aside from digital self-isolation, the Chinese government has found
another strategy to combat cultural imperialism by substituting imported cultural
items for domestic ones. South Korean film and television series flourished in the
2000s (as part of the Korean Wave), and China imported a large number of Korean
TV episodes and aired them nearly unconditionally (up to 2005). However, in
response to commercial and cultural concerns, China implemented a series of laws
that substantially reduced the amount of time Korean products were broadcast on
television while prioritizing Chinese programming. Reduced foreign show
broadcasting time per year for channels, a requirement that international TV shows
not exceed 25% of daily programming time, and a prohibition on showing abroad
shows during prime time in the evening were among the restrictive measures
(Varpahovskis, 2019).

3. Discuss what can be done to further strengthen the mechanisms employed by

the government to combat Cultural Imperialism.

Aside from digital self-isolation and substituting cultural products of another

country with local ones, the government could also use self-isolationism by reducing
the opportunities for the foreign culture to enter the country. This is only applicable if
a country can stand on its own without the assistance of surrounding countries, as it is
extremely risky. There are still a lot of methods used to combat cultural imperialism
 yet, in the end, despite these constraints, foreign culture can still find its way to reach
the general public: cultural products will still reach any country via legal or illegal
means. In our opinion, what we can do for now to further strengthen or improve the
government's procedures for combating this kind of problem is to support and give
more importance to our culture. We must value our own above all else, make more
projects to promote the culture of our own country, and never let any culture empower
us.

References:

Six ways states resist cultural diplomacy hegemony. USC Center on Public Diplomacy.
(2020, April 16). Retrieved June 7, 2022, from
https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/six-ways-states-resist-cultural-diplomacy-hegemon
y

Drysén, E. A. (2016, January 28). A critical examination of cultural imperialism and its
impact on Global Communication today. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 7, 2022, from
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/critical-examination-cultural-imperialism-its-impact-gl
obal-drys%C3%A9n

Mirrlees, T. (2013, March 13). Global Entertainment Media: Between cultural

imperialism and cultural. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved June 7, 2022, from
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203122747/global-entertainm
ent-media-tanner-mirrlees
Review of the impact of cultural imperialism in the ... - atlantis press. (n.d.). Retrieved
June 7, 2022, from https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/125957618.pdf