What is Culture?
Clifford Geertz's definition of culture often used on communication studies that says ".. denotes an historically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expresses in symbolic forms bymeans of which men communicate, perpetuate and develope their knowledge about attitudes towards life.
What then is imperialism?
It is the process whereby powerful grups try to extend their power and increase their wealth by bringing the evermore of the world under their domination.
CULTURAL IMPERIALISM
Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating, or artificially injecting the culture of one society into another. It is usually the case that the former belongs to a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter belongs to a smaller, less important one. Cultural imperialism can take the form of an active, formal policy or a general attitude. A metaphor of colonialism is employed: the cultural products of the first world "invade" the third-world and "conquer" local culture.[1] In the stronger variants of the term, world domination (in a cultural sense) is the explicit goal of the nation-states or corporations that export the culture.[1] The term is usually used in a pejorative sense, usually in conjunction with a call to reject foreign influence.
Theory and debate
Cultural imperialism can refer to either the forced acculturation of a subject population, or to the voluntary embracing of a foreign culture by individuals who do so of their own free will. Since these are two very different referents, the validity of the term has been called into question. The term cultural imperialism is understood differently in particular discourses, e.g. as "media imperialism" or as "discourse of nationality" (Tomlinson, 1991)[4]
Cultural influence can be seen by the "receiving" culture as either a threat to or an enrichment of its cultural identity. It seems therefore useful to distinguish between cultural imperialism as an (active or passive) attitude of superiority, and the position of a culture or group that seeks to complement its own cultural production, considered partly deficient, with imported products or values.
The imported products or services can themselves represent, or be associated with, certain values (such as consumerism). According to one argument, the "receiving" culture does not necessarily perceive this link, but instead absorbs the foreign culture passively through the use of the foreign goods and services. Due to its somewhat concealed, but very potent nature, this hypothetical idea is described by some experts as "banal imperialism." Some believe that the newly globalized economy of the late 20th and early 21st century has facilitated this process through the use of new information technology. This kind of cultural imperialism is derived from what is called "soft power." The theory of electronic colonialism extends the issue to global cultural issues and the impact of major multi-media conglomerates, ranging from Time-Warner, Disney, News Corp, Sony, to Google and Microsoft with the focus on the hegemonic power of these mainly US-based communication giants.
Cultural colonialism.
Cultural colonialism refers to internal domination by one group and its culture or ideology over others. An example comes from the domination over the former Soviet Union by Russian language and culture. Dominant cultures make themselves the official culture; Schools, the media, and public interaction reflect this. Under Soviet rule ethnic minorities had very limited self–rule in republics and regions controlled by Moscow. The oneness of socialist internationalism was to unite all the republics and their peoples.
A common technique in cultural colonialism is to flood ethnic areas with members of the dominant ethnic group. Cultural colonialism can also refer to changing a societies core values to reflect the colonialist society.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_imperialism
