Cultural Imperialism

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.