CULTURAL IMPERIALISM: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW
Introduction
The paper includes a bulk of analysis about the definition and relevance of cultural imperialism. To dig deeper to the definition of the subject, the writer tried to extract historical account about British cultural imperialism in Jamaica on the last quarter of nineteenth century, and at the same time, looked in the relatively recent Japan’s resistance to the possible threat from the West, particularly the United States, through personalizing Tokyo Disneyland. As the initial sub-topic was focused in the past view about cultural imperialism, the second sub-topic is aimed to bridge the gap of the past and today’s relevance of the subject. It highlights the implications of information technology and Internet boom from the West that infiltrates, with speed and accuracy, to the target consumers in the undeveloped, developing and developed countries. Through the essay, the reader will be tossed to the broad scope of cultural imperialism which might be endless in certain aspects. However, difficulty could be lessened due to the fact that the basic concepts about the subject will serve as the guide to understanding.
The Historical and Relatively Recent Definition of Cultural Imperialism
To define cultural imperialism, one needs to think about a circle and spots within it. A dominating political ideology, economic principle, legal system, or perhaps the delicate religious order (these are the spots, although the religion can be a large (1997), if not overlapping, spot) descends into people’s way of life through an existing and dominant culture (the circle). With this, the way to imperialism can be withheld as long as the minority culture should be ended in the history as prerequisite for the consumption of the dominant one (1996). A culture, say of a country, is so valuable to them because of its millennia-old construction that laid down the “spots within the circle”, even perhaps the Almighty One Himself, that cultural imperialism invited resistance from the minute nature of hatred to the revolutionary and patriotism-like aggressions resulted in the past centuries of wars. This is the dominant versus the minority conflict as the common effect of cultural imperialism.
The major theme of the British rule in Jamaica from 1865 to 1920 was to transform the African-Creole inhabitants to civilized human beings through Victorian conduct teachings. Because of the persistent culture of the early Jamaicans when it comes to decision-making, especially in aspects concerning their personal interests, the fruits of the mission of Victorian missionaries were slowly consumed and dimly observed until recently. Before the mission began, morality was then alien to the Afro-Jamaicans that was eminent on their “illegitimate and concubinage” form of building a family, even clergymen were set to have their own families ( 2004).
With the historical event in Jamaica, several conclusions could be derived towards cultural imperialism. First, it was not strictly “armed-coercion in action strategy” (1985 ) to achieve its peripheral objective of material gratification for the part of the dominant country against the human and natural resources of the subject culture. With the English partly diplomatic way of Afro-Jamaican transformation, they exemplified a constructive result of their mission with little life casualty and armed rebellion. According to (1985), some Jamaicans had practiced legal marriage and accepted the Christian doctrines which were attributed to the British endeavors.
Second, cultural imperialism was aimed at the most-popular culture in the land that could be concluded as the British strategy to affect the greater number. For long years, Indians and Chinese were prevalent in Jamaica, although in small number, but the mission was “hardly any effort aimed to civilize them” (1985 ). Through this, it is clear at how the power of the politically, economically and culturally superior British minority outweighed the greater population of Jamaicans--- a result of the former thriving and visionary culture over individualism and subordination history of the latter.
Lastly, the effects of cultural imperialism included adaptation on the part of the subjects over decades or even centuries of exploration if the passed-on culture was worthy to emulate. The consumption of Jamaicans of the taught civilized manners of the British was lucidly observed not concurrent to the time of the mission but rather after it. This could be an indication of the resistance of the popular Afro-Jamaican culture to end their history and served as the gravity that pulled the intentions of the mission rather slowly.
In more contemporary view, cultural imperialism is not exactly defined and there are no universal standard that could signal its potential, presence or on the extent of how one culture influences the other. Such signal is important to protect a culture’s heritage and secure its continuity over time. As culture could be corrupted by an eager one materially (through artifacts) or immaterially (behavior, norms), several culture around the globe exhibited strong stand to guard their own upon infiltration of the unpopular and implicitly-regarded poisonous foreign cultures. As (2000) put it, strategy is for the dominant and policy is for the receiving culture. Viewing these recent developments, a present-day meaning of cultural imperialism could be inferred.
The reign of British settlement in Jamaica was an example of the relatively slower rate of the changes effected by non-material culture than material ones ( 1998). On the other hand, the case of Tokyo Disneyland in Japan experienced the latter, although the effects of Western culture transfer were less evident (1993). As Afro-Jamaicans’ cultural expression and protection was hardly observable because of its intangible limitations, Japanese was the reverse. Tokyo Disneyland was aggressively de-contextualized from the American culture to fit within the context of the receiving Japanese culture.
This Japanese initiative resulted to another set of conclusions about cultural imperialism that could be derived from the general finding. Its occurrence results in a basketball game where opponents exercise offensive-defensive tactics. The world-wide success of Disneyland made the American influence in offense mode, as the country is known for, and imparts spots of cultural imperialism. However, Japanese defense is so aggressive that the Western representative barely had a buried shot. This defense was carried out far different and far tough from those showed by the Jamaicans seen in several modifications in the original lay-out and operations of Disneyland as conceptualized by the West.
The self-expressionism of Japan brushed into the Tokyo Disneyland was made possible not only because of territorial aspect but more importantly due to the superb characteristics of the country. Japan is “extremely a homogeneous society” ( 2004). This fact blended into the economic affluence and political stability of the country in terms of leadership. Leaders ruled dedicating their service until death like that of six decade-reign of Hirohito while the economic industrialization emerged as early as late nineteenth century ( 2004). The inherent ideal government and economic structures in Japan made it independent and self-supporting that it needed little imports from the outside. This could be one of the biggest barriers paralyzing the mechanism of cultural imperialism.
The same cultural modification at Tokyo Disneyland, the adoption of the Western originated Taylorism and Fordism in the Japanese business setting did not taken for granted the inclusion of Japanese theme. The idea was still in action that required the transfer to suit the taste of the receiving country. Group-goal orientation of the Japanese workplace was prioritized over the Western individual responsibilities ( 1994). A sign that defense was present at all phases of Japanese life and the abundance also present in all phases of the country paid-off to elude the effects of cultural imperialism, or at least, to avoid its obvious impact that could damage the millennia-old history of the samurai-based dwelling.
With the Jamaican and Japan examples, the definition of cultural imperialism is timely to unfold. Cultural imperialism is the “practice of promoting the culture or language of one nation in another. It can take the form of an active, formal policy or general attitude” (2006). The limitation of this is the blurred and broad meaning of the phrase “practice of promoting” and the absence of defining the effects of the word itself. As obtained in the Jamaican and Japanese experiences, the culture promotion could take different mediums that can be cloaked with good intentions (a situation of civilizing the Afro-Jamaicans) or engraved on product patents where imported culture lies (a situation of Western Disneyland). These media did not include the military-led coercion that ignited the World Wars where cultural differences motivated the extent of conflict. Other media were unidentified because of the implicit nature of cultural imperialism as cause of war.
Also, the effects mentioned here were not drastic and involved long period of adaptation to suit the receiving culture. As complex and historical as it is, cultural imperialism direct effects to the lives of those affected could be isolated (as in the case of popular and persistent Jamaican personal-decision making) and hardly felt (as in the case of Tokyo Disneyland modification). The important finding of the analysis is that the extent of the success of cultural imperialism invoked by a dominant culture to the receiving is grounded to the initiative and drive of the former, including its own definition of cultural imperialism, to affect the latter. At the periphery, the rational dominant culture must demonstrate dominance and the capability to imperialize inferable not only to political, economic and military aspects, but more importantly, in the dominant culture itself (like the millennia-old culture of Japan that made it polished and resistant). After this establishment, the dominant culture should infused harmony with receiving culture and wait until adaptation is observable. Until then, cultural imperialism could achieve its purpose.
For the share of the receiving culture in the success or failure of cultural imperialism, the characteristics of the insisting culture of Jamaicans and culture-independence of Japanese were situated to block, at least initially (Jamaica) and focus to eradicate obvious features (Japan), the presence of cultural imperialism and mitigate its effects. These guardians of culture are on top of the blazing patriotism to one’s country that was proven as reaction to oppression and intention to take away the most-celebrated mark of a civilization--- freedom. Until the dominating culture does not resort to military imperialism, it will continue to be implicitly engraved within material and immaterial context imported by a receiving culture subject to transformation the latter deemed necessary to maintain the culture of their own.
The Present and Future Relevance of Cultural Imperialism
Before the discussion under this sub-topic, it is noteworthy to reiterate the prevention of the above discussions to forward the notion of cultural clashes in the context of nation-to-nation collision strictly, although Jamaica and Japan situation was put into such standard. This is assumed fitted because subaltern, another term for subordination ( 1999 ), culture is happening more explicitly within a country itself prominent with issues concerning cultural minorities voice within the dictatorship of the popular culture. With the initial knowledge of receiving culture, being subaltern in the international arena destroys its shield that prevents the spread of cultural imperialism. In the same manner, the concern is the equivalent in the local setting.
The United States, coined as one of the well-described cultural imperialist in history, have subaltern environment that resulted to conflicts across American diversity: homosexuals, black and white, diverging curriculum framework and disagreeing opinions concerning abortion, pornography, and school prayer (1996). As the country is “largely immune to cultural expressions that do not project an American sensibility,” (2002) cultural imperialism could be tapped to unify differences. Thus, cultural imperialism can be witnessed by people who live on the same soil like the dominant culture. But for the remaining discussion, the above definition of cultural imperialism () seemed as a useful tool to obtain simplicity, and therefore, a wise move to apply.
The argument of (1998) reflected the needed evidence that information age brought cultural imperialism into the rest of the world. “The Internet is like an American (or Western) tidal wave coming, and the rest of the world is in kayaks,” is the metaphor of how dominant culture tests its dominance against others through the infusion of Western material and immaterial cultures to produce hardware, software and content of computers/ Internet.
Several implications are accounted to the receiving countries. Undeveloped and Developed countries are extremely opposite in terms of political and economic attributes but could have parallel stand (defense) against the technological proliferation. The former can be depicted in most countries of African region (except Botswana, South Africa and Nigeria) that are identified as primarily agriculture-dependent, unstable political system, propagation of health problems like AIDS and occurrence of violent separatist movement like in Casamance ( 2004 , 2006). As these characteristics are hardly compatible with the advancement of Western technology, cultural imperialism would be ridiculed when initiated. If however tried, it would involve considerable amount of financing, time and line of programs to infuse dominance and succeed to influence their culture.
For the developed countries like Japan, the above-mentioned national affluence and cultural heritage are the clear obstacles in the Western initiative of cultural imperialism. Even though, the nation has lucrative features at the extreme of Africa, cultural pillars etched in all facets of life (from the government down to the people) are built against the threat of foreign influence. In relation to the western technology, Japan 1995 data showed its share was a minimal 2% among the Internet hosts all over the world (1998). It was not entirely an anti-cultural imperialism intended to mitigate the influence of the West but rather a result of exhibiting “a way of life” that Japanese had treasured through its history. The country is the world leader in automobile production but consume less of such products than any other G -7 nations (1998). These unusual data were possible from a country that possesses a “clearly delineated, highly formalized, benevolently paternalistic arrangement of people bound together in predominantly face-to-face dependency relationships” (1998).
Apart from these two, developing countries display relatively conducive environment for cultural imperialism. These countries like the Philippines or China requires the fuel to stimulate the local economy which can be provided by opening the trade barriers from the outside. With the command of information technology to link different countries, developing nations benefit to the “services not available to them domestically” (1996). The opening, however, is not exclusively entrenched to trade relations. It could also provide an entry point to the mechanisms of cultural imperialism. This claim calls for the policy of the receiving country or its effects can devastate their culture initially at small increments until the foundations are eaten up.
Since “fuel” is required to run and make active the developing economy, policy-makers would choose to grant this requirement since international trade is the trend and result of globalization. Besides, effects to the receiving culture are seen indirectly through artifacts. However, open-mindedness entails flexibility and flexibility is achieved through stability and strong culture. Thus, a country lacks flexibility if it cannot support its own supply of local food, except in times of fortuitous disasters, or cannot solve its own internal conflict with the leftist. With the absence of political and economic dependence like Japan, everything about the exports, including the mechanisms of cultural imperialism, could be consumed because of too much dependency. The receiving country might end up a puppet by the dominant one who enlarges the restrictions of the trade opening up to the extent of cultural infiltration.
On the other hand, Japan did not modify features of Tokyo Disneyland from the original California- and Florida-type in terms of customer relations of the employees. The courtesy mind-set blended the Japanese culture and also written in the country’s working standards of employees (1993). This is an indication that selective approach to the presence and effects of cultural imperialism can achieve optimal benefits. Good and positive spills of cultural imperialism need not be ignored and prohibited in the strict and myopic ground of cultural insubordination. Like Japanese, who see themselves having a dominant culture, had accepted the Western influence because it suited their treasured values, although cultural imperialism had presence, its effects were lessened.
The concern is now emphasized to Tibet. There was an admonition of cultural imperialism by the Western countries against China’s mission to uplift the Tibetan cultural defects as the result partly of Cultural Revolution. Data showed that Tibet has “life expectancy of thirty-six years; 95 percent of Tibetans were illiterate; 95 percent of the population was hereditary serfs and slaves owned by monasteries and nobles, and the cutting of the slaves and enemies’ head is popular” ( 1999). Is the provision of good and meaningful life under cultural imperialism worthy to disregard, or at least, set aside for the meantime the popular culture as the developments are ensued? The answer is a matter of survival on one hand and cultural protection on the other. Tibetans could choose the two and realize the ideal or select only one and lead to reality.
Conclusion
As the time goes by, the definition of cultural imperialism adapts to the level of changes across different countries. The purpose is clear as to civilize the Afro-Jamaicans in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. While the Japan experience recently did not clearly establish the purpose, their ways and actions toward the Disneyland modification was enough to consider their avoidance of possible occurrence of cultural imperialism.
The present and future purpose of such was becoming hi-tech as the emergence of information technology and Internet in the industrial relations. Its meaning becomes even blurred and broad as the world approach mutation from the historic samurai to the digital age. For the undeveloped and developed countries, the impact to culture could be prevented. But for the developing countries, extra-caution should be given into contract entered to identify trade zones or commonly termed as free trade areas. More importantly, the dynamism of information technology should also be checked because it is capable to transmit information in a blink of an eye. The giant leap towards development should begin not just with a single step, but more crucially, to carry the pride and heritage of the ancestry. Such additional burden or constraint to developmental journey is not intended to increase the load alone. It is an indication that the nation is stable and enthusiastic to achieve its goal.
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