The E-Journal of Intercultural Relations, Fall 1998, Vol. 1(4)   Originally Posted: 11/1/98   Academic Paper

Cultural Imperialism on the Internet Seongcheol Kim Ph.D. Candidate Department of Telecommunication Michigan State University

 

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to review the cultural imperialism argument in terms of the developments of the Internet through some case studies. In trying to explaining problems of global unequal flow of media including the Internet, the cultural imperialism argument seems to be uniquely helpful. However, because of the structural differences between the Internet and traditional forms of mass media, it may not be appropriate to apply the argument to the Internet. Furthermore, it can be said that the cultural imperialism argument has some limitations in the research of not only the Internet but the other new interactive electronic media.
 

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Introduction

The Internet has been one of the most rapidly adopted communication technologies. The Internet now brings together over 30 million people on-line worldwide, inviting an average of 150,685 new users per day, or 1.74 per second. By 2000, 250 million people will have access to the Internet (Killen & Associates, 1996). The Internet almost circles the globe, and virtual location in cyberspace depends more on information than physical geography, with its users connecting through thoughts and interests across any and all boundaries. In this new electronic frontier, the burgeoning global village continues to emerge. Because of the increasing significance of the Internet as a new electronic global medium, the study of its developments and effects is becoming a crucial agenda in contemporary media research. The purpose of this article is to review the cultural imperialism argument in terms of the developments of the Internet. More specifically, this article aims to question the charge of "cultural imperialism on the Internet" in the globalizing media environments.

One of the well-fitted theoretical perspectives applied to studying the effects of new electronic media is the cultural imperialism argument because the problem of unequal flow of media has been one of the major international issues. Individuals and governments around the globe have expressed concern regarding the influence of Western cultural products on both local and national cultures (Herschlag, 1996). Often expressed in the term of "cultural imperialism," this concern has become a topic of debate in not only scholarly circles, but in economic, legal and legislative arenas as well.

Cultural Imperialism Argument

Scholars, such as Schiller(1981) and Hamelink(1990), have maintained that despite the advent of our current information society, information itself and its technology have remained in the hands of the economic elite. This criticism is most commonly expressed in terms of core and periphery theory, which maintains that global imbalances exist between "core" (i.e., rich and industrialized nations of the First World) and "periphery" nations (i.e., poorer and rural countries of the Third World), in both the flow of media products and information. In this view, information and its technology are controlled by the core nations, and its flow is seen as uni-directional from the core to the periphery, with little opportunity for peripheral nations to participate in the process (Hamelink, 1990).

To explore the globalization phenomenon and charges of cultural imperialism, it is important to draw together specific aspects and evaluate some of the basic assumptions and areas for criticism in the cultural imperialism argument - in terms of media power, its role in society and in regard to its audience.

In regard to media power, the cultural imperialism argument offers an almost omnipotent view of the media that cannot be thoroughly justified. What it offers in terms of the media's power to affect cultural change is a dominance and transmission-based model, which seems implausible in the pluralistic and ever-expanding mediascape (Sims, 1995).

However, what makes sense in regard to certain aspects of the debate such as the conglomeration of ownership, routinized production, and possibly formatted content, doesn't apply in terms of new media technology, the audience and effects. While one-way flow may be evident in terms of information flows on an information theory quantitative estimate, the reality is that as media technology and economies become more intertwined, this seemingly one-way flow reverses itself into a two-way flow in which what sells abroad influences what Americans see at home (McQuail, 1994).

Cultural imperialism also makes a definite assumption of the media's role in and its influence on society. What emerges is a view of media and technology that is highly deterministic and devalues the role and importance of the cultural aspects of this argument (Ferguson, 1992). 

What then must the imperialist argument make of the media message? Sepstrup(1989) answers this question by reminding us that the path from transmission to cultural consequence is much more complicated in the international sphere. Even assuming the homogenization of media messages due to concentrated ownership or Western bias, cultural imperialism denies the power of the audience to interpret the message on its own contexts or to form its own meanings from the message (Smith, 1990). Elaborating on this idea, Straubhaar(1991) re-asserts the concepts of active audience theory and a preference among cultures to view regional or national media products.

Straubhaar(1991) draws on the past research and predictions of Pool(1977) and Read(1976) that local cultural producers would eventually begin to compete with American products, and as these productions increase and become more readily available, audiences would prefer regional or national products to international products. Two trends in research are used by Straubhaar to support Pool's predictions: 1) uses and gratification research, which gives power to the audience in terms of its selectivity and 2) the active participation of the audience in interpreting media content.  In arguing the active audience perspective, Straubhaar quotes Fiske(1987) who said, "These audiences actively read television in order to produce from it meanings that connect with their social experience."

Another possible criticism for the cultural imperialism argument lies in its equation of culture with consumerism and again denies the complexities of cultural development.  According to Ferguson(1992), "Global Cultural Homogeneity" as a myth must presume a global cultural economy that completely ignores local, regional or national influences. 

Appadurai(1990) further addresses the new "non-isomorphic" path of global cultural flows and ultimately questions the former core and periphery models through his conceptualization of interacting "disjunctures" or relationships within these flows. He conceives of global cultural flow in five dimensions: ethnoscapes, finanscapes, technoscapes, mediascapes, and ideoscapes. Ethnoscapes refer to the flow of peoples (immigrants, refugees, tourists and so on) throughout the globe as we become increasingly mobile. Technoscapes include the flow of machinery, hardware and software, through the production processes of transnational corporations, national corporations and governments. Finanscapes involve the flow of money through currency markets and stock exchanges. Mediascapes consist of the flow of images and information from the various forms of media and growing interactive technologies. Lastly, Ideoscapes are similar to mediascapes in that they are image-oriented, however they are more often political in nature and deal with the flow of ideology throughout the globe. 

In Appadurai's model, there is no traditional core and periphery to be designated and as such represents the "non-isomorphic" paths in which culture now flows. Building on earlier discussion of core and periphery theory, Straubhaar (1991) criticizes recent assumptions that new technology would strengthen the imbalances of media or information flows around the globe. While new technology has opened doors for the influx of American cultural products, it has also increased national production as well as the development of specific genres taken from American models and re-created into distinctly Latin American genres. Straubhaar(1991) also credits the influence of First World influences for the "decreased cost and increased flexibility in television technology." This influence has allowed for a growing number of television producers throughout Latin America. Straubhaar (1991) takes the view that even within a "dependency" or "imbalance" situation, development can occur in the "periphery" nation.