Chapter 3
Ideas that inform cultural infiltration: The case of U.S
Cultural infiltration has been explained in many ways in literature. Ogan (2008) defined the concept as a practice where the culture of a group of people becomes invaded with other forms of culture, considered foreign and exotic (p. 94). Dossa (2007) also explained that cultural infiltration can be likened to the adulteration of a given culture of a group of people with a replacement of elements of foreign cultural practices and ideologies (p. 897). Elyachar (2005) stressed that cultural infiltration is both an ideological and practical issue (p. 3). It is ideological because it constitutes an approach to thinking where a group of people perceive their culture as lacking some
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elements which make the culture not representative of the desired ways of life of the people. Once the people develop such ideologies, they begin to exhibit lifestyles and ways of life that they feel embody a perfect culture. The ideological and practical components of cultural infiltration can therefore be said to be highly interrelated. Using the case of the US, there are a number of ways in which researchers have explained how the ideas of cultural infiltration comes about. These ideas are mostly based on two major theoretical and conceptual reasoning which are multiculturalism and cultural imperialism. By thoroughly exploring the ideas that inform cultural infiltration from the perspective of the US, it will be possible to understand likely causes of cultural infiltration in China, while analysing whether the cultural infiltration in China is justified. The two broad theoretical and conceptual basis for cultural infiltration are therefore discussed. Multiculturalism Multiculturalism is said to be an element of cultural diversity where the practice of multiple cultural traditions within one locality or jurisdiction such as a country is accepted and promoted (McMichael, 2010, p. 4). Levitt (2001) explains that multiculturalism sometimes happens not as a carefully planned way of life among a country but because the country is naturally constituted with an amalgamation of people with different cultures (p. 76). With this example, there are a number of countries that can readily be cited as practising multiculturalism. These include Canada, where there is both English and French cultures, the US, where there are Hispanic, African, Indian and White cultures, the UK, and Australia. Migration has also been explained as a major cause of multiculturalism and when reference is made to migration, a common example that is cited is the UK, where migration has resulted in permanent residency and citizenship for people with different ethnic background (Marcuse & van Kempen, 2010, p. 4). Because the US is such a large country with a community of many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, it is often regarded as the epitome of multiculturalism. This is because even though the White ethnic group in the US dominates with 72.4% of the population, other ethnic groups such as Black, Multiracial, Asian and Native also make up a substantial percentage of the country’s population. Giving background to why multiculturalism is very synonymous with cultural infiltration, Nederveen (2004) explained that when people live in a multicultural society as a country, the fact that they must possess a common national identity often require that they will be able to accept, accommodate, promote and sometimes practice other forms of culture by other ethnic groupings within the country or society they belong (p.
80). For example when a White American visits China, even though the person is not Black, there is the likelihood that he or she would rather defend the Black American culture and perhaps exhibit elements of it as against an option of Chinese culture. It was against this background that Bell (2013) explained that in a multicultural society, there is always the tendency of learning and adopting to the culture of other people (p. 2). Meanwhile, such situations where people learn and adopt to the cultures of other people is a typical example of cultural infiltration. Levitt (2001, p. 43) also stressed that in a multicultural society such as the US, apart from the fact that individual ethnic groups have their own cultural forms, there is also a national culture or even a popular culture which is common among all citizens. An example of this is the Thanksgiving Festival in the US and Canada, which is practiced by almost all citizens regardless of their ethnic …show more content…
background. The ability and ease with which people in a multicultural society to adapt to new cultures therefore make them prone to cultural infiltration, and in real sense do not see anything wrong with the need to pick up new cultural forms as such practices are sometimes considered necessary for social survival (Marcuse & van Kempen, 2010, p. 4). Contrasting this situation in the US with China, one would say that unlike the US, China is not opened to social opportunities that would make it embrace and accept cultural infiltration with the ease with which an American would. This is because China is a highly mono-cultural country. Even though there are 55 minorities in China, all these 55 ethnic groups make up less than 10% of the population with the Han controlling with 91.5%. What is more, the 55 minority ethnic groups which include Zhuang, Uyghur, Hui and Manchu are known to exhibit and practice indigenous cultural forms which are very similar to what is practiced by mainstream Han (Osterhammel, 2002, p. 103). It is not surprising that Nederveen (2004) asserted that as far as China is concerned, national culture is made to supersede ethnic culture (p. 8). As China has not been exposed to the idea of multiculturalism which informs cultural infiltration, it has mostly been the case that the country has rejected ideas of the infiltration its national culture with foreign cultures. Cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism is explained to be an ideology and way of practice where a particular culture is promoted and imposed by a politically powerful country on a less powerful country or society (McMichael, 2010, p.
p. 54). Cultural imperialism is therefore considered to be a political aspect of cultural infiltration where there is an indoctrination of how inadequate the culture of one society is, and the need for it to forgo its culture and rather adopt new forms of culture considered appropriate. It is often said that cultural imperialism is a practice by the Western and industrialised world, of which the US is part of (Bell, 2013, p. 2). There is a long history of cultural imperialism which is traced to precolonial era when colonial masters forced their colonies to adopt their cultures while disregarding theirs. Ogan (2008) however explained that even in the modern society today, there is a form of cultural imperialism, where countries considering themselves as world superpowers such as the US try to portray their cultures as the ideal forms of culture that must be practiced by other countries across the globe (p. 94). Webster (2006) argued that the US in particular has taken advantage of globalisation to penetrate several economies and countries, each of which it tends to portray its forms of socio-political cultures as the most ideal that must be adopted by their allies (p.
87).
Imperialism began with Western European countries looking to expand their reach of influence on the East. These countries would conquer and colonize any region not of the West in hopes of bettering their economy or to help the native people they found in the East, carry up the “The White Man’s Burden.” When meeting the native people, Westerners named the things from the East “Orient,” and along with this name came many stereotypes and assumptions of the people and the land. Although, imperialism is no longer present, effects such as orientalism still resonates within the culture being expressed through media such as the Academy Award winning movie of the year Argo.
Cultural globalization involves the “spread of culture beyond the region or state from which it originated.” (Davies 1). To understand what cultural globalization is, one must understand what falls under the category of culture, which includes religion, language,
The Effects of African American Culture Appropriations on the Minority Black Culture The black culture is the minority culture in this instance and in most cases, it is dominated by the white culture which has imposed its ideas on them (Stuckey, 2013). When two different cultures come together, different types of cultural appropriations occur. These include transculturation, cultural dominance, and cultural exploitation. The appropriation between the white and black cultures, resulting in the African American culture, is defined by cultural dominance and exploitation.
Being a resident of South Carolina, African-American Culture was chosen as part of the applied learning project for the Intercultural Nursing class, because African-Americans make up more than a quarter of this state’s population. According to the 2010 United States Census Bureau, the total population for South Carolina (S.C.) is 4,625,364, with 27.9% being of African-American descent. The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding and sensitivity to issues and cultural variances or phenomena that are unique to the African-American Culture. Another goal is to identify nursing interventions that are important for the nurse to consider in caring for this population. These phenomena’s include variances in social organization, communication, space, perception of time, environmental control, and biological variations associated with the African-American culture. (Giger, 2013 and South Carolina minority, n.d.)
...zation of the Global Village: An Examination of the Cultural Imperialism Theory." The Department of Theatre and Communication Arts of Gannon University. Online at: , consulted on February 9, 2004.
Indeed, in all their schools from elementary to secondary schools, they already adopted curricula that will foster cultural diversity. Through this program, students from different levels had the chance to be exposed to different traditions and customs of various ethnic and racial groups. Even the government sectors in the United States are advocating tolerance for diversity, like how they commemorate Asian American, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander Heritage weeks (Margai, 2010). Even in their postage, they developed stamps highlighting some prominent Americans along with their diverse backgrounds. Despite all these efforts, sometimes the issue concerning multiculturalism causes significant political and societal conflicts. Right now, United States is widely known as the greatest melting pot where people from different countries and with different cultures could be united as one. However, people have divided views with regards to the issue whether the immigrants should adopt America’s culture, or they should be given the freedom to keep their own culture. The majority of the Americans believed that one must learn first how to speak English before permitting to have an American citizenship. In support of the notion of melting pot, many Americans still insist that their Creed should endure, and their nation is destined to be a prime model to
The United States of America has always had a problems with cohesive cultural values. Due to the fact that it 's a country where cultural values don 't always mean the same for people. It 's a melting pot, no one culture is the same so therefore there is no set cultural value. More than that, it 's a symbol of overcoming and perseverance through times where people were under represented and unequal in the eyes of those who surrounded them. Struggle is no stranger to the African American culture, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments aided in the equality among blacks in whites. Historically, even with these amendments in place, blacks had a long way to go. The black fist, cannot be mentioned without accounting for the black power movement and
Assimilation = to take on the traits of the dominant culture; compelled though force or undertaken voluntarily to be accepted into society or simply to survive
Have you ever taken offense when you saw someone dressed in traditional garments from your culture? In America, this happens quite often. Some people may not recognize it and some refuse to acknowledge that it even exists. Cultural appropriation is a situation in which a dominant culture steals aspects of a minority culture’s, such as hair, clothing styles, and music.
The definition of the cultural imperialism in the Cambridge dictionary is simply as one “culture of a large and powerful country, organization, etc. having a great influence on another less powerful country." Yet to get the real and important meaning of cultural imperialism, we have to know more than its basic dictionary definition.
The Spanish culture is rich in history. They demonstrate a sense of family, religion and community in order to maintain their heritage. My paper will review briefly the Spanish culture and evaluate the contrast and similarities between them and African Americans. This flow chart will range with differences and similarities on religion, socialization and there place in the future of our country. This journey allowed me to learn a great deal.
Black culture in our society has come to the point where it is allied with pop culture. The most popular music genres, slang terms, to dance forms it all comes from black culture. Hip hop emerged from black culture, becoming the soul of it that is seen in the media. Hip hop helped the black community by creating new ways of expressing themselves, from breakdance, graffiti, rap and other music, to slang. This culture was rooted in their tradition and created from something new. Hip hop created a new form of music that required the use of turn tables, ‘cuts’, loops, rhythm, rhyme, stories, and deep-rooted emotions, but also incorporated black oral forms of storytelling using communal authors.
At some point in our lives we experience a culture as an outsider by moving from one culture to another.In the world today there are so many different cultures and not one of them is found to be the same.Instead they all have something that makes them unique, whether its language or even the clothes they wear and their behavior as well.The differences they have is what separates them from one another and who ever joins that particular culture must get accustomed to their way of life.In the society today we have many people immigrating to the United States to start a new and better life but what they soon begin to realize is that it’s a whole new world out there and in order to survive they have to get accustomed to the new way of life which is much different from their lives before.
Some people are more successful than others while others work their butt off every day and cannot seem to ever fulfill the satisfaction of certain desired goals. There are various factors for the explanation of one’s failure to compete or succeed against another, such as intelligence, luck, talents, and so on. The most important element would be the environment or the culture itself, the person is born into. Like how some people are more successful than others, certain races are better than others. Every race has developed its own culture, and not all cultures are created equal due to the diversity between them. Any culture can be inferior to another, but there is much controversy over the diversity of the mainstream culture and black
Globalization is becoming one of the most controversial topics in today’s world. We see people arguing over the loss of a nation’s cultural identity, the terror of westernization, and the reign of cultural imperialism. Through topics such as these we explore the possibilities or the existence of hybridization of cultures and values, and what some feel is the exploitation of their heritage. One important aspect that is not explored is that such influences can also be more than just a burden and an overstepping of bounds. These factors can create an educational environment as well as a reaffirmation of one’s own culture.