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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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…
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.
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 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.
...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.
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
There are hundreds of different ethnicities that make up the population in the United states, so it’s no surprise that at time different cultural groups rub off on each other
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.
In 1960, the American sociologist Paul Goodman published his seminal work, Growing Up Absurd: Problems of Youth in the Organized Society. Having observed that, since World War II, there had been an increasing rise in juvenile delinquency – especially amongst white, middle-class, educated males – Goodman set out to study both the source and forms of delinquency. Simply put, he wanted to understand why and how young men were rebelling not just from the previous generation but from society as a whole. Goodman ultimately posited that having been frustrated by an increasingly bureaucratic and corporate culture, the only way for these young men to begin forging their personal identities was to reject the very middle-class culture and values from which they had emerged. Goodman then discovered that many of these young men began to find solace and freedom, to quote Allen Ginsberg, “by dragging themselves through negro hipster streets.” These middle-class young men – or what Goodman would ultimately label as “the white negroes” – found for themselves an entirely new cultural frontier by embracing what they felt to be the only free space available: within the bosom of black culture. The fact middle-class, white males listening to “black music” would hardly raise an eyebrow today only serves as a testament to the enduring power of blackness as a cultural trope. Whether it be jazz in the 1950s or hip-hop at the turn of the century, white youth have continued to find avenues of self-expression and self-formation through what Toni Morrison calls an Africanist presence.
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.
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 sociology of imperialism seeks to define this phenomenon as an atavism in the social structure, in the specific person, in their psychological habits, which thus triggers an emotional reaction. According to Joseph A. Schumpeter - "The word imperialism has been abused as a slogan to the point where it threatens to lose all meaning. For whenever the word imperialism is used, there is always the implication - whether sincere or not - of an aggressiveness" (Conklin & Fletcher, 1999, p. 44). The history behind this word has lead us to view the corruption and destruction it has caused at the hands of people with perhaps to much power. This statement goes with debate because like it or not history in essence; has shown us that nations have pursued war for the sake of winning and expansion for the sake of expansion, we ...
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.
To understand cultural imperialism is to understand the diaspora of man across the globe along with the socially darwinistic interactions that follow. Modern homo-sapiens left the plains of Africa a mere sixty-thousand years ago. Today mankind populates six continents hundreds of islands with a seemingly endless ethnic diversity. But what comes of a culture that is antiquated on a global scale that comes to interact with a more advanced civilization. The Americas prior to 1492 where home to millions of indigenous people with wide spread and diverse cultures speaking over two-thousand languages. With western colonization of the Americas came disease and enslavement of the indigenous peoples. The enslavement, genocide and oppression the natives faced under the Europeans lasted for over five hundred years. Even the birth of civilized nations did little to stop the oppression as the United States military famously marched millions of natives to reserves in Oklahoma in what became known as the trail of tears. The innate nature of mankind is rather troublesome and largely counter-productive. We are extremely social animals yet instead of
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.