cultural imperialism — marxist view

Question 1

mass culture is ruling class ideology and drives out high culture

Answer 1

marx - mass culture is little more than ruling-class ideology
- economic power used to shape society’s culture

McDonald - mass culture drives out high culture
used as a tool to instil false class consciousness

mass culture = single, homogenous culture, adultised children and infantile adults

mass culture is a form of escapism for the alienation w/c exprience

Question 2

mass culture is ruling class ideology and drives out high culture eval

Answer 2

strength
- marxist perspective acknowledges the power of the media in capitalist society

limitation
- marxism assumes people are passive and unable to resist media propaganda created through mass culture - active audience theories argue we can interpret and reject mass culture

Question 3

mass culture is the opium of people - false needs

Answer 3

mass culture - targets largest possible audience wiping out cultural difference

advertising transmits pro-capitalist values of consumerism, greed and undermining traditional w/c values

media - new opium of the people
false needs
marcuse - bread and circuses

Sklair - globalisation theorist - similarly argued globalisation has created a western dominated culture ideology of consumerism

Turkle - research suggests that many people see their smartphones as extensions of their self and feel disconnected without device - commodity fetish

commodity fetish - idea that the products of popular culture have special powers that somehow enhance the life of the user

Question 4

mass culture is the opium of people - false needs eval

Answer 4

strength
- transnational media corporations promote an ideology of consumerism that is very influential

limitation
- pm and interactionists - individual can reject consumerism

Question 5

globalisation is american imperialism

Answer 5

imperialism - a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through colonisation
cultural imperialism - culture of large powerful country influencing a less powerful country

williams - global TV, musics, cnn - shape cultures of developing world - ensuring their westernised

hannerz - transnational media corporations transmitted western values - pushing American publics - cocacolanisation

mcchesney - domination of american cultural imperialism - direct result of increasing concentration of media companies in few powerful american media corporations

Question 6

globalisation is american imperialism eval

Answer 6

strengths
- american produced culture clearly more dominant - eg friends - worldwide hit - china have recreations
- Barber - an extreme response of american cultural imperialism - rise of jihadist groups

limitations
- pm - marxist cultural imperialism argument - mistake of suggesting that the flow of culture is one way - fails to acknowledge reserve cultural flows - cultural hybridity
- developing cultures only take aspects of cultures and adapt it - glocalisation

Question 7

neo-marxism - audiences are not passive

Answer 7

hall - audiences are not passive but can decode media message in different ways
- hegemonic code, negotiated code, oppositional code

willis - popular culture has a complex relationship with producers and consumers
- popular cultures expresses resistance through style - elements of style often incorporated by big businesses for profit

Question 8

neo-marxism - audiences are not passive eval

Answer 8

strength
- recognises that audiences can be passive or active and media owners’ ultimate aim is to create profit by creating a mass, global popular culture - ideology is a by-product

limitation
- trad marxists - neo-marxists mail to recognise manipulation at hands of media owners in their creation of global mass culture