globalisation and popular culture - sociology

globalisation

fast technological change is now so great that the world is becoming a global village

internet has shrunk the world and we have become one community

we are all exposed to the same information through the media (popular and mass culture)

popular culture

culture based on the tastes of ordinary people rather than an educated elite

• short-lived

• easy to understand

• aimed at the masses

• cheap to produce

aimed at middle and working class

e.g. love island, big brother, friends, harry potter, tiktok

high culture

the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in the highest class segments of a society

• long-lived

• expensive to partake

aimed at rich sand upper class

e.g. opera, ballet, pollo, skiing

postmodernists - is there a difference between popular and high culture

mass markets and consumption are making the distinction between high and popular culture meaningless

huge range and access to everyone

technology has enabled all forms of culture to be freely available

enabling mass consumption of music, art and products

high culture is no longer just accessed by the cultural elites

strinati (postmodernist)

elements of high culture have been incorporated into popular culture

therefore there is no longer any real distinction

e.g. the Mona Lisa printed on jigsaws

flew

global popular culture

new media technologies has helped develop global popular culture

globalization has undermined national and local cultures, global culture

known as cultural homogenization

sklair

Marxist

powerful global media corporations, largely American based, spread the same news, information, entertainment, consumer and cultural products to a global market

encourages acceptance of dominant ideology of western capitalist societies

culture ideology consumerism

ritzer

mcdonaldization

companies now operate on a global scale

possible to by identical food products practically anywhere in the world

promoting a global culture and also weakening local cultures

obesity is becoming a global issue

postmodernist evaluation

more companies are producing local tv programmes as the western ones do not fit with local cultures

western programmes are bought in to fit with the country’s norms and values

pluralist view

no such thing as popular culture or mass culture

mass media technology offers a huge range of media products

leading to a wide diversity of choices and opportunities

causes hybridization - process of creating a new hybrid culture (two or more different cultures combined

Marxist view

Marcuse argues that mass culture maintains the ideological hegemony (dominant set of ideas)

consumers of popular culture are lulled into an uncritical, undemanding passivity

less likely to challenge the dominant ideas, groups, and interests in society

social repression

advantage to the media owners as they gain massive profits from exporting and advertising their products across the globe

creating false needs for surplus value

has globalisation led to cultural imperialism

Fenton - “global” rarely means “universal” and normally disguises a process of media-led cultural imperialism

American media products cultural values are being forced on non-western cultures

most media conglomerates are based in the united states

cocalonization - most of the world are exposed to US movies and television, marketing, products, fast foods and soft drinks

media imperialism

globalization of popular culture has spawned a mass counterfeiting industry (fake designer clothes, perfumes, watches etc)