MS 114 Study Guide

Globalization Research Paradigms

- convergence

- differentiation

- hybridity

convergence/homogenization

Growing sameness

- fear : Cultures lost

- hope; modernization and democratization

differentiation

conflicting differences

- seeing other cultures as competing units, theories about a clash of civilizations

- theories of culture used to distinguish one group from another

hybridity

blending / mixing

- theory exploring mixing of cultures to create new social identities

transnational public sphere

Fraser, N

Needs: Political efficacy & normative legitimacy, Must have both to have power on global discussion

Models public opinion as a public force.

legitimacy: Public opinion can only be legitimate if everyone who may be affected is participating in the discussion. Who can participate & how.

Affectedness is not defined by citizenship, but rather localization to the institutions that affect their lives.

Efficacy: the ability for public opinion to be mobilized

Castells, M

Argues that a global culture does exist through three levels:

-Cosmopolitan globalization: elites with shared values & information

-Multicultural globalization: hybridity & coexisting difference

-Consumerist globalization: Market-driven commodification

Multiple processes happening simultaneously; not exclusive

The mix of ideas in the media creates a complex global culture

cosmopolitanism

"At the intersection of globalization and communalism, aims to construct a global public sphere around shared values of global citizenship" (123).

A small but influential minority of people, with consciousness of the shared destiny of the planet we inhabit, be it in terms of the environment, human rights, moral principles, global economic interdependence, or geopolitical security.

Supported by social actors who see themselves as citizens of the world (Beck, 2005).

Survey data show that they are overwhelmingly members of the most educated and affluent segments of society, although age is also a factor: the younger people's age, the more open they are to a cosmopolitan view of the world (Inglehart, 2003).

​​Cosmopolitan globalization: an elite with shared values and information

Religious cosmopolitanism: the global religious television networks, whose programming is broadcast around the world to include the believers of each religion scattered around the planet

global imagination

(orgad) a collective way of seeing, understanding and feeling at a global level, to a sense of 'who we are,' how we fit together, what we might expect from each other..."

related to hegemony in agenda setting and associated power

fits in with symbolic dislocation

new visibility

(orgad) involves contestation, a competition for visibility, and recognition, existence and exercise of power

a new dynamic in the competition for how we are represented in the world

the internet era; different from earlier eras of mass media in 3 ways:

1. more intensive: quantity of information available

2. more extensive: media reaches more people than ever before; global networks of information diffusion

3. more difficult to control: hard for political actors to maintain veil of secrecy around their actions

appropriation

(Yoon)

Appropriation refers to the adoption of iconography of other cultures and using it for purposes that are unintended by the original culture or even offensive to that culture. This is a debatable concept, as some would regard cultural and media appropriation as a result of globalization and hybridity, while others regard it as cultural imperialism and do not respect the origin of the original culture.

Five scapes of globalization

1. Ethnoscape

2. Technoscape

3. Ideoscape

4. Financescape

5. Mediascape

ethnoscapes

migration of people across political and cultural borders

geography and culture

technoscapes

-how tech facilitates exchange across borders

-how tech knowledge moves across borders

ideoscapes

movement of political and ideological views across formerly isolated regions

financescapes

global markets for goods and labor

capital investment across borders

interdependent economies

mediascapes

- movement of media around the world

- representation of other cultures

- imagined communities shaped via media

- scripts and narratives develop (orgad)

Cold War history

- the cold war media globalization exposed US racial injustice and reshaped race relations

- international media amplified marginalized voices in the US

- white supremacy became an embarrassment to federal government

- communist alternative allowed racial activists to leverage greater civil rights

Radio Free Dixie

- an African American, English-language radio program broadcast from Havana, Cuba from 1962 to 1965 that called upon "oppressed Negroes to rise and free themselves."

Radio Swan

- a U.S. attempt to combat the Cuban revolution

- to win supporters for U.S. policies and discredit Fidel Castro

- location and financing were to be secret

- Broadcasted coded messages informing counter-revolutionaries in Cuba that the CIA-planned Bay ofPigs invasion was about to start.

media uses

Cold War history- period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and its satellite states (the Eastern Bloc), and the United States and its allies (the Western Bloc), following World War II.

Example: (emerging post cold war)China's 13th 5-year plan (explains Chinese economic system: Describes it as boringly bureaucratic, nothing to fear)

media uses- shaped international media as a tool for national defense, ideological battle blurred lines between gov and private news organizations

Example: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)- radio stations funded by US gov to provide news, information, analysis to Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, and Central Asia Where the media was controlled by communist gov

propaganda types

- White propaganda-Intentional suppression of potentially harmful information and ideas, deliberate promotion of positive information, distract attention from problematic events

- Example:Government-issued public health campaigns that openly come from the government itself, promoting vaccinations or healthy living habits.

- Black propaganda- deliberate and strategic transmission of lies, aims to improve propagandist or damage opposition

- Example: During World War II, the Allies conducted operations where they broadcasted false information or deceptive radio programs intended to demoralize the enemy or mislead them about Allied military actions.

- Gray propaganda- careless or reckless use of information, aims to promote desired public response with little regard for truth

- Example: Social media campaigns where the source is not clearly identified, or it's unclear whether the information is accurate. During a political campaign, where posts, memes, or articles that support one side or criticize another flood social media platforms

public diplomacy

- The use of media, the Internet, and other cultural outlets to communicate the message of a state.

- The country tries to make people in other countries like and understand it's better. This can be done by sharing its culture, providing education opportunities, and using media like TV and the internet to share positive information.

Example: China's 13th 5-year plan video (American music icons, in english, VW van, American folk music style, repeats phrase)

Soft power/smart power

Nye: three pillars of soft power

- culture, political values, and foreign politics

- soft power relies on cultural, ideological, and institutional appeal of a nation

- credibility: actions/policies matter; not just messaging

Traditional diplomacy: governing elites talk to governing elites, vs.

Public diplomacy/soft power: use of mass media to communicate the intent and/or character of a group/nation; rapid development with radio; film, ex:

- Direct public engagement; "going below their heads"

- Increasing use of advertising/PR techniques

- International news as "agenda setting"

- News as diplomacy?

News is not "objective" (story selection)

Global news "sets agendas" and frames events

Displays cultural values, shapes national reputations; multiplication of regional news orgs ⇒ soft power competition

economic inducements/military power

examples of hard power

cultural attraction

exporting popular media content (e.g. Korean film)

Smart Power: Strategic combo of soft and hard power

economic inducements

examples of hard power

military power

examples of hard power

cultural attraction

exporting popular media content (e.g. Korean film)

cultural/media imperialism

Media imperialism undermines local cultures by imposing foreign values and worldviews

Consequences: Homogenization of global culture and loss of local cultural identities, reduced ability of local media outlets to compete with international conglomerates, and the creation of a monoculture where dominant nations' values are universalized

Media imperialism typically manifests through the disproportionate influence of multinational media corporations on global media, and involves the exploitation of one community over another in various forms

Dependency theory: economic growth in wealthy countries does not necessarily lift economies of other LDCs due to systemic political, cultural, and economic ties between countries => relations between them reinforce/intensity inequality

one-way flow

flow of culture from center to periphery (e.g. Armed Forces Network)

asymmetrical interdependence

- the varying degrees of power and initiative that countries possess in politics, economics, and culture, despite being unequal

- countries have different levels of influence and control in global media flows and cultural production, or certain industries

Examples: more developed countries often have more influence on trade, larger nations have strategic (needed) military alliances with smaller nations, any size nation can have cultural influence through soft power

cultural proximity

"cultural proximity" of media products matters

the audience's active choice to engage with cultural products that are more relevant, familiar, and closer to their own cultural context

Examples: Spanish-speaking countries enjoying telenovelas most or immigrants in a new country sticking together and forming their own community (ethnic enclave)

Audiences prefer products/content that resonates with their cultural identity → the role audiences play in shaping media consumption & goods production

contra-flow

(McChesney and Thussu)

The movement of culture from Global South to North through migration and "reversed" media flows.

Center-periphery:

- structural relationship between the advanced or

- Western "center" and a less developed "periphery" remains underdeveloped and dependent on the "center"

Quote from Oxford Reference: "According to the center-periphery model, underdevelopment is not a result of the persistence of traditionalism, but is produced as a necessary feature of the development of capitalism in the central capitalist countries and its continued reproduction on a world scale."

Example: US media production centers vs non-US media production centers such as Bollywood, K-Pop, and Al Jazeera having to compete with each other

dominant, transnational, geo-cultural flows (Thussu)

3 typologies of media flow

Dominant (US-led Western media available across the globe)

Refers to the predominant movement of media content and cultural products from powerful, usually Western countries (like the United States) to other parts of the world. Thussu notes that these flows are often one-directional and reflect the cultural and economic dominance of the originating countries.

Ex. Films and television in hollywood

Transnational (strong regional presence but also courting foreign audiences)

Encompasses the movement of media and cultural products across various countries and regions, transcending national borders. Transnational flows are not limited to the traditional 'West to the rest' direction. Thussu emphasizes the increasing importance of transnational media corporations that operate and distribute content across multiple countries, shaping media consumption patterns and cultural trends on a global scale.

Ex. international productions such as Bollywood

Geo-cultural flow (caters to specific cultural/linguist

Center-periphery

Capitalism seen as a world system between different regions tied together in asymmetrical fashion by the exploitative relations of production and consumption

dominant

predominant movement of media content and cultural products from powerful, usually Western countries (like the United States) to other parts of the world.

Thussu notes that these flows are often one-directional and reflect the cultural and economic dominance of the originating countries.

Ex. Films and television in hollywood

transnational

(strong regional presence but also courting foreign audiences)

Encompasses the movement of media and cultural products across various countries and regions, transcending national borders.

not limited to the traditional 'West to the rest' direction.

Thussu emphasizes the increasing importance of transnational media corporations that operate and distribute content across multiple countries, shaping media consumption patterns and cultural trends on a global scale.

Ex. international productions such as Bollywood

geo-cultural flows

(caters to specific cultural/linguistic audiences that is dispersed (ie: diaspora)

The flows of media content and cultural practices within specific geographical or cultural regions.

Thussu highlights how certain regions (like East Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East) develop distinct media landscapes and cultural practices that circulate within these regions. Geo-cultural flows illustrate how regional dynamics, cultural affinities, and shared histories can shape media practices and preferences in ways that differ from global or Western-dominated trends.

Ex. K-drama and K-pop

diaspora

ethnoscape: globalization term

Dispersion of any people from their original homeland to other parts of the world

free flow of information

The flow of information without restriction or censorship.

McDonaldization

Efficiency

Systems are designed for efficiency.

Calculability

EX: Ratings/Box Office metrics: What is success if not for numbers? Numbers are everything

Predictability

- Predictable profits: sequels

- Epidemic of sequels → if something performs well, a company is likely to produce a sequel because it is easy to predict success due to the success of the original

- Sequels make money, they have a guaranteed return in the Box Office

- example of the risk-averse structure of McDonaldization in media

Control

Example provided in lecture: WalMart employee hype; Shows the conformity of a standardized enthusiasm over a company

Key point: McDonaldization underlines structural changes at economic, political, and other institutional levels

rationalization

Rationalization: historical drive towards a world in which "one can, in principle, master all things by calculation" (Weber)

Irrationality of rationality: Davis' example of essay grading. It's rational to grade efficiently so to get through all 200 papers, but irrational to not give detailed feedback when in a learning environment.

K-Wave and identity

a multimedia phenomenon

K-pop fans seek out additional korean tv

Drama fever for korean tv

Drama fever (online, now defunct)

"TV dramas allowed immigrants to acquire a form of cultural citizenship"

The right to be different

Allowed people to feel apart

Fans connected by online networks

Youtube for korean beauty products

models of multiculturalism

1. Monoculture

- Single culture

• Homogenous society

That doesn't mean the government is creating strict policies, sometimes it's a matter of geography

• Broad consensus on values

Not a lot of ethnic similarities

• Low immigration

Japanese

Belief: Cultural exclusion

Melting Pot

A metaphor for the "American experience"

Heterogeneous societies

Assimilation/convergence goals

Must come together on the same values → melting pot

Seeks assimilated in the group, converging all as one

High immigration

Belief: Common ideology (on Americans)

This belief changes over time, but at its core, democracy, peaceful transition of power, free enterprise

Cultural mosaic

Heterogeneous

Culturally diverse groups coexist but remain distinct

Very conscious of not wanting to be like the United States, especially when it comes to media

Canada (3rd language policy)

A media policy. Lowered bar for TV to get into Canada, allowed to be on TV if they offer a third language

Belief: Culture matters

Cultural stratification

Heterogenous(in reality)-homogenous(in practice)

Looks like the "bad guy" here

Cultural diversity exists but is suppressed

Ex: The British assimilation of the Irish language

Turkey (vs. Kurdish subculture)

Belief: Cultural superiority

Korean war and Rok

Korean War:

U.S. Korean War (1950-1953)

North Korea and South Korea conflict

Follows Imperial Japanese rule in Korea (1910-1945)

Cold War "proxy" conflict

North supported by China and the Soviet Union

South supported by the U.S. and UN

Post-WWII (1945), Korea divided at the 38th parallel

American Forces Korea Network and base gigs

150 bases, this leads the Koreans to learn the music of the occupier

They are playing this music like Elvis

Rok:

Korean adaptation of Western music Rok

Korean film

"Learning from Hollywood"; vertical integration

Why is Hollywood beating out Korean films?? It is the production of Hollywood and the corporate structure they are coming up against

Media imperialism is not the end but one stage of Korean film

Bong is self-reflective in his use of foreign genres and uses them as commentary

"Genre collision/subversion" rather than adoption defines Bong's film style

transnational genre

Genres serve specific cultural spaces in which we can see the transnational dynamic of circulation, appropriation, and indigenization at work

'Larger area connecting differences' in which filmmakers exert their agency through varied + often ambivalent forms of exchange, negotiation, and contested transaction with Hollywood

Korean film

- "Learning from Hollywood"; vertical integration

Why is Hollywood beating out Korean films?? It is the production of Hollywood and the corporate structure they are coming up against

- Media imperialism is not the end but one stage of Korean film

- Bong is self-reflective in his use of foreign genres and uses them as commentary

- "Genre collision/subversion" rather than adoption defines Bong's film style

Transnational genre

- Genres serve specific cultural spaces in which we can see the transnational dynamic of circulation, appropriation, and indigenization at work

- 'Larger area connecting differences' in which filmmakers exert their agency through varied + often ambivalent forms of exchange, negotiation, and contested transaction with Hollywood

Korean media history

liberalization

modernization

- "fatherland modernization" → high-speed industrialization, urbanization, oppression of dissent, Bong's films represented resurgence of Korean film

- Rapid economic growth post-Korean War: the "Miracle of the Han"

- Japanese + American assistance echoed colonial past

• Park's State modernization project (1960-70s) encouraged western pop

• Korean society embraced American popular culture during 1960s + 1970s modernization period

system interdependence

interdependence of international media industries (e.g. international audiences from China and the US watching K-dramas and listening to K-pop.)

Armed Forces Network

US military's TV channel in Korea cited as inspiration for Bong's films in Klein.

Pieterse, J

Global Research Paradigms

Fraser, N

Transnational public sphere

Needs: Political efficacy & normative legitimacy, if it does not have those two things it cannot have power on global discussion

Models public opinion as a public force.

legitimacy: Public opinion can only be legitimate if everyone who may be affected is participating in the discussion. Who can participate & how.

Affectedness is not defined by citizenship, but rather localization to the institutions that affect their lives.

Efficacy: the ability for public opinion to be mobilized

Castells, M

Transnational public Sphere

Argues that a global culture does exist through three levels:

-Cosmopolitan globalization: elites with shared values & information

-Multicultural globalization: hybridity & coexisting difference

-Consumerist globalization: Market-driven commodification

Multiple processes happening simultaneously; not exclusive

The mix of ideas in the media creates a complex global culture

Osgood, K

As international radio broadcasts became technically possible, diplomacy shifted from elite dialogue to a focus persuading foreign publics.

Ritzer, G

McDonaldization

Yoon, K

K-Wave and identity

Appropriation

Klein, C.

Armed Forces Network

US military's TV channel in Korea cited as inspiration for Bong's films in Klein.

Tyson, T

"Radio Free Dixie"

- US government responded to RDF with a fear of an uprising among black Americans in the American south

Nye, J

Soft Power

three pillars of soft power:

1. culture, 2. political values, and 3. foreign politics

- soft power relies on cultural, ideological, and - institutional appeal of a nation

- credibility: actions/policies matter; not just messaging

Boyd-Barret, O

Cultural/Media Imperialism

Straubhaar, J

Asymmetrical Interdependence

Thussu, D

Contra-flow

Kim and Shin

K-Wave and identity

Shim, D

K-Wave and identity