Concepts of Globalization

What is Globalization? Globalization as the book describes, is a set of conditions that have been escalating since the post war period (POL 404). Some of these conditions include increased rate of migration, globalization of capital and financial networks, and rise of international corporations just to name a few. What helps this globalization is the movement of people from place to place all around the world every and any way possible, either as tourists, travelers, workers, legal and illegal immigrants and global citizens. I think every single person has either traveled somewhere different or knows of someone that has traveled somewhere due to either work conditions or vacation get-a-ways. That is the one thing that I find most interesting about America, is that we’re not all just one race. We all come from tons and tons of different ethnic backgrounds and generations from all kind of places, either here for good, or just simply for the change of weather.

Global Brands

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Global Brands? The golden arches that are incorporated as a trademark of Mcdonald's Corporation. Or possibly the iconic black Swoosh representing Nike. These are major global corporations that have expanded rapidly internationally, and can be seen as symbols of global dominance of U.S. capitalism (POL 402). The book makes a really good point in all these brands, it says that since they are so big and most have been franchised out, it makes these brands marketed many different ways and also marketed under the banner of the one company. Although this can be beneficial to the business, it can also have its downfall just like anything else. Not everyone likes the United States, so there has been cases where these companies in other Countries have been protested and raged against, because they thought it symbolized and profited the United States. So these corporate owners really do have to be careful when and where they choose to do business.

Cultural Imperialism

Cultural imperialism refers to how an ideology, a politics, or a way of life is exported into other territories through the export of cultural products (POL 397). Since the start of the television era, t.v. images and messages were a great source of communication because they can reach out in ways the human body cannot as the book describes. Although not all the messages being sent were received as positive from the people, many viewed this form of media intervention as an act of cultural imperialism, rather than making democratic choices available to the people. And we see that still go on today. For example, I work at a bank, and we recently this year had a whole reissue of new credit cards sent out to all members with this new chip technology inside them being able to make it more difficult for cards being able to get compromised. But a lot of people didn't take it as that, they questioned whether its a way the government can now keep track of everyone's spending and what not. So there is always going to be two sides to a story, and it's just how that person perceives what is being said.

I found this image on the internet and thought it was a great example of U.S. imperialism because it represents cultural hegemony and showing that the U.S. is sort of wrapping around the world as if it is showing the perception of global domination.

Global Flow of Visual Culture

The circulation of images has brought a whole new perspective to the world we live in. Before, images would get around through newspapers, television and theaters, and now it is most common to receive by satellite and the web. This new wave of global image flows has increased in circulation with concepts, ideas, politics, and images (Pg. 389). It is just absolutely amazing how much technology has changed in the past 30 years, I don't think anybody could have seen this coming. Not only does this broaden our communication as a whole, but it also allows businesses to send and receive products a lot sooner to keep up with the people's needs. The improvement of technology has been a plus for everyone.