3 mediating globalisation 2015
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MEDIATING GLOBALISATION
Communicating hegemony or technologies of resistance?
Challenging the local
Whilst nationhood provides a powerful sense of identity for some, and a common bond between many, it has come under threat from a number of sources:
The emergence of global political and economic institutions The spread of global cultures The presence of multiple national identities within a nation-
state A return to localist politics
These factors challenge both the way we think of ourselves and the way our lives are organised through the nation-state
Today…and next week
Globalisation entails the “intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa”
The primary influence upon this intensification is the global communications system: the means through which cultural exchanges and clashes occur
This week we consider the development of global media system and the impact of mass global media
Next week we will debate its impact upon local and global cultures, along with social media and the potential for active audiences
Today
The (global) importance of media
The development of a global media system
Privatising the public sphere
Entertaining Americans
The developing influence of Chinese and Indian culture
How do the dynamics of the global media system affect global cultural identities?
What elements of your cultural identity
do not come from your family?
Mediating our lives
The media ‘mediate’ communication between distant peoples
Consequently, how we understand the world around us is largely determined by how it is represented for us
Conversely, we don’t just take on the exactly what is presented to us, but have competing influences and the ability to reflect upon information
Our identities may adapt to new circumstances, but they don’t necessary change completely
Filtered Knowledge
Mediating global culture
In a pre-global world, cultural resources would primarily have been sourced from our local environments
The advent of a global media systems means that these referents are not necessarily local
Global media sources allow us to become ‘spectators of the world’, consuming cultures from our living rooms and beyond
Conversely, the media we consume is not evenly spread: it is predominantly American
The development of global media
Initial forms of media were local and nationally controlled
Through the interrelated development of global political economy and communications technology, media with a global interest was able to develop, even if it was locally based
The first steps were ‘wire-agencies’ such as Reuters, which sold international news to domestic newspapers
This was followed by Hollywood movies and short-wave radio
Transnational media
The development of transnational media corporations was the pivotal moment in this globalisation of culture
The global media system increased the representation of distant localities and the communication between these localities
These organisations allowed media to push beyond national boundaries, often filling the place of domestic media In 1982 there were three channels in the UK!
Additionally, digital and satellite technology allowed for the instantaneous transmission of information
Privatising the public
The new global communications system was based around transnational corporations whose primary purpose is profit
Information and entertainment is produced for private profit rather than to serve the (local) public good
Locating the public sphere
The public sphere is the structures through which public opinions can be formed
Historically this might have been town squares or meeting halls
The media has extended this sphere, allowing greater public participation in understanding and producing public opinions
Where do you find out information about what is happening in the world?
Who cares?
As media became more globally focused and commercially orientated the way that the world is represented for us changed
As a result, our conceptions of the world around us are dependent upon what is profitable for transnational media corporations
Advertising
Advertising is the primary source of funding for most media outlets
The ‘product’ being sold is not the content, but the audience, who are then sold to advertisers
Consequently, in order to produce a maximum return, the presentation of information is generated in order to gain the most advertising revenue
This has a significant influence on the representation of local and global cultures in the media
Who is the audience for this report?
Media and imperialism
Concerns over the impact of global communications on developing countries emerged in the 1960s as these nations began to enter global society
As many nations were establishing their independence, global media influences were seen to be stifling this growing cultural expression
Yet Hollywood, and other forms of Western media, found an enthusiastic audience in post-colonial cultures
This process is not the old colonialism of forced cultural assimilation, but occurs through a desire for the media content and an increased homogeneity of its form
Write down the top five television shows you
watch
What country are they from?
Entertaining culture
The explicit focus of entertainment media is not to produce cultural change, and yet because popular culture has such a large influence on our lives, it cannot help but influence us
Entertainment media mediates between cultures: our primary expose to a culture is through their films, music and television
Entertaining Americans
The world is primarily exposed to American culture in two ways: through its foreign policy and through its media, which acts as a form of ‘soft power’ that allows for the glamorous and desirable portrayal of America
The United States of America is the largest producer of popular entertainment media in the world
This portrayal is multi-faceted and allows a wide range of access points, from romance to personal excess and expression, to oppositional modes such as hip-hip culture, which appeal to excluded youth around the world
Most of these American sub-cultures are underlined by appeals to youth, individual aspiration and expression, and consumerism
The case of MTV
Music is often the most easily transferable of cultural forms and was at the ‘vanguard’ of the spread of American culture
This dynamic was seen in the global success of ‘Music Television’, or MTV, which was created in 1981 and has spread to approximately 160 countries in 18 different languages
MTV sets up local operations that allow it to promote America music but, most of all, to do what is profitable and play what is popular at a local level
Influencing local identities
This pushes the American format of popular culture, sexuality, violence and individual expression (and popular slang)
Through its local affiliates, MTV mass-promotes a cultural lifestyle whose local roots are in American, but inspires demand from local youth
The soft power of the likes of MTV or the e channel and reality TV allow for American values to become more acceptable and more understandable and consuming movies and television more desirable
Is there anything that you or your friends do that is
‘American’?
The rise of the American local
MTV doesn’t just promote American music onto local cultures
MTV sets up local operations (often working with local cable networks) that allow it to push America music but, most of all, to do what is profitable and play what is popular at a local level
Whilst MTV sought to respond to local demands, in many localities MTV has been superseded by local alternatives in the same format
American style
The owners and content may change, but the style remains the same
As new cultures are entering into the ‘global market’, this has begun to produce substantial changes in entertainment media – but does it affect our cultural identities and can we develop a truly ‘global culture’?
Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures
“These are not signs of Hollywood's homogenizing effect on
the world. They are signs of the world changing the way
Hollywood works. It makes sense to marry our production,
marketing and distribution experience with the growing
global appetite for entertainment tailor-made by and for a
variety of cultures.”
Global cultural identities
Hollywood films are seeking to remove American cultural references and cast a more diverse range of actors
A focus on American military interventions is particularly troublesome, and the same applies to local cultural events and stars
In some movies, plots are being re-shot to include culturally-specific scenes
Is there anything that you or your friends do that is
‘American’?
The influence of China
In 2012 China lifted its limit on foreign films from 20 to 34
With a rapidly growing economy and increased discretionary funds, the Chinese film market is booming
The Chinese government is planning to support the construction of up to 35,000 more cinemas screen over the next five years – up from a current 5,000
In 2012 foreign films made $US1.41billion out of a total of $US2.74billion and American films were seven out of the top ten
The Chinafication of Hollywood
Hollywood films are being specifically designed for the Chinese market, with more Chinese stars and locations as well as more Chinese friendly plots
Because the market is controlled by the Chinese government, Hollywood has to comply to the strict controls set, including restrictions on the ‘supernatural’ and negative depictions of China
As China will soon be the biggest market for films, entertainment corporations are ‘forced’ to comply with these practices
The case of Iron Man 3
In 2013 Iron Man 3 set the Chinese record for the biggest opening weekend for a foreign film, taking in over $US65 million
Whilst Iron Man is a continuation of the US cultural tradition of ‘super-hero’ blockbuster movies, Iron Man 3 was designed with the Chinese market in mind It was co-produced with China’s DMG entertainment Scenes were filmed in Beijing with famous Chinese actors and a
product placement deal with TCL electronics The main villain was changed from Chinese ethnicity to one of
indeterminate identity
The counter-hegemonic global
Globalisation might be a story told by the dominant players but, in film, counter-hegemonic movements are becoming more influential
China’s financial influential and cultural-political restrictions mean that the biggest budget films are more likely to portray China positively
But, villains have to come from somewhere – they can either be from smaller film markets, or be of non-local identity
Culturally specific films from the Western world are increasingly being re-made with local actors and plots, rather than being dubbed
Still, the vast majority of films play to a local audience and local practices still rule in some genres
What translates?
Yet where action films are popular with global audiences, comedies struggle
To succeed across cultures, films have to empty themselves of any unrelatable content: comedy relies on insider knowledge of a culture, whereas special effects and action do not
Our identities have some flexibility, but are deeply embedded in cultural understandings
Not funny?
Comedy relies upon insider understandings of culture, and it also expresses a truth of that culture: to laugh is both a social reaction and a cultural reaction
It is often very difficult to translate these understandings between cultures, even between quite similar cultures
In order to get around this some big-budget companies, like 21 and Over, have different plots to suit different cultural understandings
Do you ever watch films from a different
culture?
Concentration of Film Production
Source: UNESCO, INTERNATIONAL BLOCKBUSTERS TO NATIONAL HITS ANALYSIS OF THE 2010 UIS SURVEY ON FEATURE FILM STATISTICS
The case of Indian identity
The increasing global popularity of Indian film, or ‘Bollywood’ signals the presence of a counter-hegemonic globalisations
Bollywood was once largely limited to the local Indian film market and remains a hugely influential element of Indian culture
Bollywood has a very distinctive style, often focusing on song and dance and ‘epic’ stories that are culturally different from Western cultural practices
Although they are very popular across Asia and parts of Africa, they had struggled to have an impact upon American audiences
Globalising Bollywood
Indian films have become increasingly popular in London, however
Cinemas in Feltham and Ilford are some of the highest grossing Bollywood cinemas in the world
This shift has come less from an cultural change in either audiences or in the films, but from targeted marketing at the Indian global diaspora
Indian diasporas
Diaspora's are geographically scattered populations with common origins
At an estimated 25,000,000, the Indian diaspora is the biggest in the world and is increasingly affluent
As diasporic populations are geographically detached from cultural traditions, many had struggled with their cultural alienation and had attempted to assimilate into the local culture
In the era of global media, however, diasporas are able to carve out cultural niches through satellite and internet technology
The global in the local
In appealing to these scattered populations, Bollywood films are becoming increasingly globally popular, but only within a single nationality
In this case we have cultural similarity detached from geographic location and greater cultural difference both across the world and within localities
This leads to increased possibilities for split or multitude points of cultural identification
Summary
The development of a ‘global media system’ has fundamentally altered the dynamics of mediation between ‘distant localities’
Our sources of information about the world potentially favour some forms of the local about others
American culture has spread through entertainment media
Although new entertainment markets have emerged, are our cultural identities changing through this exposure?
Next Week
WEEK 4 WHO CONTROLS THE GLOBAL VILLAGE? CULTURAL IMPERIALISM AND THE CONVERGENCE OF CULTURES
READINGS Core reading: Zayani, M. (2011). Media, Cultural Diversity and Globalisation: Challenges and Opportunties. Journal of Cultural Diversity. 18 (2), pp.48-54 See also: Chapter One, Ritzer, G. (2008) The McDonaldization of Society (5th Ed.). Pine Forge Press: California