I. World System Theory

A. Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World System (1974)
B. Miskito Indians and turtles off the coast of Nicaragua
C. Problem 1: Doesn't explain how peripheries can become part of core
D. Problem 2: Doesn't explain inequalities within periphery or core

 

II. Wallerstein's Theory of Culture

A. Marx: infrastructure produces superstructure
B. Wallerstein: core exports culture to periphery

 

III. Consuming authenticity

A. Steiner: core consumes culture as raw material from the periphery

1. The representation of modernity through contrast with the primitive
2. Sontag: "a society becomes modern when one of its chief activities is producing and consuming images."
3. Western art = creative genius
4. "Primitive art" = authentic, used in traditional context
5. Authenticity and tradition defined by Western collectors and dealers

B. West African artists and traders: cross-cultural mediators, manipulate "authenticity"
C. Ultimate power rests with Western dealers, tourists, and collectors: "The art trader constructs a product from raw materials and conceptual tools which are limited and pre-determined by elements outside his immediate control" (155).

 

IV. Beauty Contests

A. Wilk: diversity gets appreciated on the terms set by the powerful
B. Beauty contests in Belize

1. Invented by PT Barnum
2. Localized
3. Standardized as one moves up toward Miss Universe
4. Belizean identity is created in dialogue, through need to display it globally
5. Structures of common difference

a. White beauty standards strongly influence apparent celebration of diversity
b. Heterogeneity gets somewhat homogenized

 

V. Tourism, Advertising, and the Consumption of Culture

A. Three approaches to analyzing advertising

1. What is the idealized image of the category of people portrayed in the ad?
2. How do people in the category relate to others in different categories?
3. What is the quality of the relationships depicted? Who does what? How does the depiction relate to societal expectations?

B. Example of T-Mobile ad
C. Culture as a commodity, by-product of creation of the periphery

 

VI. McDonald's in Hong Kong

A. Does McDonald's mean that local culture in Hong Kong is "under siege"?
B. Watson: McD's has become a part of Hong Kong culture

1. same food as in US
2. employees don't smile
3. napkins
4. lingering: 20-25 minutes compared to 11 in the US
5. teen center

C. Globalization creates global culture in locally-specific ways

 

VII. Zambia and Global Disconnect

A. 1940s and 50s: copper industry boomed, Zambia becoming modern
B. 1960s: International music acts, international flights
C. Today: copper industry collapsed, Zambia is a backwater, British Airways flights 3x/wk
D. Global disconnect
E. Globalism erases some differences, produces others

 

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu