1. Globalisation, Culture and Lifestyle Seminar Three: Cultural Imperialism and Ideology

2. Key Lessons from the Lecture  Two main schools of thought exist concerning the definition of culture  Cultural imperialism is often linked to the notion of the coloniser and the colonised  It is often perceived as the Americanisation of the world  But it is argued that cultural borrowing can lead to the reinvigoration of traditional cultures  Is cultural imperialism concerned with the spread of democracy and freedom or is it soulless consumer capitalism?

3. Seminar Tasks  Critically discuss the extent to which the process of globalisation can be seen as the ‘westernisation’ of society. You should draw upon examples from the events and entertainment industries in your response.  Adorno and Barber (1995) argue that cultural imperialism leads to the development of a homogenous popular culture while Fukuyama (1990) and Robertson (1992) would argue that in fact globalisation can reinvigorate local cultural traditions. Critically discuss this argument in the context of the events and entertainment industries.