CHAPTER 13 This chapter discusses the results of contact between cultures of uneven influence. It focuses on how cultures can attempt to become dominant and how others might resist. It also examines the spread of American popular culture throughout the world as a case study.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Contact and Domination Development and Environmentalism Currently, domination comes most frequently in the form of core-based multinational corporations causing economic change in Third World cultures. Even well-intentioned interference may be treated as a form of cultural domination by subject populations. Two sources of culture clash: When development threatens indigenous peoples and their environments. When external relations threaten indigenous peoples.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Religious Change Religious homogenization is a technique frequently used by states trying to subdue groups encompassed by their borders.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Resistance and Survival Variation within Systems of Domination Scott (1990) differentiates between public and hidden transcripts of culturally and politically oppressed peoples. Public transcript refers to the open, public interactions between dominators and the oppressed. Hidden transcript refers to the critique of power that goes on offstage, where the dominators cannot see it. Gramsci’s (1971) notion of hegemony applies to a politically hierarchical system wherein the dominant ideology of the elites has been internalized by members of the lower classes.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Weapons of the Weak As James Scott’s (1990) work on Malay peasants suggests, oppressed groups may use subtle, non-confrontational methods to resist various forms of domination. Resistance is more likely to be public when the oppressed come together in groups.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Cultural Imperialism Cultural imperialism refers to the spread of one culture at the expense of others, usually because of differential economic or political influence. While mass media and related technology have contributed to the erosion of local cultures, they are increasingly being used as media for the outward diffusion of local cultures.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Making and Remaking Culture A text is something that is creatively read, interpreted, and assigned meaning by each person who receives it. Readers of a text all derive their own meanings and feelings, which may be different from what the creators of the text intended. The hegemonic reading refers to the reading or meaning that the creators of a text intended.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Popular Culture According to Fiske (1989), each individual's use of popular culture is a creative act. Popular culture can be used to express resistance.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Indigenizing Popular Culture Cultural forms exported from one culture to another do not necessarily carry the same meaning from the former context to the latter context. Aboriginal interpretations of the movie Rambo demonstrate that meaning can be produced from a text, not by a text. Appadurai’s analysis of Philippine indigenization of some American music forms demonstrates the uniqueness of the indigenized form.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival A World System of Images Mass media can spread and create national and ethnic identities. Cross-cultural studies show that locally produced television shows are preferred to foreign imports. Mass media plays an important role in maintaining ethnic and national identities among people who lead transnational lives.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival Transnational Culture of Consumption As with mass media, the flow of capital has become decentralized, carrying with it the cultural influences of many different sources. Migrant labor also contributes to cultural diffusion.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival People In Motion Postmodernism Postmodernism refers the collapsing of old distinctions, rules, canons, and the like. Postmodernism refers to the theoretical assertion and acceptance of multiple forms of rightness. Globalization refers to the increasing connectedness of the world and its peoples. With this connectedness, however, come new bases for identities.

CHAPTER 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival The Continuance of Diversity Anthropology has a crucial role to play in promoting a more humanistic vision of social change, one that respects the value of cultural diversity. The existence of anthropology is itself a tribute to the continuing need to understand social and cultural similarities and differences.