Globalisation 1

Cultural Globalisation and Cultural Imperialism:

Causes, Impacts, and Solutions

by Hung Tran Tuan

Humanities
Mr. Joel William Lane
TH school
Ha Noi
March 20, 2024
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1. Introduction
Cultural globalisation is characterised by the exchange of ideas and cultures across
borders worldwide. This, however, is only a facade for the other side of globalisation: Cultural
imperialism. For instance, the influence of cultural imperialism extends to the filming industry,
as American-based films made by famous studios such as Disney and Universal continued to
dominate the market. In 2021 alone, American films amassed a staggering revenue of $23,807
million, overshadowing the success of its foreign competitors (Statista Research Department,
2024).

Globalisation significantly threatens our cultural identity (Rutten, 2021). Following this
thesis statement, this essay will evaluate the impacts of cultural imperialism and be divided into
numerous parts. First, this paper will outline the topic and analyse the causes that explain why
globalisation leads to cultural imperialism. The next sections will describe the impacts of cultural
imperialism and solutions to this. Finally, this essay will analyse and evaluate two sources and
reach a conclusion.

Figure 1: Most spoken languages in the world, 2024. Based on data from visualcapitalist.com
(Lu, 2024).
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2. Causes

The first cause of cultural imperialism is the suppression of a foreign culture over native
traditions. Through colonialism and the crusades, which epitomise endeavours towards global
integration, Christianity has experienced two millennia of profound global influence (Kuzoian,
2015). However, this global significance of the church can only be achieved when pagan
competitors are eroded or even exterminated. For instance, Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the
New World introduced Christianity to the local people in the Caribbean, such as people from the
Teinos tribe. This tribe worshipped multiple idols representing spirits called zemis and also
deities that, according to them, bring fertility and growth. The Christian Spanish led by
Columbus, however, perceived Teino worship practices as sacrilegious and satanic acts, resulting
in the destruction of the idols (Anon., 1992). This morally repugnant act cannot only ruin the
traditions of the latest generation, but it can also eradicate a whole cultural and intellectual
heritage accumulated through generations within an ethnicity (Stenning, 2015). Although
persecution between cultures is a crucial link between cultural imperialism and globalisation, it is
not the only factor that proves that cultural imperialism is the byproduct of globalisation.

Figure 2: Map showing The Vatican’s global influence (purple) dominating over other religions
in 2022 (Deshmukh, 2022).
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The second catalyst of cultural imperialism is the globalisation of Western media.

Because of the advancements in media technology, humankind no longer relies on traditional
communication methods to reach borders overseas. However, American tech giants like Meta or
Google, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube dominate the media platform industry. Incredibly,
the four media companies with the most users are all American (Dixon, 2024). These platforms
can be used as tools to help propagate a foreign culture into a country and form a virtual culture.
These virtual cultures support foreign cultures over local traditions, thus marginalising and
compromising the local cultural identity. (Latif, Naseer, and Ahmed, 2021). Overall, the
globalisation of Western media and cultural suppression has stimulated long-lasting effects,
which will be discussed next.

Figure 3: List of Social Media networks by number of users in 2024 (Dixon, 2024).

3. Impacts
A significant detrimental effect of cultural imperialism is the loss of linguistic diversity.
Research conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) reported that a language perishes, resulting in 45% of the globe’s 7,000 languages
being gravely threatened and endangered. Professor Jean Ntakirutimana of the institute also
stated the exodus of languages is a “big loss for humanity as each language is its own
multigenerational “database of knowledge” (Brock University, 2024). The origin of this issue is
the promotion of a dominant culture by globalisation. This is more prevalent in urban areas, as
people are pressured to assimilate their mother tongue to communicate with others more
effectively by learning the lingua franca. Many may see this loss as insignificant, but the
depletion of dialects can leave a huge gap in intellectual heritage and identity (Linguistics News,
2023). Furthermore, language may also carry values about cognisance. For instance, studies by
UNESCO divulge that the vulnerable Māori language had data about soil, plant growth, and
botanical nutrients previously unknown to ecologists and botanists (Johnson, 2016). In addition
to the loss of linguistic variety, other problems also originated from cultural globalisation.
 Globalisation 5

Figure 4: Graphical map showing endangered languages globally (Armstrong, 2022).

Another way cultural imperialism impacts our society negatively is how it homogenises
the cinema industry. Renowned Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan had stated that:

“Everywhere Hollywood has gone, it has destroyed the local industry whether it’s
England, Italy or Germany, they just come and take over. They have the money and the
expertise. They have the quality and quantity. We are fighting against them.”
-Amitabh Bachchan

The famed star had shown concern for the dominance of Hollywood blockbusters over
local film industries with their superior technology. At the same time, many people prefer
American movies that are spread overseas over their local films (FP Staff, 2018). For instance,
the highest-grossing movie in the world, Avatar, made a revenue of over $2 billion (Anon., n.d),
while the highest-grossing non-English film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, only grossed $56
million (Anon., n.d) which is pale in comparison to top-tier Hollywood blockbusters. This
American dominance doesn’t just exist in Asia but also mainland Europe. In 2018, American
films accounted for around 70% of the European cinema market share and made €747.7 million
in 2016, almost 6-fold of the revenue produced by European studios of €125.9 million (Oussayfi,
2018). This data portrays the status quo of the everlasting influence of American popular culture
 Globalisation 6

over the globe. However, although cultural imperialism may cause the extermination of
languages and homogenise cultures, there are remedies for these issues.

Figure 5: Revenue of cinema market by country in 2021 (Statista Research Department, 2024).

4. Solutions
The first solution to cultural imperialism is isolationism. This simple yet effective remedy
limits contact with the outside world to hamper any opportunities for foreign cultures to diffuse.
For instance, the grand strategy of “sakoku” imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate was effective
in the effort to prevent Western cultures from flooding in (Varpahovskis, 2019). When the first
Christian missionaries arrived in Japan in 1549, they were welcomed but soon faced hostility due
to the Japanese thinking that this action may lead to imperialism. In 1637, shogun Tokugawa
Iemitsu issued a decree banning Christianity in all of Japan, fearing it may cause Buddhism in
the country to be exterminated, and later, only a few Dutch merchants were certified to enter an
island off the coast of Nagasaki (Hoffman, 2024). This portrays how isolationism has helped
Japan reject Christian beliefs and continue to embrace its traditional Buddhist heritage. However,
the outdated sakoku policy was lifted when the American “black ships” forcefully destroyed the
system with superior gunfire, showcasing how vulnerable the strategy is if a country decides to
lift it, leading to our second solution: The promotion of cultural exchange.

Another solution for cultural imperialism is the promotion of cultural exchange. Cultural
exchange between locals and foreigners can help to preserve local cultural identity. When there
is a cultural exchange, such as when a tourist showcases their cultural heritage, a local
community is prompted to take pride in their traditional customs. This helps to aid conservation
efforts of these cultural practices and guarantees that future generations will continue to practice
 Globalisation 7

these traditions (Anon., n.d). Furthermore, cultural exchange doesn’t just encourage local
citizens to preserve cultural heritage but also fosters understanding between the locals and
foreigners, and this positive attitude towards a culture can help to maintain the cultural identity
both domestically and internationally (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan, 1973). In conclusion,
one of the most brilliant solutions for globalisation is the fostering of cultural exchange.

5. Source Analysis
This section will evaluate two sources based on three main criteria: Author’s information
and education, emotion or judgemental styles, and bias.

For my first source, I will use the source from uscpublicdiplomacy.org (Varpahovskis,
2019). The author of this source, Eriks Varpahovskis, is an associate professor at the National
Research University Higher School of Economics and earned a Ph.D. in political science from
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 2019, so the information must be high-quality.
Secondly, this article was unbiased as it did not state which solutions are the best and explained
them equally. However, it was biased towards how cultural imperialism was harmful, while this
phenomenon still brings benefits. Cultural imperialism can bring modernisation and technology
to many underdeveloped countries. Additionally, this article was not written in any emotional
tone, and the author maintains an academic style throughout the article.

For my second source analysis, the source that I use is from brocku.ca (Brock University,
2024). The authors of this article are researchers from Brock University, a well-known public
research university in Ontario, Canada, and the quotes from the article are also from university
professors, meaning that the information is certified and high-quality. This article, as written by
professional researchers, is written in an academic style with good vocabulary and grammar,
showing how professional the researchers are. However, this article is biased towards the idea
that language loss is detrimental and does not provide solutions, portraying that the researchers
only showed one side.

6. Conclusion
In conclusion, even though globalisation may cause cultural imperialism and be
detrimental to our society, it is very difficult to eradicate it. Globalisation has doubtlessly caused
cultural hegemony, but because it simplified communications and brought the world closer
together, endeavours toward cultural exports will continue to thrive and influence the globe.
 Globalisation 8

Hopefully, new solutions will be created and modified to resolve globalisation’s problems, like
marginalisation, and make globalisation more sustainable and equitable for all cultures.

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