Globalization is the process of increasing interconnectedness among nations, cultures, and people, so as to have an international influence, which is both supported and accelerated by technological advancements.
Globalization is a major aspect of cultural imperialism. As nations become more and more connected, inevitably culture begins to become something that is “exported” and “imported.” Transnational conglomerates dominate this cultural media flow, but this flow is very unequal. Western culture makes up an imbalanced amount of cultural flow, which can cause countries on the receiving end of the flow to lose aspects of local and national cultures, as well as their cultural autonomy and national sovereignty. Film, music, television, fashion, etc are all a part of this cultural imperialism, which affects other non-Western cultures to varying degrees.
One prominent example of cultural imperialism in media is the Disney brand. A Western conglomerate, Disney however manages to have a strong foothold virtually everywhere in the world. The Disney Channel is present not only in the United States, but in Mexico, South Africa, India, Taiwan, Australia, Pakistan, France, Israel and a myriad of more countries throughout the world. This worldwide expansion of the Disney Channel illustrates the unbalanced media and cultural flow, as no television channel has imprinted itself on American culture the way the U.S.’s Disney Channel has on many other countries on almost every continent. Disney is one of these transnational conglomerates dominating the global media flow.
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