Cultural Imperialism In The Late 19th Century
Cultural imperialism is the effort by powerful states to force their culture and societal systems upon subjugated, or less powerful, people. These formal and informal efforts are often based on ethnocentrism and were exemplified by the social Darwinist movement of the late nineteenth century. Cultural imperialism is responsible for the spread of some positive values, including democracy and equal rights, but it also brought about the demise of many indigenous cultures and languages and provided a justification for colonialism. During the early period of Western colonialism, cultural imperialism was marked by efforts to forcibly spread Christianity and European economic values to indigenous societies. The onset of the new imperialism of the nineteenth
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century saw the maturation of this trend as imperial states sought to replicate their legal, political, and educational systems within their colonies. With the rise of the United States as a global power in the twentieth century, American culture came to dominate the world through an informal and tacit form of cultural imperialism.
Usually two divergent cultures that come into contact tend to influence each other. There is a give-and-take that often results in a new, hybrid culture. Societies have historically adopted and integrated different languages, political or legal systems, religions, and traditions into their own cultural identity. Only rarely are such cultural interactions mainly unidirectional. However, cultural imperialism distorts normal societal exchanges. Instead, the dominant power seeks to suppress and, in some cases, eradicate other cultures. Although a dominant culture may incorporate specific products into its mainstream, as the Europeans did with corn, sugar, and potatoes, through cultural imperialism, there is a range of actions taken to destroy indigenous ways of life. The suppression of native religions and their replacement by outside faiths is one example of this trend. In addition, societal attributes, including language, legal traditions, and family patterns, also are often forcibly changed through new legal codes and colonial
policies.
During the initial period of European colonization, the imperial powers sought two things from their overseas territories, and both of these imperatives often led to efforts to completely eradicate native cultures. First, under the prevailing mercantile system of the period, the European states tried to maximize the economic potential of their colonies. They wanted colonies that would be economically profitable and provide resources that were unavailable, or in limited quantities, in Europe. In much of North America, the Caribbean, and Africa, this often meant replacing the existing agrarian and hunting cultures with European economic systems based on resource extraction and large-scale agriculture. Second, the colonial powers endeavored to minimize the costs of their empires. One way to ensure that colonies did not become profitably expensive was to ensure that those territories remained politically subservient to the mother country. Replicating European political culture provided one method of maintaining submissive colonies. This was especially important to the European colonizers in those areas, such as the Aztec Empire in Mexico, in which there was an existent, strong, and stable political system that could provide leadership for anti-colonial insurgencies. In such cases, one immediate goal for the colonial powers was to exterminate, or co-opt in some cases, the indigenous political leadership.During the late imperial era of the nineteenth century, colonization also increasingly came to be based on strategic considerations. Imperial states no longer only sought colonies simply for profit, they also wanted territory for political and military reasons, including naval bases for refueling and refitting; buffer areas to protect wealthy colonies; and to deny rival empires territory. In addition, public sentiment in many imperial powers, especially Great Britain and France, opposed the wholesale eradication of indigenous cultures and people. This combination of factors resulted in less overtly brutal methods of suppressing native cultures. This imperial period was marked by efforts among several of the leading colonial powers to integrate their possessions into their broader culture and traditions. A common theme was that it was the duty of the imperial power to uplift the people who came under its suzerainty. This idea would later be modified and embraced by the United States and its allies in the twentieth century as America sought to promote its ideals and values in the post-World War II era, but often dismissed local culture and tradition, even if it was compatible with the goals of U.S. policy.Not all of the negative impacts of cultural imperialism are deliberate. In some cases, actions taken by colonial governments and settlers had disastrous impacts on indigenous lifestyles. Colonialism disrupted societies by elevating some groups, while disenfranchising others from positions of power or status. Colonial powers often removed or eradicated those groups that held political or economic power within a new acquired territory. The colonists then elevated other groups within societies to elite status as a means to bind those groups to the colonial power, and then exploited them to maintain control. Such actions exacerbated existing ethnic rivalries or initiated long-lasting intra-societal conflicts. In addition, the artificial borders created during the colonial period disrupted societies and broke apart ethnic and religious groups, further contributing to the demise of many cultures. Due to the growth of technologie we are interconnected this has lead to the spread of western cultures and is one of the key factors of globalization. Westernization or Westernisation , also Europeanization/Europeanisation or occidentalization/occidentalisation (from the Occident, meaning the Western world), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, clothing,language, alphabet, religion, philosophy, and values.Westernization has been an accelerating influence across the world in the last few centuries, with some thinkers assuming westernization to be the equivalent of modernization, a way of thought that is often debated.The overall process of westernization is often two-sided in that Western influences and interests themselves are joined with parts of the affected society, at minimum, to change towards a more Westernized society, in the hope of attaining Western life or some aspects of it. To assume, however, Western societies are not affected or changed by this process and interaction with non-Western groups is misleading.Westernization traces it roots back to Ancient Greece, the birthplace of Western culture. As Ancient Greece flourished, a new Empire was emerging namely Roman. The Roman Empire would take on the first process of Westernization as it was heavy influenced by Greece and created a new culture based on the principles and values of the Ancient Greek society. The Romans emerged with a culture that would lay the new foundations of Europe and create the new western identify based on the Greco-Roman society.Westernization can also be related to acculturation and enculturation. Acculturation is "the process of cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between cultural groups and their individual members."After contact, changes in cultural patterns are evident within one or both cultures. Specific to westernization and the non-Western culture, foreign societies tend to adopt changes in their own social systems relative to Western ideology, lifestyle, and physical appearance, along with numerous other aspects, and shifts in culture patterns can be seen to take root as a community becomes acculturated to Western customs and characteristics – in other words, westernized. Westernization can include Americanisation and Europeanisation, with historical versions including Romanisation, Hellenisation, Francisation, and Germanisation.Other trends include Islamisation,Japanisation, Africanisation, and Sinicization.The phenomenon of westernization does not follow any one specific pattern across societies as the degree of adaption and fusion with Western customs will occur at varying magnitudes within different communities.Specifically, the extent to which domination, destruction, resistance, survival, adaptation or modification affect a native culture may differ following inter-ethnic contact.
century saw the maturation of this trend as imperial states sought to replicate their legal, political, and educational systems within their colonies. With the rise of the United States as a global power in the twentieth century, American culture came to dominate the world through an informal and tacit form of cultural imperialism.
Usually two divergent cultures that come into contact tend to influence each other. There is a give-and-take that often results in a new, hybrid culture. Societies have historically adopted and integrated different languages, political or legal systems, religions, and traditions into their own cultural identity. Only rarely are such cultural interactions mainly unidirectional. However, cultural imperialism distorts normal societal exchanges. Instead, the dominant power seeks to suppress and, in some cases, eradicate other cultures. Although a dominant culture may incorporate specific products into its mainstream, as the Europeans did with corn, sugar, and potatoes, through cultural imperialism, there is a range of actions taken to destroy indigenous ways of life. The suppression of native religions and their replacement by outside faiths is one example of this trend. In addition, societal attributes, including language, legal traditions, and family patterns, also are often forcibly changed through new legal codes and colonial
policies.
During the initial period of European colonization, the imperial powers sought two things from their overseas territories, and both of these imperatives often led to efforts to completely eradicate native cultures. First, under the prevailing mercantile system of the period, the European states tried to maximize the economic potential of their colonies. They wanted colonies that would be economically profitable and provide resources that were unavailable, or in limited quantities, in Europe. In much of North America, the Caribbean, and Africa, this often meant replacing the existing agrarian and hunting cultures with European economic systems based on resource extraction and large-scale agriculture. Second, the colonial powers endeavored to minimize the costs of their empires. One way to ensure that colonies did not become profitably expensive was to ensure that those territories remained politically subservient to the mother country. Replicating European political culture provided one method of maintaining submissive colonies. This was especially important to the European colonizers in those areas, such as the Aztec Empire in Mexico, in which there was an existent, strong, and stable political system that could provide leadership for anti-colonial insurgencies. In such cases, one immediate goal for the colonial powers was to exterminate, or co-opt in some cases, the indigenous political leadership.During the late imperial era of the nineteenth century, colonization also increasingly came to be based on strategic considerations. Imperial states no longer only sought colonies simply for profit, they also wanted territory for political and military reasons, including naval bases for refueling and refitting; buffer areas to protect wealthy colonies; and to deny rival empires territory. In addition, public sentiment in many imperial powers, especially Great Britain and France, opposed the wholesale eradication of indigenous cultures and people. This combination of factors resulted in less overtly brutal methods of suppressing native cultures. This imperial period was marked by efforts among several of the leading colonial powers to integrate their possessions into their broader culture and traditions. A common theme was that it was the duty of the imperial power to uplift the people who came under its suzerainty. This idea would later be modified and embraced by the United States and its allies in the twentieth century as America sought to promote its ideals and values in the post-World War II era, but often dismissed local culture and tradition, even if it was compatible with the goals of U.S. policy.Not all of the negative impacts of cultural imperialism are deliberate. In some cases, actions taken by colonial governments and settlers had disastrous impacts on indigenous lifestyles. Colonialism disrupted societies by elevating some groups, while disenfranchising others from positions of power or status. Colonial powers often removed or eradicated those groups that held political or economic power within a new acquired territory. The colonists then elevated other groups within societies to elite status as a means to bind those groups to the colonial power, and then exploited them to maintain control. Such actions exacerbated existing ethnic rivalries or initiated long-lasting intra-societal conflicts. In addition, the artificial borders created during the colonial period disrupted societies and broke apart ethnic and religious groups, further contributing to the demise of many cultures. Due to the growth of technologie we are interconnected this has lead to the spread of western cultures and is one of the key factors of globalization. Westernization or Westernisation , also Europeanization/Europeanisation or occidentalization/occidentalisation (from the Occident, meaning the Western world), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, clothing,language, alphabet, religion, philosophy, and values.Westernization has been an accelerating influence across the world in the last few centuries, with some thinkers assuming westernization to be the equivalent of modernization, a way of thought that is often debated.The overall process of westernization is often two-sided in that Western influences and interests themselves are joined with parts of the affected society, at minimum, to change towards a more Westernized society, in the hope of attaining Western life or some aspects of it. To assume, however, Western societies are not affected or changed by this process and interaction with non-Western groups is misleading.Westernization traces it roots back to Ancient Greece, the birthplace of Western culture. As Ancient Greece flourished, a new Empire was emerging namely Roman. The Roman Empire would take on the first process of Westernization as it was heavy influenced by Greece and created a new culture based on the principles and values of the Ancient Greek society. The Romans emerged with a culture that would lay the new foundations of Europe and create the new western identify based on the Greco-Roman society.Westernization can also be related to acculturation and enculturation. Acculturation is "the process of cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between cultural groups and their individual members."After contact, changes in cultural patterns are evident within one or both cultures. Specific to westernization and the non-Western culture, foreign societies tend to adopt changes in their own social systems relative to Western ideology, lifestyle, and physical appearance, along with numerous other aspects, and shifts in culture patterns can be seen to take root as a community becomes acculturated to Western customs and characteristics – in other words, westernized. Westernization can include Americanisation and Europeanisation, with historical versions including Romanisation, Hellenisation, Francisation, and Germanisation.Other trends include Islamisation,Japanisation, Africanisation, and Sinicization.The phenomenon of westernization does not follow any one specific pattern across societies as the degree of adaption and fusion with Western customs will occur at varying magnitudes within different communities.Specifically, the extent to which domination, destruction, resistance, survival, adaptation or modification affect a native culture may differ following inter-ethnic contact.