Imported culture
• Definition:
– Cultural imperialism where dominant cultures
take over less dominant ones
Facts and observations
– Important to remember that those dominant
cultures i.e. the Coca Cola culture does not
reflect the true American identity but rather a
very commercial and stereotypical aspect
– American identity is diverse and includes many
cultures
Questions
• How important is it to preserve individual cultures?
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Important to have diversity
There is no one right way
Civilizations have always enriched each other
Important to preserve both linguistic, cultural and religious
diversity
– Can we use the Net to revive and preserve cultures and languages?
– Are languages and cultures equal in importance: sometimes
English can be used to disseminate cultures but it is vital that we
do not lose languages (because they are repositories of culture)
Facts
• Net has the power to include everyone if it
is used pro-actively
• Strong commercial influence could drown
all diversity
• Various diasporas (immigrants) could be
used to develop their own cultures in their
new but also in their home countries with
new ideas
Recommendations
– Important to re-define American culture so that it is more diverse
and less commercialized – get buy in from the larger media
– it is vital that we do not lose languages (because they are
repositories of culture)
– Important to include minorities, females and special needs in the
decision making in powerful media so as to be more inclusive
– Important to develop educational materials so that they include
global diversity (include others into authorship)
– Encourage other cultures to tell their own stories and expand the
Net so that it can include oral cultures
– Create search engines that are less discrimatory and more inclusive
Final recommendation
• In these early days of networked
technologies, it is vital that we include all,
and that the flow of information is also from
the less dominant to more dominant peoples
• There is a real danger that the
commercialism of the traditional media
could take over this new media so it is
important to be vigilant.