Globalization: A Basic Text, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 3GLOBALIZATION AND RELATED PROCESSESIMPERIALISM, COLONIALISM, DEVELOPMENT, WESTERNIZATION, EASTERNIZATION, AND AMERICANIZATION

• Imperialism
  • The new imperialism
• Colonialism
  • Postcolonialism
• Development
• Westernization
• Easternization
• Americanization
  • A Broader and Deeper View of the Americanization of Consumer Culture
  • Minimizing the Importance of Americanization
  • Anti-Americanism
• Comparisons with Globalization
• The Era of the “Posts”
• Chapter Summary

Globalization has come to be the preeminent term for describing and thinking about processes that affect, and structures common to, large portions of the world today. However, there are many other concepts that either describe earlier historical, or contemporary, realities that deal with at least a portion of that which is encompassed by globalization. In this chapter we deal with several concepts that are related to globalization – imperialism (Berberoglu 2003), colonialism (and postcolonialism), development (and dependency), Westernization, Easternization, and Americanization (and anti-Americanization).

We devote much more attention to Americanization than the other processes even though there is much to indicate, and many scholars argue (and as will be discussed in many places in this book), that the era of American preeminence in the global arena is in decline and can only fall further in the future. For example, Fareed Zakaria (2008, 2011) argues that we are living in a “post-American world.” While there is much ...