U.S. Cultural Imperialism: Today Only a Chimera

After revisiting the notion of "cultural imperialism" and reclaiming its valuable components, the article focuses on the most significant aspects of U.S. cultural imperialism in the current era of globalization. It goes beyond media imperialism to examine other domains of U.S. cultural influence at the heart of capitalist globalization, including business culture, management and labor practices, and cultural and political "development policies." Recognizing two levels of meaning associated with the ideas and practices distributed from the United States to the rest to the world, the author posits the sustained dominance of the first level, that is, the culture of consumerism. U.S. cultural imperialism as understood here—ultimately seen as a predominantly negative phenomenon from the perspective of self-determination by local people—is neither essential for, nor inherent to, globalization, but a contingent form of the global diffusion of consumerist beliefs and practices.