Global Communication and Media Policy

Chapter 6 of the textbook addresses ‘contraflow in global media’, or in other words the non-Western mass production and export of communication content (e.g. Brazilian telenovelas; Indian film industry…). The concept I will focus on here is the one of ‘cultures of diaspora’. It is defined in the textbooks as the results of the physical displacement of communities, which carry with them their own cultures and traditions. This mass movement of communities has been conceptualize by Appadurai under the name “ethnoscape”. The texbook presents some examples, such as populations of “South Asians in Britain, North Africans in France, Turks in Germany, and Latin American in the United States”(p.207). Indeed, it is becoming more and more complicated to associate a single culture to a geographical area. Waves of immigration and the globalization of the workplace through the rise of multinationals companies, have led to multiculturalism and multilingualism becoming a new norm. Because of this...

The 5th chapter of the book focuses on the relationship between Communication and cultural globalization. The notion I will address here is the one of cultural diversity, and more specifically the way in which cultural globalization might threaten it. Cultural diversity is defined in the book as: “ a 'manifestation of the creativity of the human spirit', and is required 'by principles of equity, human rights and self-determination'; it is needed to 'oppose political and economic dependence and oppression' for 'sustainability' and it is 'aesthetically pleasing to have an array of different cultures', it 'stimulates the mind' and can provide a 'reserve of knowledge and experience' about good and useful ways of organizing society ” (UNESCO), p.180. Cultural globalization takes the form of an increasing production and consumption of the same cultural products all around the world. Whether we are talking about music, movies or books, ...