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Youth Culture and Globalization
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American cultural imperialism has a large effect on how youth construct their identities, creating hegemonic ideals of beauty, and most importantly defining cool for an entire generation of youth. Yet culture is not a one-way transaction, as much of global youth pop culture has been appropriated into the mainstream media, creating alternative reverberations. Gramscian notions of hegemony come into play, as we can observe how global corporations extract consent and incorporate dissent from global youth culture. Concepts around hybridity and mestizaje help to shape how we perceive these shifts, as marginalized cultures borrow from the status quo, and vice versa. Youth are targeted more than ever by the global cultural industry through television and advertisements. The culture of consumerism is not only affecting youth in developed nations. The Haatso Youth Club in Ghana articulates this phenomenon in their report to the International Youth Parliament (Heaven & Tubridy 2003):

Globalization has brought us a life surrounded by mass-production and mass-consumption. We are driven under enormous pressure, into a very consumerist lifestyle, stimulated by transnational corporations as well as commercial mass media. In contrast, we witness at the same time the stark poverty widespread in our region and the world. We see our own cultures giving way to a consumerist monoculture. There is an urgent need to revisit, appreciate and participate in the evolution of our own cultures, which are community-orientated, non-materialistic, eco-friendly and holistic in their worldview. We need to develop our capacity of cultural perceptibility towards creative interaction between cultures.


The art of the remix has infused itself into youth culture across the globe, as genres such as Hip Hop find themselves in Australia, and Punk Rock takes popularity in Japan. Hybrid artists such as M.I.A., and Up, Bustle, and Out have blended genres of music, sampling artists across the world to create a fusion of global sounds. New genres emerge out of the ashes of the old, as Reggaeton takes the stage, combining Reggae with Hip Hop, with a distinct Latino flavour. Television shows like Heroes take place across the world, and across time. The movie Babel marks a theme for this generation, transcultural narratives which weave through our lives, showing the invisible connections which we all share.

As cultures transfer, they take on different meanings, and risk hybridizing in ways which can be offensive and detrimental to indigenous cultures (Loomba 2005). bell hooks cautions us that (1992:21), "Within commodity culture, ethnicity becomes spice, seasoning that can liven up the dull dish that is mainstream white culture." When is hybridity appropriate, and when does it verge on cultural theft? Ella Shohat reminds us (1993:100) that in order to understand these concepts, we need to "discriminate between the diverse modalities of hybridity, for example forced assimilation, internalized self-rejection, political co-optation, social conformism, cultural mimicry, and creative transcendence." With these tensions in mind it is important to incorporate media education into the learning canon, preparing the youth of today for the challenges and opportunities of new media technology.

October 26, 2008 | 7:33 PM Comments  1 comments

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DakotaStorm DakotaStorm
October 27, 2008 | 1:00 AM
Totally Agree
Yes I am in Complete agreenance with your blog statement; as a Native Nth American Indian, I have as well as our Traditional Tribal People have become lost with our Culture,There is NO Acknowledgement at all within any so-called Developed Country 4 our Culture,our Music has been very distorted,in same ways you describe! Cannot obtain any true Native Tribal Music that has not been taken & produced with westernisation influences & People,making claims 2 our Culture & Traditional Music.
Even in living in Australia I & my Husband have been told by the Australian Federal Government;"that as Native American Indian,we are NOT Acknowledged in any way & that we have NO Basic HUMAN RIGHTS at all,not even to make any complaints about this.
Same 4 the Australian Aboriginals-Their Culture & Art is vastly misused and denied,we all R expected 2 B some kind of Global Youth & People conforming 2 western ways,Western Culture,in all things,food,clothing,(Don,t Dare dress Tribally,Don't dare even speaking your native language,we all must speak English Language! Native American Indians have endured centuries of ethnic theft,having everything regarding our cultural Tribal ways since the insurgent of Captain Cook. What is very disturbing about all of this is the loss of our Individually Culturally & Globally.
If U R differrent in any way they make U 2 B some kind of insurgent or whatever??? Disturbing,Trends hey!
Yours Sincerely,
Balance Deer Woman :)
Lisa Campbell Salazar's Profile


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