Is Globalization Americanization Part 2 - Essay Example

Of course, like in every race, there is always one winner. Until recently, the globalization winner was the United States of America. The undefeated champion of globalization, it is now facing the dire threat of being dethroned from its much-earned pedestal by China; a country trying desperately to maintain, if not reduce, its shocking level of economic prosperity. However, it has as yet not managed to push over the American Economy’s influence completely as more than 90% of the world’s population is more than remotely familiar with American products.

(Mendis, 2007) From McDonald’s to Nike, the American market has taken over the hearts and minds of consumers worldwide. There is not a child or adult out there who is unaware of the powerful tug American brand names have on the world’s populace; they may not have roads in Sarajevo, but the people of Bosnia have at least one McDonald’s outlet to enjoy to their hearts’ content. According to the toughest of critics, globalization is simply another form of Americanization; whereby the global culture is overtaken by that of the American nation.

The truth of these words can be seen in the surroundings of many a consumer. The Pakistani Northern Areas may be suffused with a hair-raising war, but the country in itself cannot imagine living without McDonald’s at least once a week; or being deprived of the privilege of watching How I Met Your Mother almost every other day. This rapid pace of globalization has also been termed by many an acclaimed critic as ‘glocalization’; a hybrid of globalization and localization. A common phenomenon found in most countries, glocalization has many national governments at a loss.

The American culture has spread far and wide; through the advent of globalization, it is now a part of other cultures, as ingrained in society as the