Imported culture

• Definition:– Cultural imperialism where dominant cultures

take over less dominant ones

Facts and observations

– Important to remember that those dominant cultures i.e. the Coca Cola culture does not reflect the true American identity but rather a very commercial and stereotypical aspect

– American identity is diverse and includes many cultures

Questions

• How important is it to preserve individual cultures?– Important to have diversity– There is no one right way– Civilizations have always enriched each other– Important to preserve both linguistic, cultural and religious

diversity– Can we use the Net to revive and preserve cultures and languages?– Are languages and cultures equal in importance: sometimes

English can be used to disseminate cultures but it is vital that we do not lose languages (because they are repositories of culture)

Facts

• Net has the power to include everyone if it is used pro-actively

• Strong commercial influence could drown all diversity

• Various diasporas (immigrants) could be used to develop their own cultures in their new but also in their home countries with new ideas

Recommendations

– Important to re-define American culture so that it is more diverse and less commercialized – get buy in from the larger media

– it is vital that we do not lose languages (because they are repositories of culture)

– Important to include minorities, females and special needs in the decision making in powerful media so as to be more inclusive

– Important to develop educational materials so that they include global diversity (include others into authorship)

– Encourage other cultures to tell their own stories and expand the Net so that it can include oral cultures

– Create search engines that are less discrimatory and more inclusive

Final recommendation

• In these early days of networked technologies, it is vital that we include all, and that the flow of information is also from the less dominant to more dominant peoples

• There is a real danger that the commercialism of the traditional media could take over this new media so it is important to be vigilant.