Free Essay Sample on Cultural Imperialism

Schiller (1976) defined cultural imperialism defined as the exploitation of economic and political power to influence and spread the values and traits of a particular foreign culture while at the same time undermining the native culture of a given community or country. Cultural imperialism is most real in modern society as evidenced with contents of the media which is highly awash with western culture of dressing, politics, religion and the range of food culture. Cultural imperialism has been significantly been underlined with the international media and entertainment industries such as Hollywood and Bollywood which has directed contributed to the advancement of cultural diplomacy in foreign states. The resultant of cultural imperialism has been weakening of the cultures of the local community that have been exposed to cultural imperialism majorly in the third world country (Schiller, 1976).

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Tragedy of commons is an economic theory by Garret Hardin where everyone wants to gain the greatest benefits from a given resource while neglecting the needs of other community members (Ostrom, 2002). The tragedy of commons relates to environmental issues such as overfishing, water pollution and soil. In Cote dIvoire, people have more cultivated land as compared to forestland that minimizes natural vegetation. A situation occurs when one primarily disregards the interests of the community and solely seeks to benefits him/herself in acquiring limited resources (Ostrom, 2002). The subsequent overexploitation of resources by individuals further leads to reduction agricultural productivity and minimizes the farmers income. Environmental protection is very important for the economic growth of any country hence should be embraced.

Smith et al (2004) noted that women are the great pillars of our modern economy with many women joining the top ranks in government and companies. Women should focus more on education rather than becoming complacent to the norm that they are only suited to undertake domestic activities. The management of birth control through the reduction of the number of children by using family planning methods is a cost effective method of financial development by the government (Smith et al., 2004). Heightened global economic and educational empowerment of women further helps reduce poverty levels in the society by granting the girl child equal education and Job opportunities in the society. In addition, women should be granted environmental and agricultural stewardship roles underlined with the fact that women are actively engaged in the production of agricultural products. On the other hand, Women still face numerous obstacles such as gender inequality, sexual abuse and domestic subordination in family set ups (Smith et al., 2004). The government should intervene though the design and implementation of additional mechanisms to empower women such as projects that will benefit the women in marginalized areas and create employment opportunities in the government institutions for the women.

References

Ostrom, E. (2002). The drama of the commons. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Schiller, H. Communication and cultural domination.

Smith, P., Troutner, J., & Hunefeldt, C. (2004). Promises of empowerment. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield

Schiller, H. (1976). Communication and cultural domination. White Plains, N.Y.: International Arts and Sciences Press.