User:Inesfallaha/sandbox

Evidence is a body of facts used to legitimate a hypothesis given. We can find this concept in many fields such as law, science, history, philosophy, antrhopology, etc.

The concept of cultural hegemony sources from the Italian philosopher of the late 19th century, Antonio Gramsci. Inspired by Marx's ideas on the implications of capitalism on social classes -the take over of a subaltern class by a dominant class by means of capital appropriation, he looked upon this role playing scenario through cultural lenses rather than economic, suggesting a cultural submission of a country or community to another which does so by « winning them over ». Gramsci distinguished economic hegemons who control the capital and cultural hegemons who control the culture. This concept is relevant as we speak because in our increasingly globalised world, we fear the decline of many cultures for the sake of the "American Culture" being adopted all around the globe.

The United States of America : The World's First Cultural Imperialists
The American Dream

With the advent of the Cold War, the United States based their worldwide ideological quest on cultural propaganda of their doctrine (liberalism) through the promotion "American Dream", a concept incarnated by the media, as part of their "soft power". The American dream is an idea based on an equal availability of education and career opportunities to every american citizen, hence establishing a direct relation between labour and economic success. This exciting opportunity alongside with the fundamental logo of american doctrine "freedom of expression" rapidly proliferated worldwide through Hollywood, for instance, the film Titanic, by James Cameron, but also via the music industry incarnating liberal morals such as the Beatles, the United States became the first cultural hegemon and still prevails

A Tasty take over of the world by the Big Mac

Current reports have been talking of a "Mcdonaldization" of the world, implying the ubiquitous presence of a "McDonalds culture" pervading local businesses and other food chains. American tastes have monopolized the fast food industry, hence imposing its operational system -based on efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control- to its rivals whom are forced to adapt to survive. In fact, these four grounds leave seldom place for other business strategies to develop due to its high efficiency. With this double take-over of other cultures, the first by replacing most meals with the "Big Mac" and the second by eradicating other's operational strategies for the sake of one, McDonalds has become a cultural hegemon, a minimal representation of "the big real deal", the United States, to the point were, according to Eric Schlosser, "the Golden Arches are more widely recognized than the Christian cross (Schlosser, 2001)"

Multinational Contestation
This unceasing take-over of American "culture power" is however facing as we speak numerous contestations from its emerging opponents. For instance, the creation of the ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America), a South American political organisation aiming at achieving financial, economic and cultural independence from their northern neighbour. We can also witness arguments rising in this matter in cultural domains -such as theatres (the song "Alexander Hamilton" from the musical "Alexander Hamilton") or more recent "This is America" by American artist Childish Gambino both denouncing the ideal of the "American Dream" as being an illusory trap luring workers from all countries without providing them with real reward.

--	Mcdonaldization of the world litteraly and metaphorically. American tastes have monopolized the fast food industry but also the 4 ground on which the Mcdonaldz operational system is built (efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control.), an emblema of the liberal politic promoted by americans the Golden Arches are, according to Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, “more widely recognized than the Christian cross (Schlosser, 2001).” Song « alexander Hamilton »