Nasser, 1956-70
“Arab socialism” High growth, 1955-66
Foreign aid, agricultural and educational reforms
Stagnation, 1967-75
1967 war: Loss of Sinai & Suez Canal
Sadat & Mubarak, 1975-2011
*Infitah (open-door policy)
High growth, 1975-85
Peace boom: Return of Sinai & Suez Canal
Oil prices up: Demand for labor in Persian Gulf & Libya
Stagnation, 1985-2011
Oil prices down
Terrorism (hurts tourism)
Washington Consensus policies
Loans
Decline in public investment
“Fiscal discipline” (Steger, p. 61: #1 & #2)
Are Steger and Amin mainly discussing flows of “objective” or “subjective” culture? Give some examples.
According to Steger and Amin (pp. 10-19), what is the “Americanization” or “McDonaldization” of culture globally?
How do pessimistic and optimistic globalizers differ in their interpretation of the impact of Americanization/McDonaldization?
Why is Amin pessimistic about the impact of “American..mass society” on Egypt?
According to Steger, what is “glocalization”? Why does Steger think that “uneven and contradictory effects” (p. 89) are the most likely outcomes of global cultural flows?
According to Steger, (5th ed.), what is anti-globalist populism? Why according to Steger does the “anti-globalist wave” ironically represent “a globalizing force that has been sweeping the world”? (p. 127)
Pessimistic
Cultural Homogenization
Consumerism
“uniform standards…homogenous global products…targeting young…turning children into consumers” (Steger, 87)
“The American lifestyle grants ordinary people an easy material life and caters to their tastes…the true sovereigns are the simple people of the street, possessing a limited culture and education” (Amin. p. 13)
Optimistic
Economic/Cultural
Consumerism brings abundance of consumer goods and information
Political
“Universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.” (Francis Fukuyama)
Americanization, p. 2
“Mass Society” “Stage of High Mass Consumption,” p. 11
Population growth+ Economic growth= Large middle class of consumers
Middle Class consumer culture/lifestyle
Hybridization of culture
McDonalds in Indonesia (Steger, p. 88, fig. 11)
Example of Starbucks: McDonaldization or glocalization of coffee shop?
Coffee first cultivated in Yemen
Café
Europe, 1600s
U.S. fad, 1970s
Starbucks, founded 1971
Rejection of foreign culture and/or political & economic relations
Trump & “Alt-right”/National Rally (France) vs. immigrants
Cultural and economic threat
Brexiteers vs. E.U.
E. European immigrants & E.U. regulations
Jihadists (al-Qaeda, ISIS, Taliban, etc.) vs. U.S. & W. Europe
Cultural and political threat