Americanization

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American fast food restaurant branches in China

Americanization describes on the one hand the process of integrating immigrants into the US-American culture, on the other hand the change of an economy, society, culture or person towards the prevailing conditions in the USA, respectively towards the model of the so called " American way of life ".

background

In the mid-1990s, the US sociologist Mike Featherstone , among others, put forward the thesis that an economic, political, institutional and, above all, cultural homogeneity would develop globally, which is primarily dominated by the USA (see also convergence theory ). From this culture, so-called Americanisms are integrated into an existing system and change a society with regard to its institutions, values, traditions, behavior and procedures (e.g. in industry and business). This trend does not run as a reciprocal effect, but as a one-sided influence, which partly originates from the USA itself, partly is also adopted voluntarily in other countries. The process of Americanization that developed in the 20th century is tied to the status of the United States of America as a superpower . It developed particular dynamism after the Second World War in a de facto divided Europe, when the United States viewed Western Europe as its sphere of influence.

Perceived / claimed hallmarks of Americanization

Comprehensive

  • Use of Anglicisms
  • Privatization of sovereign and social tasks and property in all areas.
  • Advertising financing by private companies
  • Consumer mentality
  • Profit orientation also in formerly non-economic areas (e.g. in education, healthcare)

media

  • English-language pop music
  • Hollywood productions in cinemas and television
  • English slogans in advertising
  • Commercial television financed by advertising
  • American theme parks such as Disneyland Paris .
  • Influence on German television culture such as broadcasts about the game of poker
  • Uncritical adoption of American television reports (Vietnam War, Gulf War)

Work & Social

  • Reduction of social benefits
  • Gangs on the streets
  • Increase in crime due to social injustice
  • American fashion and clothing
  • Anglicization of the language
  • Imitation of festivals like Halloween or Thanksgiving
  • Use of American words and names
  • Restriction of trade unions and employee participation
  • Adoption of American eating habits and dishes ( fast food )
  • Education of the elite in schools and universities
  • No protection against dismissal or no notice period
  • Little or no employee rights
  • Adoption of American trends

Sports

Economic life

  • English as the main language also in non-American companies
  • Adoption of English terms for functions in companies (e.g. "CEO" instead of CEO), even if this tends to lead to confusion due to the different commercial law,
  • More competitive than cooperative
  • Stronger or pure profit thinking
  • More aggressive marketing
  • More focused on headquarters, more military style of leadership
  • Hire and fire mentality, high turnover
  • American bachelor's and master's degrees at foreign universities
  • Credit rating (rating) of companies according to American standards
  • Comprehensive exclusion of liability ("Disclaimer") as a precaution against claims for damages when using products (e.g. "Warning, contents are hot" on coffee mugs)

Politics and election campaign

The term Americanization has become very popular in political science and media studies to describe the modernization of political communication. In this area, the concept of the Americanization thesis was able to establish itself, which refers in particular to the change and development of the election campaign. (e.g. increased use of television, with it the importance that a candidate is "media-compatible" and photogenic; Willy Brandt as "German Kennedy "; TV duels )

Americanization in politics can also be understood as the adoption of the aggressive anti-communism or anti-socialism cultivated in the USA .

Countermovement

Ever since George W. Bush, who is generally not very popular in Europe, came into power as American President, it has been observed that an opposing trend has emerged: many people consciously try to avoid “American”. Expressions of this attitude are a conscious distance from the politics of the USA, the boycott of certain American goods and z. B. the return to traditional German first names for children. Significant events that have worsened America's image in Germany recently were the third Gulf War (Bush) and the NSA affair ( Obama ) as well as the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA.

Americanization of names

The term is also used in other contexts: first names and surnames were Americanized among immigrants in the United States . The names, which are often difficult to pronounce for Americans, have already been arbitrarily changed by the immigration authorities or in consultation with the immigrant. (Some of these changes also happened later - during the First World War , many German-Americans changed their last names.)

Historical comparison

In history it is no exception that values, language etc. are adopted by the respective leading power: There have already been similar developments

The development can be triggered by a population's fascination with the achievements of the leading power or the prevailing culture in a state structure, but it can also be driven directly by the leading power (see also “ Colonialism ” and “ Assimilation Policy ”).

See also

literature

  • Heide Fehrenbach, Uta G. Poiger (Ed.): Transactions, Transgressions, Transformations: American Culture in Western Europe and Japan . Berghahn, New York / Oxford 2000, ISBN 978-1-57181-108-0 .
  • Konrad H. Jarausch, Hannes Siegrist (Ed.): Americanization and Sovietization in Germany 1945–1970 . Campus publishing house, Frankfurt a. M./New York 1997, ISBN 978-3-593-35761-4 .
  • Gustav W. Meyer: The Americanization of Europe. Critical observations and considerations . Technical publishing house, Bodenbach a. Elbe 1920.
  • Heinz-Günter Schmitz: The Americanization and Internationalization of the German Language after the Second World War . Our Land - Scientific Foundation for Germany V., Starnberg 1999.
  • Susanne Hilger: "Americanization" of German companies. Competitive strategies and corporate policy at Henkel, Siemens and Daimler-Benz (1945 / 49–1975) . Steiner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-515-08283-2 (quarterly for social and economic history: supplements; No. 173).
  • Alexander Stephan (Ed.): The Americanization Of Europe: Culture, Diplomacy, and Anti-Americanism after 1945 , Berghahn, 2013 ( online )
  • Alexander Stephan, Jochen Vogt (Ed.): America on my mind. On the Americanization of German culture since 1945 . Fink, Paderborn 2006, ISBN 978-3-7705-4329-8 .
  • Frank Becker , Elke Reinhardt-Becker (eds.): Myth USA. "Americanization" in Germany since 1900 . Campus publishing house, Frankfurt a. M./New York 2006, ISBN 978-3-593-37994-4 .
  • Wolfgang Bittner : The conquest of Europe by the USA . Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-86489-120-5 .
  • Stefan Zenklusen : Looking back on a quarter of a century of globalization - to verify the thesis of Anglo-Americanization , in: Sociologia Internationalis I / 2018, Bonn

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Mike Featherstone: Undoing Culture: Globalization, Postmodernism and Identity. SAGE, London 1995, pp. 8-9 .
  2. ↑ See e.g. B. Max Otte: The crash is coming , p. 52: “Globalization follows American rules. Europe is still resisting its social systems, but American conditions will soon prevail here too. "
  3. ^ According to US economic historian Alfred Chandler, who compared the Anglo-Saxon economic model with the continental European one.
  4. ↑ a b Max Otte: “The crash is coming” , p. 52.
  5. ^ Karl-Rudolf Korte: The Americanization of Election Campaigns | bpb. Retrieved July 12, 2019 .