the digital divide and information technology // cultural clashes, the ideology of linden lab, and consumer culture // a return to orientalism
There are few more loaded terms within global issues theory than cultural imperialism. Tomes upon tomes of knowledge have been amassed on the subject, making it nearly devoid of any real meaning, an almost-causality of over-analysis. A variety of words substitute nicely for cultural imperialism - 'Westernization', 'Americanization', 'Globalization', and so on - but none bring us any closer to a singular definition that is applicable across academic discourses. In attempting to asses how these overlapping theories coagulate in reference to digital communications and global issues, we must accept an inherently incomplete definition of cultural imperialism as the hegemonic practice of one culture exporting its values in an inequitable exchange over another. This can be manifested in a dominance of cultural norms and practices that are explicit and tangible - music, art, film, cuisine - or in norms and practices that are implicit - ideology, economic theory, political systems, societal practices. From this starting point we can begin to discuss how this method of inequality manifests itself through modes of digital communications, within and surrounding Second Life in particular.
Before diving into a deep discussion of how cultural imperialism appears in a virtual space, we must first recognize an inherent dilemma in regards to digital communications. While the Internet holds immense promise in combating the ills of cultural imperialism and facilitating equitable dialogue between societies, its practical worth rests nonetheless on an essential quandary - even if metaverses like Second Life enable cross-cultural exchange in a completely equitable way, they are inaccessible by a large portion of global society due to technological and economic inequality. This 'digital divide', while often debated, is very much a reality, with certain portions of the world's population grossly underrepresented on the web. This divide extends beyond the ability to connect to the Internet and access the bevy of information therein, but also to the particular skill set required to navigate its vast series of networks.
With this said, it must be recognized that the concept of the "digital divide" itself runs the risk of being imperialist. As media scholar Henry Jenkins points out, "the rhetoric of the digital divide holds open [a] division between civilized tool-users and uncivilized nonusers [...] as well-meaning as it is as a policy initiative, it can be marginalizing and patronizing in its own terms." Jenkins raises a valid and cautionary point in that we must be careful not to assume ignorance on behalf of the majority world to what we in the minority world view as an incredible resource in technological innovation. Nonetheless, in assessing the notions of digital utopia previously discussed, the disparity between Internet usages marginalizes many from the 'global village'. Thankfully, this discrepancy grows smaller everyday, as more people are gaining access to the Internet either through natural economic and technologic patterns or through the work of nonprofits such as the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project.
Let us accept then, for at least the immediate future, that the concept of the digital divide, while potentially overstated, positions those in the majority world to be at a technological disadvantage in determining the landscape of global culture. It is important then to look at theories of convergence culture in reference to information technology. In Social Dimensions of Information Technology, Alan Hedley proposes firstly that software and coding is inherently cultural and that to the extent "one culture or one linguistic group produces the bulk of software", the possibility for cultural imperialism on a "massive scale" is very real. With this said, Hedley claims "a true global village in which all people have the opportunity to interact and to voice their individual concerns is possible, if not yet realized." The reality of the situation most likely lies in between these two visions - coding, while formerly prevalent only in Western societies, has become common practice for many cultural groups across the globe.
It is at this point that a discussion of global culture begins to play an important role in understanding Second Life's relation to cultural imperialism. In terms of a movement towards a "global culture", Leo Ching astutely argues "while there is no such thing as a global culture, there is indeed a globalization of culture" that comes about as a direct result of "the immense expansion and extension of global communications and world markets." Rather than one cultural force that gains traction across states, Ching is arguing that the interactions between cultures is creating a symbiotic mélange of norms and ideas. This globalized culture will represent itself differently to those with different cultural heritages and inclinations - one person may gravitate towards absorbing Malian blues and roots music while another may find their interest piqued through Japanese Anime. Both are engaging with the cultural artifices of different societies yet they have distinctly different aesthetic tastes.
Sturken and Carwright expand on Ching's statement through an understanding of cultural imperialism in relation to global consumer culture. "Logos of products with global markets - the Coca-Cola trademark logo, for example, and the image of the red Coke can itself - symbolize the global dominance of the multinational corporations that produce these goods." In other words, logos and brands carry with them "speicific cultural and national identities" that are to an extent inescapable, with many of these brands originating in the West. This seems in nature to be distinctly imperialistic, symbols are not static, especially over time, and while "in some contexts [...] the symbol of Coke carried the meaning of cultural imperialism, symbolizing the spread of US capitalism around the world", these identities have the ability to change. Sturken and Cartwright take the example of McDonald's in contemporary China, where cultural imports "have become status symbols rather than symbols of cultural imperialism", with communities decoding and recodfying these symbols within their own sensibilities. In an ironic sense, the concept of cultural imperialism can be in itself imperialistic, refusing to afford other cultures the ability to recontextualize images of consumer culture within their own cultural context.