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Experiencing Globalization. “How Sushi Went Global,” (Bestor) and “McDonald’s in Hong Kong” (Watson). Consumerism. consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation of desire to purchase goods or services in ever greater amounts
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Experiencing Globalization “How Sushi Went Global,” (Bestor) and “McDonald’s in Hong Kong” (Watson)
Consumerism • consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation of desire to purchase goods or services in ever greater amounts • The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption • In economics, it is the theory that an increasing consumption of goods and services is economically beneficial
Globalization of the Tuna Trade • Beginning in 1970s, important changes helped transform the tuna trade from a regional to a globalized industry • “An industry founded exclusively on Japanese demand survived because of American’s newly trained palates and a booming US economy.”
1970s • Japan emerges on global economic scene • Expansion of 200-mile fishing limits excluded foreign fleets from prime fishing grounds • Environmental campaigns forced countries to scale back distant water fleets
1980s • Demand for sushi increased as Japan’s economy boomed • Advances in transportation expanded the range of suppliers • Imports from the US doubled
1990s • Japanese economy went into a slump • North American sushi craze took up slack
Consumer capitalism & brand equity • “In the global economy of consumption, the brand equity of sushi as Japanese cultural property adds to the cachet of both the country and the cuisine” (124) • Brand equity is sustained by complicated flows of labor and “ethnic biases”
Core & periphery in tuna market • “In the newly rewired circuitry of global cultural and economic affairs, Japan is the core, and the Atlantic seaboard, the Adriatic, and the Australian coast are all distant peripheries” (125)
“McDonald’s in Hong Kong” • 7 of world's biggest 10 McDonald’s are in Hong Kong • When McDonald’s first opened in HK in 1975, few thought it would last, but by 1997, there were 175 outlets • In HK, the transnational is the local
McDonald’s in HK: Cultural Acceptance with Localizing Adaptations • Mental Categories: Snack vs Meal • From Exotic to Ordinary: McDonald’s Becomes Local • Sanitation and the Invention of Cleanliness • What’s in a Smile?: Friendliness and Public Service • Consumer Discipline? Enforcing the Queue • Hovering and the Napkin Wars • Children as Consumers • Ronald McDonald and the Invention of Birthday Parties
Conclusions: • People of Hong Kong have not been stripped of cultural heritage, nor are they “dupes” of TNCs • HK is a center of transnational cultural consumption and production • In places like Hong Kong, the postcolonial periphery is becoming the metropolitan center