Full Description
Societies around the world have experienced a flood of information from diverse channels originating beyond local communities and even national borders, transmitted through the rapid expansion of cosmopolitan communications. For more than half a century, conventional interpretations, Norris and Inglehart argue, have commonly exaggerated the potential threats arising from this process. A series of firewalls protect national cultures. This book develops a new theoretical framework for understanding cosmopolitan communications and uses it to identify the conditions under which global communications are most likely to endanger cultural diversity. The authors analyze empirical evidence from both the societal level and the individual level, examining the outlook and beliefs of people in a wide range of societies. The study draws on evidence from the World Values Survey, covering 90 societies in all major regions worldwide from 1981 to 2007. The conclusion considers the implications of their findings for cultural policies.
Contents
Introduction: 1. Is cultural diversity under threat?; 2. Theoretical framework; Part I. Firewalls: 3. Markets; 4. Poverty; 5. Classifying societies; Part II. Consequences: 6. Citizens: nation and cosmopolitan identities; 7. Consumers: economic values; 8. Morality: traditional values, gender equality, and sexuality; 9. Activists: support for democracy, self-expression values, and human rights; Part III. Conclusions: 10. Cultural convergence over time?; 11. The implications for cultural policies; Technical Appendix A. Concepts and measures; Technical Appendix B. List of countries; Technical Appendix C. Methods.
