Foreign Policy Blogs

US Cultural Engagement: Only One of Many Voices

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I came across two articles that speak volumes about the reality of how culture, particularly pop culture, is transmitted from one country to others (and how the US is much less dominant than some triumphalist voices assume and proclaim).

1.   “Soft Rock Power” in Foreign Policy reports on the work by Joel Waldfogel and Fernando Ferreira of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School that measure’s national cultural power via songs placing on pop music charts:

Waldfogel and Ferreira analyzed every song on the hit lists of 22 countries between 1960 and 2007. They then compared each country’s share of the pop-music market with the size of its economy.

Not surprisingly, American hits dominated, accounting for 51 percent of music sold over the period. Adjusted for GDP, however, Sweden takes the top spot — followed closely by Britain. Despite fears of pernicious cultural Americanization, more people around the world are listening locally: Foreign artists now account for just 30 percent of each country’s pop hits, down from about 50 percent in the 1980s.

The top six are:

1. Sweden

2. Britain

3. United States

4. Japan

5. Finland

6. Canada

It is probably a surprise to some to see the US at #3 instead of #1.  Britain’s continued strength is no surprise at all.  And given the methodology and pop music trends, I am not surprised to see Sweden and Finland on the list (small economies and vibrant overseas markets for their American-style pop music).  Canada makes sense given the continued flow of successful pop artists who excel on the pop charts.  But Japan is a surprise.  To break into the big pop music markets requires singing in English and to my knowledge that is not the case for most Japanese artists. Given the size of the Japanese economy (#2 in the world for the period of this analysis and recently slipped to #3 behind China) is it the case that their domestic pop market is large enough to put them on this list with virtually no pop exports?

On a related note, for more on music and global affairs, follow Robert Nolan’s excellent FPA blog on the subject – here.

2. John Brown’s Notes and Essays has a post on Bollywood and US Public Diplomacy.

In connection with the assumption that American popular culture is historically bound to dominate the 21st century world (a view with which I take some exception: [see (1) (2)]), the below article by a subtle, experienced Indian ambassador who served in Africa during the last years of the past millennium, has some relevance to American public/cultural diplomacy today, which has a tendency (true, not shared by everyone involved in that activity) to assume the inevitability of everything culturally “American” becoming global/universally accepted

The article, “Mohammed Rafi of Africa,” by Ambassador K. Gajendra Singh, looks at the consistent and wide appeal of Indian films and pop music across Africa – and beyond.  This very much aligns with my own experience living in North Africa.  I recall going to see “Dances With Wolves” with French subtitles at a half-filled (and over-air conditioned) movie theater in Tangier.  The next time I saw a film in Tangier it was a Bollywood production, with Arabic subtitles.  The theater was packed, no air conditioning at all, with people thoroughly (and raucously) enjoying the film.   Indian pop music played in many cafes and cassettes were for sale on the street.   Such sales across Africa are not registered on the pop charts that Joel Waldfogel and Fernando Ferreira examined.  If they were, I am certain India would be on their list.

 

Author

James Ketterer

James Ketterer is Dean of International Studies at Bard College and Director of the Bard Globalization and International Affairs program. He previously served as Egypt Country Director for AMIDEAST, based in Cairo and before that as Vice Chancellor for Policy & Planning and Deputy Provost at the State University of New York (SUNY). In 2007-2008 he served on the staff of the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education. He previously served as Director of the SUNY Center for International Development.

Ketterer has extensive experience in technical assistance for democratization projects, international education, legislative development, elections, and policy analysis – with a focus on Africa and the Middle East. He has won and overseen projects funded by USAID, the Department for International Development (UK), the World Bank and the US State Department. He served on the National Security Council staff at the White House, as a policy analyst at the New York State Senate, a project officer with the Center for Legislative Development at the University at Albany, and as an international election specialist for the United Nations, the African-American Institute, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is currently a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Association and has also held teaching positions in international politics at the New School for Social Research, Bard College, State University of New York at New Paltz, the University at Albany, Russell Sage College, and the College of Saint Rose.

Ketterer has lectured and written extensively on various issues for publications including the Washington Post, Middle East Report, the Washington Times, the Albany Times Union, and the Journal of Legislative Studies. He was a Boren National Security Educational Program Fellow at Johns Hopkins University and in Morocco, an International Graduate Rotary Scholar at the Bourguiba School of Languages in Tunisia, and studied Arabic at the King Fahd Advanced School of Translation in Morocco. He received his education at Johns Hopkins University, New York University and Fordham University.

Areas of focus: Public Diplomacy; Middle East; Africa; US Foreign Policy

Contributor to: Global Engagement