*{Who’s afraid of Americanization? [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/_2atk6u09cecg62pjic5km883fcog42rb5e9km6obed5t62t39dtn3u_?open&topic_id=300250000&theme_id=300]

            29.01.2000

            Annual Meeting 2000}

            Jacques Attali, President of PlaNet Finance, France, asked what do "Americanization" and America, which is a highly diverse culture in its own right, mean? "The trend of any empire is to dominate the world," he suggested. But Attali also reckoned that an "empire is destroyed by its own diversity." Similarly, he did not see total American domination. In food, for example, pizza is more popular worldwide than the hamburger. Globalization, he said, is moving us towards a multilateral system where America is just one player on the scene.

            In the process of economic globalization, America will not necessarily dominate completely, said Ronnie C. Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Development Company of Hong Kong. "Only in certain areas is America truly phenomenal," he noted. These include entertainment, software and fast food. While these products mav have an impact on non-American cultures, not all of it will be bad. Hollywood makes quality productions, though the depiction of sex and violence may be a problem. Will other cultures survive the onslaught? "I see a melting pot," Chan concluded. Yet, "old cultures never die." Chinese people will always want to eat Chinese food. In Japan, a country that prides itself on the uniqueness of its culture, the government recently called for wider use of English, he noted.

            Thomas J. Pritzker, President of Hyatt Corporation, USA, spoke of the "semi-permeability" of cultures. He doubted that Americanization is really a problem. He questioned whether systems are subject to Darwinian pressures of evolution. Instead, there will be blending and selection. The winners will be those countries that are best able to adapt. Like everybody else, the US would have to ask itself how adaptable its own political and economic system is to change. 

            Dani Rodrik, Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, asked why Americans themselves are so ambivalent about globalization as demonstrated by the anti-WTO riots in Seattle. The world is exposed to only a very small slice of America. In fact, one core aspect of American society is the aversion to concentrated power. Given that so many parts of the world lack similar democratic ideals, Rodrik asserted that in fact "the problem of globalization is too little Americanization."

            Vandana Shiva, Director of the Research Foundation for Science Technology and Natural Resource Policy in India, agreed that freedom of information and accountability are aspects of Americanization that people would like to see. But they are spreading. "Globalization is leading to a narrow Americanization of the worst sort," she said, noting how Indian laws had to be changed to accommodate the entry of fast-food franchises McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken into the domestic market. She also cited how WTO rules forced India to open its markets to imported soya products, which have partly displaced the local oils households have traditionally used. She alleged that genetically modified food technology has been forced on developing economies, leading to a decline in agricultural yields, which consequently could threaten people's livelihoods.

            Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Director of the Tebtebba Foundation, Indigenous Peoples' International, Philippines, said that she did not see globalization in simply economic terms. It also has cultural and political dimensions. "A big problem we have is that it is marginalizing the cultural systems we have maintained for centuries," Tauli-Corpuz, a member of the Philippines' indigenous Igorot mountain people, explained. "That lifestyle is being eroded by globalization." She did not just blame the US, but also her own government for allowing corporations to violate rights and engage in unsustainable mining practices. She called for greater protection of the rights of indigenous people.

            During the discussion period, one participant said that the Internet is actually aiding people whose voices had previously not been heard to get their message out. In this way, globalization is preserving diversity. Another participant - a food-industry executive - defended genetically modified foods for the benefits they bring to developing countries.                  

                  *{Contributors:       Attali Jacques
                  Chan Ronnie C.
                  Friedman Thomas L.
                  Pritzker Thomas J.
                  Rodrik Dani
                  Shiva Vandana
                  Tauli-Corpuz Victoria}