When we speak of imperialism, we most often think of economic and political pressure. Yet there is another, no less important element: culture. It is culture that shapes everyday habits, ways of thinking, and perceptions of what is considered normal. For this reason, it becomes the most durable and least visible instrument of domination. The manifestations of cultural influence are easiest to detect in everyday life: the languages of international communication, the formats of the series we watch, the platforms on which we spend our time. Cultural flows generally follow the flows of capital and geopolitical influence.
As Edward Said wrote in Culture and Imperialism, culture eventually becomes aggressively tied to the nation and the state. It turns into both a source of identity and a tool for dividing the world into “us” and “them.” In this sense, culture is never entirely innocent, since it participates in the construction of hierarchies and the legitimisation of power.
There is no single definition of cultural imperialism. The British cultural theorist Martin Barker linked it primarily to economic domination and the import of culture as a form of control. Antonio Gramsci analysed this process through the prism of hegemony: culture penetrates society so deeply that dominated groups begin to voluntarily support a system that acts against their own interests. The sociologist John Tomlinson, for his part, emphasised that this is not merely domination, but the erosion and destruction of national cultural identity. In simplified terms, cultural imperialism can be described as a form of implicit control that sustains economic and political domination through values, symbols, and behavioural norms.
One of the key instruments in this process is language. The global spread of English is the result first of British, and later American, dominance. France’s policy of promoting Francophonie was also aimed at anchoring its cultural influence in the colonies of Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. In such cases, language becomes a vehicle for transmitting values and modes of thought.
Contemporary technologies have only intensified these dynamics. Media scholar Thomas L. McPhail described electronic colonialism as a dependence on Western technologies, software, and communication networks. Along with equipment and platforms, the cultural standards of their creators also spread from communication formats to notions of efficiency and success. Particular attention should also be paid to the concept of “McDonaldisation,” proposed by the American sociologist George Ritzer. He described a process in which the principles of fast food: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control, begin to dominate various spheres of society. This concerns not only food, but also the film industry, online education, fast fashion, and commercial art. Culture becomes standardised and easily reproducible, while local specificities gradually disappear. Today, the United States remains the world’s largest exporter of films and television series. Hollywood productions shape standards of beauty, behaviour, and social relations. For many filmmakers outside the West, the ultimate goal becomes access to American streaming platforms or recognition at European festivals.
At the same time, cultural domination does not always follow the classic “empire–colony” model. After its defeat in the Second World War and the American occupation, Japan was confronted with a massive influx of Western culture. By the 1960s, young people were increasingly abandoning traditional ways of life in favour of American music, sport, and fashion. This influence was the result of a geopolitical shift rather than direct coercion.
Said emphasised that Western representations of “the Other” eventually become rooted in the consciousness of these societies themselves. Stereotypical images disseminated through cinema and the media begin to be perceived as models to emulate. A closed circle emerges: imperial images are exported, assimilated, and then reproduced within another culture, reinforcing cultural domination without direct pressure. In the long term, this makes cultural imperialism particularly dangerous. It operates through desires, tastes, and perceptions of what is normal. That is why, in the twenty-first century, the struggle for sovereignty increasingly unfolds in the cultural sphere.
