Page 188 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

172 Transnationality, Globalization, and Postcoloniality

Globalization means a world of “ constant motion. ” But, the movement
of capital, migrants, goods, or information is not inherently free - fl owing,
libratory, or progressive, as neoliberal (pro – free market) ideology would
have it. It operates within particular power structures and frameworks.
National and international laws, the anti - piracy or copyright laws, for
example, regulate the transfer of cultural products such as fi lms, music,

computer games, and so on. The flow of goods is subject to international
tariff and agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). The developments of communication and social networking
technologies, such as the radio and TV in the beginning of the twentieth
century, and the mobile technologies and the Internet (with its Skypes,
Facebooks, and Twitters), have accelerated communication over large dis-
tances, across national and physical borders, Yet, it would be wrong to
idealize the power of such technologies. Although represented in popular
culture as easily available and transformative, their depiction in the fi lm
Enemy of the State (1998) may be just as accurate. Countries like China and

Iran routinely seek to filter the Internet and monitor Internet practices for
suspicious activities inimical to the state. Google and Yahoo infamously
entered the Chinese market under the condition that they ban access to all
human rights – related sites or redirect the Internet traffic to pages favoring

the views of the government.
One of the most important arguments in cultural studies is that most
of the global frameworks that regulate the fl ow of capital, goods, technol-
ogy, and information (the World Trade Organization, NAFTA, the World
Bank, and so on) have roots in colonial history.
Colonialism refers to the domination of a nation, peoples, or society by
another nation through political, military, and economic interventions;
territorial expansion/occupation; and various strategies of cultural oppres-
sion and coercion (via language, cultural practices, control of media,
knowledge, etc.). Colonization was usually based on claims of cultural,
racial, technological, or economic inferiority on the part of the colonized
peoples, and justified by the dominant power within the rhetoric of devel-

opment, as a modernizing and civilizing mission. In practice, the colonial
systems were ones of economic exploitation and cultural oppression. It is
important to note here that the post in postcolonial implies the enduring
effects of colonial domination, rather than the end of colonialism. For
example, although the end of World War II marked a new period for colo-
nized peoples of Africa and Asia, many of the newly established nations in
these two continents and in Latin America remained within the sphere of