3. Approaches to theorizing international communication (part II)

As in the first part of this reaction, I’ve summarized what he chapter was about and I commented on the “free flow of information”.

In the second part, I’d like to comment on the “hegemony” part concerning the international communication.

As defined in the chapter, hegemony is the cultural control that exercises a specific country over another indirectly through many components we express ourselves and identity through, such as the clothing, the music, the trends …

This phenomenon of exporting a specific aspect of a country’s culture to another (sometimes many countries at the same time) is based on global communication.

Indeed, media plays a very significant role in this hegemony. It’s thanks to the western  TV programs that are accessible in the Eastern countries. Youth are among the huge consumers of foreign media programs hence, they want to imitate whom they watch (actors, celebrities…) in the way they dress, the way they talk, what they consume for food and drinks, have their same lifestyle but, in a different geographical area.

Sometimes, there are some kinds of indirect cultural control (hegemony) that don’t fit in other countries because of many constraints such as the religion or the strict customs. Indeed, generally, there are some refusals of changes in a country’s culture because the society doesn’t accept a specific look or tradition.

In Mauritania for instance, Nouakchott specifically, starting the puberty, girls are strictly asked to wear the Mauritanian traditional cloth without any negotiation. In the street, white girls are all dressed in “Malhave” (name of the cloth). While walking in Nouakchott, you can easily notice that the country is very attached to its traditional way of clothing through what the girls are wearing and totally refuses the control concerning jeans or short skirts. The advantage of this extreme attachment to the culture is the strong identity a country can prove  against other countries who want to get their culture over another. In this case, many Mauritanians feel be very proud when they see themselves in a group of foreigners but they are easily identifiable just through their traditional cloth. Thus, the more the country is secular and has liberal mindset, the more the communication happens easily and people accept the foreign traditions more openly.

Hegemony is very important because it contributes in the unification ad globalization of the world. Indeed, it helps following the same trend at the same time and being connected through cultural elements. Being different is good but, also being a part if the large group in order to be connected through the collective identity is the most suitable fact that our world is experiencing nowadays thanks to media, internet and the new technologies.