How "American" Is Globalization?

Contents

Preface vii 1. “Less Than We Think” 1 What Are We Talking about When We Talk about Globalization? 1 Is English Conquering the World? 7 The Ubiquitous American Film 18 American Television and the Rise of Local Programming 39 The McDonald’s Brouhaha 51 What about the Internet? 59 Do American Companies Dominate the World Economy? 66 Seeing Ourselves Everywhere 80 2. The Resistance of the Local 81 Language 82 Communicative Distance 84 Food 89 Gender 95 Education 101 Work 106 Land Use 110 Tribalism 121 Corruption 129 Smuggling and Counterfeiting 137 Taxes 140 The Resistance of the Local 142 Contents 3. “More Than We Know” 144 ATMs 144 The Money Market 152 Flexible Manufacturing 158 Franchising 161 Airfreight 166 Containerized Freight 171 Bar Codes 179 Computing 183 Logistics 190 Conclusion 194 Notes 207 Essay on Sources 215 Index 231 vi Contents ...