Tuesday 27 October, 6.00pm until 8.00pm, Notre Dame University, London Satellite Events
Venue: University of Notre Dame London Centre, 1 Suffolk Street, London SW1 4HG
Tickets: £7.50 (£5 concessions) per person. Tickets are available from the Institute of Ideas website.
Despite President Obama being heralded as an urbane new leader whose multicultural background symbolises a nation more at ease with itself, much of the world remains suspicious of American culture. For a long-time caricatured as ‘Coca-Colonisation’, the cultural influence of the US is often seen as little short of ‘cultural imperialism’. In 2005 a group of Torino city councillors tried to ban Coca-Cola from city hall before the Winter Olympics, while from Canada to France, many countries impose music quotas on radio stations to help local artists get a footing in ‘an industry that is largely overshadowed by a gigantic American influence.’ From McDonalds to MTV, popular US brands are often interpreted as both a sign of America’s rampant commercialism and its superficial ‘trash’ culture. But is this a fair or full picture?
Accusations that American culture is dumbing down the world are often thinly veiled attacks on popular culture per se. Such snobbery is often misplaced: there is more to US culture than Hollywood blockbusters, with American artists being leading lights in many art forms. From Philip Roth to The Wire, from the Guggenheim to Leonard Bernstein, from F Scott Fitzgerald to John Ford, America’s cultural achievements have broken new ground and many remain monumental. Moreover, America a place where artists from diverse backgrounds have come together to forge new and distinctive art, where two Russian émigrés like George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky could create ballets that not only defined American dance but modern dance to this day. Shouldn’t this aspect of the American dream be an inspiration to us all?
That said, much American culture has spread around the world not because it is the best, but because of America’s political, economic and military might. Do we really want a homogenous cultural landscape, where innovation, quirkiness and regional identity are squeezed out by Americana? How can we ensure that the world is exposed to the best of American art, while allowing other cultures to flourish too?
 | Professor Clive Bloom emeritus professor, English and American studies, Middlesex University; author, Gothic Histories |
 | Peter Curran broadcaster, writer and documentary maker; presenter, BBC Radio 4's Electric Ride |
 | Carol Gould editor, Current Viewpoint; author, Don’t Tread on Me: anti-Americanism abroad |
 | Angus Kennedy head of external relations, Institute of Ideas; chair, IoI Economy Forum |
 | Alan Miller co-director, NY Salon; co-founder, London's Truman Brewery |
 | Patrick Spottiswoode director, Globe education, Shakespeare's Globe |
| Chair: | |
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Dr Shirley Dent
head of communications, PhonepayPlus; co-author, Radical Blake |
In defence of American culture - and human aspiration, Alan Miller
They can act, they don't give the director a hard time, they're cheap(ish) – and now they can do the accent.
John Patterson, Guardian, 30 September 2009For most of the 20th century, the dominant culture in the world was American. Now that is no longer true. What is most striking about attitudes toward the United States in other countries is not the anti-Americanism they reflect, or the disdain for former President George W. Bush, or the opposition to American foreign policies. Rather, people abroad are increasingly indifferent to America's culture.
Richard Pells, Dallas Morning News, 4 April 2009
An attack on what Gould sees as the rampant anti-Americanism that has become so integral to British and European culture: the racism of the anti-racists, the intolerance of the tolerant and the reactionary-ism of the progressives.
Carol Gould, Social Affairs Unit, 20 January 2009
America should aim to export more serious forms of entertainment as well as 'Dark Knight' and 'Baywatch.'
Martha Bayles, Newsweek, 31 December 2008American movies and music have done very well in some countries like Sweden and less well in others like India. This may sound like a simple difference in human tastes, but decisions to consume culture have an economic aspect.
Tyler Cowen, New York Times, 23 February 2007
