Cultural imperialism and the Internet

The paper examines a number of the central concepts which underlie much of the discussion of cultural imperialism. In particular, it gives an account of cultural imperialism, discusses the role of the Internet, and considers some arguments which purport to show that it is a problem and others that it is not. The arguments discussed are based on social Darwinism, cultural relativism, diversity, and freedom. Finally, two cases of possible cultural imperialism are examined: individual freedom and intellectual property.