The American Century Consensus and Coercion in the Projection of American Power

by Slater, David; Taylor, Peter J.

• ISBN13: 9780631212225
• ISBN10: 0631212221
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-11-05
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This book brings together studies of Americanization and American imperialism to assess how far the twentieth century can be seen as the American Century. The collection comprises new contributions exploring the geographic dialogues that arise as the result of the projection of American power and culture in the world. The book provides a critical evaluation of the extent of the diffusion and adoption of the American way of life and the very concept of America itself. The contributors focus on the effects of the projection of American society from the perspective of the receivers, both as beneficiaries and as victims. The sections examine three main forms of American power: economic, political and cultural. Topics covered include the role of US corporations; financial power; overseas service investments; American promotion of democracy; the Cold War and the Third World; Hollywood and the American dream; global Disney; the globalization of media; and the influence of American music. The book concludes by looking forward to ask if we are entering a second American century.

Author Biography

David Slater is Professor of Social and Political Geography at Loughborough University, and Joint Editor of Political Geography. He is author of Territory and State Power in Latin America (1989) and editor of Social Movements and Political Change in Latin America (1994).

Peter Taylor is Professor of Geography and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at Loughborough University. He was the editor of Political Geography (1982-1998) and an editor of Review of International Political Economy (1992-1997). His previous books include The Way the Modern World Works: World Hegemony to World Impasse (1996) and Modernities: A Geohistorical Perspective (Polity, 1999).

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	ix
Preface	xi
Part I Introductions: American Destiny?
Locating the American Century: A World-systems Analysis	1	(16)
Peter J. Taylor
Locating the American Century: Themes for a Post-colonial Perspective	17	(18)
David Slater
Part II Economic Capacities: American Know-how?
Global Shift -- the Role of United States Transnational Corporations	35	(16)
Peter Dicken
The Dynamics of US Managerialism and American Corporations	51	(16)
Michael Taylor
Overseas Investment by US Service Enterprises	67	(17)
P. W. Daniels
The Rise and Decline of US International Monetary Hegemony	84	(14)
Mark Holmes
Eric Pentecost
The `New' Developmentalism: Political Liberalism and the Washington Consensus	98	(19)
Kate Manzo
Part III Political Capacities: The Arsenal of Democracy?
Inaugurating the American Century: `New World' Perspectives on the `Old' in the Early Twentieth Century	117	(19)
Michael Heffernan
European Integration and American Power: Reflex, Resistance and Reconfiguration	136	(13)
Michael Smith
The United States, the `Triumph of Democracy' and the `End of History'	149	(17)
R. J. Johnston
Taking the Cold War to the Third World	166	(15)
Kluas Dodds
US Influence in the Making of the Contemporary Amazon Heartland	181	(14)
Berta K. Becker
Roberto S. Bartholo, Jr
American Power and the Portuguese Empire	195	(15)
James Sidaway
The Reality of American Idealism	210	(12)
Gillian Youngs
Contradictions of a Lone Superpower	222	(21)
David Campbell
Part IV Cultural Capacities: The American Dream?
Occult Hollywood: Unfolding the Americanization of World Cinema	243	(18)
Marcus A. Doel
Global Disney	261	(12)
Alan Bryman
`The Kind of Beat Which is Currently Popular': American Popular Music in Britain	273	(11)
Tim Cresswell
Brian Hoskin
American Philanthropy as Cultural Power	284	(14)
Morag Bell
Between North and South: Travelling Feminisms and Homeless Women	298	(19)
Claudia de Lima Costa
Americanization of the World	317	(24)
Pablo Gonazalez Casanova
Part V Conclusion: American Centuries?
Multiples Themes, One America; One Theme, Multiple Americas	341	(8)
David Slater
Peter J. Taylor
Index	349