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Difficulty: MediumResistance to Globalization after 1900

“What is at stake is the cultural identity of all our nations, it is the right of each country to have its own culture... A society which abandons the means of depicting itself to the technologies of its time, which does not feed its own imagery, is a society condemned to subjection.”

— François Mitterrand, President of France, speech addressing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations, 1993

The concerns expressed in the passage are best understood as a reaction to which of the following late twentieth-century developments?

  1. A
    The complete and uniform homogenization of global society into a single, monocultural identity
  2. The increasing dominance of Western media and consumer products in global marketsAnswer
  3. C
    The establishment of direct political administration and colonial rule over European states by foreign superpowers
  4. D
    The global spread of environmentally friendly agricultural policies associated with the Green Revolution

Answer

The increasing dominance of Western media and consumer products in global markets
The correct answer is correct because Mitterrand's speech highlights the fear that global trade agreements would allow American and Western cultural exports to dominate local markets, undermining national cultural sovereignty.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source and historical context.
The excerpt is from a 1993 speech by French President François Mitterrand during GATT negotiations, discussing the threat to national cultural identities.
Understanding the actor and context helps identify the underlying conflict between global trade rules and local cultural sovereignty.
2
Identify the core argument in the stimulus.
Mitterrand argues that allowing foreign technologies and imagery to dominate a nation's culture leads to subjection and loss of identity.
This links the political act of trade negotiation to cultural defense against foreign hegemony.
3
Connect the argument to post-1900 global developments.
The concerns directly address the expansion of Western (principally American) media, cinema, and consumer culture, which critics feared would erode local cultures.
This identifies the target of resistance to globalization in the late twentieth century.

Key Concept

Resistance to globalization after 1900
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Resistance to Globalization after 1900

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