Global Cultures?

Sherri recently posted a comment on the opening of a Starbucks in Paris. I started these thoughts in her comment box and then decided that they would clutter it up, so I transferred them here into my own post.

After reading her post, I felt the need to state that the idea that cultures are unique and have been kept pristine until the ravaging effects of globalism and capitalism is just a myth.

Think about Swiss chocolate. We now consider it a sound cultural tradition, right? Chocolate came from the Americas and the use of sugar was made possible through the rise of commodity trade. Tomato sauce on Italian food? Tomatoes are also from the Americas and they would not have made their way to Italy if it weren't for the "globalization" of the 15th century. A more recent example? The "traditional" pasta carbonara in Italy originates from GIs during the Second World War who added their freeze-dried eggs and bacon rations to the local dry pasta. Traditions and culture are constantly evolving. The reason McDonalds is so successful around the world? It adapts its offerings to local culture. Some things are lost and new things are created, either invented or through the fusion of existing practices.

Just because there are Starbucks around the world doesn't mean there is a world culture. Going to Starbucks in Paris is not the same thing as going to Starbucks in Omaha. There are complicated symbolic issues of class, taste, and identity involved.

If you think Europeans have the wrong image of the US because of American fast food chains, think about the way it is the other way around. To many Americans Italian food is Olive Garden, France means French Vanilla Coffee, and Europe is a place of elegance and sophistication. Some people like to hold those images as true (on both sides of the pond) because it fits into their world outlook and ideology. Others prefer to explore and move beyond the "image" of the country and explore the complexities of different cultures, including witnessing how they are constantly changing.

So to the Parisians who want to partake of Starbucks I wish them bon apetit, and to those who prefer to stick with their everyday brasseries, I say the coffee is probably better there and have a pain au chocolat for me.