5.2: Background - The Diffusion of Culture

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Understand the essential methods by which cultural elements diffuse to new populations 
• Identify regions of the world that have served as the main drivers of cultural globalization  
• Engage with ongoing debates on the role of American culture as a driver of cultural globalization 

Cultural Diffusion 

Cultural diffusion, whereby elements of culture reach new populations, often occurs via three basic processes, contagious diffusion, relocation diffusion, and hierarchical diffusion (Campanella, 2013). The simplest medium for diffusion is contagious diffusion, which happens when cultural elements are shared and adapted at the interpersonal level, or via close contact with others who have adapted to new cultural elements. Using new slang terms, new hair styles, fashion statements, or participation in various types of leisure activities is often the result of contagious diffusion.

Relocation diffusion involves bringing cultural elements to new areas, via migration. Immigrant communities inherently bring some cultural elements with them to their destination, and when a community of immigrants is large enough, its cultural elements can be practiced and reproduced in a new environment. People living near immigrant communities can access these cultural elements, vis a vis contagious diffusion, and some elements may be adapted into the wider culture. Generally, outsiders will consider various cultural elements from a new group, evaluate these new elements in terms of the prevailing value system, and if the elements do not conflict and are seen as positive, they will continue to be reproduced. New elements that are accepted are said to be culturally “sticky,” and become normalized in the greater cultural context, while those elements that are not sticky tend to eventually fade out of practice.  

The other major type of cultural diffusion is hierarchical diffusion, whereby cultural elements diffuse from larger populations to smaller populations, or via power dynamics in a top-down fashion. For example, it is common to see cultural trends begin in large cities and spread outward. In the United States, trends tend to be set on either the East Coast, usually from the Tri-State Area (greater New York City), or from the West Coast, typically Southern California, the Bay Area (greater San Francisco), or the Pacific Northwest. Cultural elements work their way out from these points of origin, ending up in smaller cities in their respective regions, as well as larger cities in adjacent regions. The trends then appear in smaller communities adjacent to those cities and, as long as the elements are sticky, continue to spread outward. Conversely, culture can be diffused hierarchically via a leader/follower dynamic, or through the process of governance. The prohibition of alcohol in the United States, spurred on by the temperance movement in the 1930s, constituted an attempt to diffuse sobriety, a sociofact, through the American population hierarchically.  

Folk Culture versus Popular Culture 

An important distinction can be drawn between two main classifications of culture, namely folk culture and popular culture. Folk culture tends to be more localized and specific to small populations, often rooted in rural or isolated areas. Transmission of these elements happen most often via contagious diffusion or relocation diffusion (Jordan-Bychkov, 2005). In most cases, the exact locations where folk culture originates are unclear to some degree, with elements lacking concrete authors or known adapters. Therefore, there is often a lack of ownership over elements of folk culture, as its specific originators tend to be unknown. Hearths, where folk culture is originally produced, tend to exist in isolation to some degree, leading to the development of distinct technological systems and social practices that are based on local environmental factors and previously established social norms. It is important to note that distance between and among populations and their respective cultures can exist either physically or socially (Weinfurt and Moghaddam, 2001). Populations that are physically separated might have barriers such as mountain ranges, or large bodies of water keeping groups from contacting one another. Social barriers often have to do with sets of mentifacts in practice, especially those that espouse preferences for in-group exclusivity. For example, members of a particular community may choose to limit their exposure to cultural influences which they deem to be from outside the community, such as Evangelical Christian communities rejecting elements of secularism.  

Popular culture tends to be diffused hierarchically and has the ability to spread quickly and extensively via networks of communication, especially as time-space compression progresses with increasingly efficient transportation infrastructure and telecommunications. Elements of popular culture are generally associated with specific starting points, or a concrete author. Popular culture might be thought of in terms of commercialization and is generally the product of work done in developed economies, where elements derived in a certain region come to be associated with that region in particular (Otmazgin, 2005). Popular culture is created with the intention of generating revenue, or authored for sale or performance value and tends to involve technical skill that is initially hard to reproduce. In terms of limitations on diffusion, elements of popular culture generally spread to places with access to people who are willing and capable of purchasing them. Therefore, popular culture is highly impacted by globalization and typically sees elements created in North America, Europe, or highly developed economies in East Asia, diffuse among these regions and beyond, to the extent that consumers can pay to access them. Although elements of popular culture certainly spread via contagious and relocation diffusion, hierarchical diffusion is the main avenue for popular culture to expand, thus making popular culture more accessible to previously separated populations as the process of globalization plays out and conditions favoring accelerated time-space compression are encouraged. 

When it comes to addressing cultural diffusion in the context of globalization and global capitalism, it makes sense to assume that all elements of culture and their application have the potential to spread and take hold among new populations. However, in order to analyze which elements will be successful, it is important to understand the various challenges and limitations that they face. In general, globalized conditions create various challenges for sustaining elements of folk culture, and favor conditions that work to promote elements of popular culture (Rubenstein and Healy, 2014). Globalization generally favors standardization and promotes diffusion of cultural elements that are homogenized and can be distributed easily via highly accessible supply chains. Popular culture is promoted via advertising and marketing, and in some cases, potential adapters are presented with new elements instantaneously via telecommunications infrastructure on digital devices. This media dominance combined with the economic motivations of corporations and media conglomerates to reach and establish new markets leads to economies of scale, which in turn result in lower costs and fewer barriers to access. In contrast, elements of folk culture are reliant on specific and contextualized resources and landscapes to be sustained. They also require the willingness and dedication of a population to continue incorporating them into practice. Popular culture favors more uniform landscapes, as such conditions make it easier to generate product recognition and increase market share. As homogenized materials become more accessible, at lower costs, people in local environments are more easily able to purchase and utilize them, thus threatening previously established patterns of material consumption.

Globalization Favors Popular Culture Over Folk Culture 

A quick analysis of foodways provides an example of popular culture challenging folk culture. Prior to the establishment of mass transit infrastructure, like highways, railroads, and air travel, populations consumed products that were grown and processed by local and regional actors. Therefore, the local environmental, technological systems, and labor conditions placed limitations on the types of food that certain populations could access. Farmers produced crops that could be grown in their local climates, and with limited ability to ship those products over long distances, people ate the food that could be produced nearby. A classic example of these conditions can be seen with the Von Thunen Model, which seeks to explain location and land use trends for self-sufficient urban clusters prior to industrialization (Capello, 2021). In the model, transport is done by farmers, looking to maximize profit, who produce and sell their own products in centralized city markets, transporting the products overland via carts and paths. Von Thunen theorized that such systems would develop four distinct rings of activity, spreading out from urban centers. The first ring produced products that spoiled quickly and thus needed to be brought to market as quickly as possible, such as dairy products. The next ring consisted of fuel sources and building materials, like timber, which were heavy and thus needed more effort to transport. The third ring was focused on stable crops, like wheat and corn, which could be converted into flour and stored for longer periods of time and could therefore take longer to be delivered. Finally, the fourth ring focused on livestock and meat production, as cattle and other animals could transport themselves and be herded to slaughterhouses close by markets. Beyond the fourth ring, transport costs become greater than potential market profits, and the area remained undeveloped. 

The type of localized economic systems that existed during Von Thunen’s time led to local and regionally produced products that were somewhat unique to their specific location. Farmers grew varietals that performed the best in their particular climates, and the types of livestock available were also environmentally dependent. Populations that lived inland did not consume seafood for example, as there was no way to transport it effectively overland. Under these conditions, transport costs were the main limiting factor. However, after the Industrial Revolution and the establishment of faster and more reliable transport infrastructure and networks, along with new technologies that worked to mechanize agriculture and better preserve food, the cost of transport decreased, as did the cost to produce food in general. Farmers in a given area would continue to specialize producing the crops that grew best locally, but now they could ship those crops over long distances to far away markets. This shift in production and distribution resulted in less local variation in foodways and meant that more and more people were consuming identical food stuffs that were less expensive due to the advantages of specialization and lowered costs of transport. It also meant that people were able to access foods that had previously been unavailable in their local markets, leading to adaptations to new types of products.

While Von Thunen’s principles can be observed today in the case of local farmers’ markets, most people living in developed areas get the majority of their food via corporate networks. That is, they consume materials that are mass produced, packaged, and then distributed over great distances. Shopping at chain grocery stores is both convenient and cost effective. This is primarily due to economies of scale. As the scale of production or operation increases, per-unit costs are lowered making the item less expensive and more available. Consumers are therefore getting the assortment of products provided via corporations and their supply chains, rather than a set of specific localized products. Because grocery chains have become widespread and feature higher levels of standardization, like Walmart for example, populations in different areas that used to have unique products now have the like products. People migrating intraregionally, within the same country, are often presented with the same, or extremely similar food options no matter where they go. The resulting homogenization dictates the specific artifacts (food items) and sociofacts (ways of cooking these items) will be utilized over a wider range of landscapes and be adapted by populations who previously had unique foodways. Production sites and methods become standardized and specialized, and distribution and processes do as well, leading to conditions where corporations have economies of scale, and will therefore out compete and eventually replace smaller more localized competitors. In a twist, local food has now become a specialty industry, with a focus on quality, leading to higher costs and lower levels of accessibility.

Looking outward, to the international level, we can observe similar trends when it comes to the roles and statuses of various cities around the world. Research on migration shows that people generally move to larger population centers from smaller ones, and rural to urban migration is a process happening world-wide, as in-migration to cities tends to account for higher population growth than natural increase in most of the world (Becker, 2007). Globalization favors urbanization, and when it comes to creating and distributing elements of popular culture, cities drive the process. Just as we can think of developed countries leading the way in terms of cultural globalization, we can also highlight the role of cities in broad networks and schemes for transferring information and cultural elements. Cities have long been understood as the setting for the creation and implementation of new culture, especially popular culture (Kaplan and Holloway, 2014). Because popular culture diffuses hierarchically, from larger populations to smaller ones, or from more connected and more influential populations to areas with less influence, it makes sense to consider the importance of certain cities as leaders in the process of cultural globalization.