The Jeremiad Over Journalism

―No commentator has suggested the existence of a grand design or a comprehensive
masterplan drawn up by the US government or by the country‘s enterprises, foundations, and
other institutions to transfer American values abroad.‖ 91
As will become apparent in the chapter on symbolic Americanization, influencing European culture
and economy by transferring ―American values abroad,‖ was an explicit strategy of the American
government from the years of the Marshall Plan and beyond.
Van Elteren, 2006
In 2006 Mel van Elteren published Americanism and Americanization: A Critical History of
Domestic and Global Influence; one of the seminal studies of Americanization because of its
precision in discussing the concept historically and presently, while presenting a framework for
future studies.
Utilizing a wide array of secondary literature, Van Elteren structures his book in three main parts.
First, the dutch scholar outlines how Europeans have thought about and influenced the United
States from the 19 th century until today. Van Elteren then moves on to describe the United States‘
domestic battles over what it means to be American, 92 and in the end he suggests an overall
framework for studying Americanization outside the United States.
Van Elteren deliberately maintains Americanization as a useful analytical category distinguished
from Globalization, McDonaldization or Westernization based on the argument that these
approaches, while often acknowledging the centrality of the United States, tend to see
Americanization from a cultural imperialist perspective. In van Elterns view the field of
Americanization studies have moved away from ―cultural imperialism‖ towards a more nuanced
91
Schröter, Americanization of the European Economy: A Compact Survey of American Economic Influence in Europe
since the 1880's. Page 9.
92
Elteren, Americanism and Americanization: A Critical History of Domestic and Global Influence. Page 50-74. Van
Elteren here describes an American domestic debate over marginal groups, where the concept of Americanization
designates processes of integration prescribed by the more powerful actors in American culture. See for example Philip
Gleason, "American Identity and Americanization," in Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, ed. Stephan
Thernstrom (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1980). Page 55-57.
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