The Jeremiad Over Journalism

ecause they admire its values and want to emulate or aspire to the United States‘ principles of
―democracy, personal freedom, upward mobility and openness.‖ 97 Soft power rests on ―intangible
power resources such as an attractive culture, ideology, and institutions (…) Like love, it is hard to
measure and to handle, and does not touch everyone, but that does not diminish its importance.‖ 98
Van Elteren‘s study does admit to the difficulty of studying things specifically ―American,‖ since
these are always ―diffuse, in flux, without clear boundaries and constantly remade,‖ 99 but maintains
that the concept can be studied as long as ―necessary specifications and qualifications‖ are
observed. 100 Among these qualifications are the importance of analyzing not necessarily what
America is, but what people perceive America to be; the import side of Americanization. 101 Yet, at
the same time van Elteren insists that there is something tangible, and therefore transmittable, about
the United States which can be studied.
If one was to criticize anything about van Elteren‘s study, it would be the fact that despite
acknowledging several different views on what America is, the author has seemingly a very definite
view of what it should be also. As a consequence, van Elteren‘s normative opinion about U.S.
policy, especially during the Bush administration years when his book was published, at times
shines through when he for example calls an anti-immigration bill ―draconian,‖ and talks about
―troubling‖ provisions in relation to immigration provisions. 102
Schou, 1992
In 1992 Søren Schou published a Danish study of Americanization partly based on Peter Knoop
Christensens work, but with a more nuanced view of American influence. In the book chapter
―Postwar Americanisation and the revitalization of European culture,‖ Schou argued that the
97
Nye, The Paradox of American Power: Why The World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone. Page 8-11.
98
Ibid. Page 9.
99
Elteren, Americanism and Americanization: A Critical History of Domestic and Global Influence. Page 121.
100
Ibid. Page 218.
101
Ibid. Page 129. ―The emphasis here is on the importance of what people observe and think and how this affects their
emotions and actions.‖
102
Ibid. Page 90 and 93. Van Elteren also cites a lot of seemingly ―cultural imperialist‖critiques of globalization and the
fight against U.S. capitalism between page 186 and 191 without affording scholars with different viewpoints much
space at all. See for example his discussion of global music on page 190.
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