Hamburger Diplomacy and the 'New World Information and Communication Order'

Amid concerns for cultural diversity and self-determination, transnational corporations are busy disseminating their visions of global consumer culture via satellite transmission to the Asia-Pacific region. These kinds of media expansions are often seen to be undermining the values and practices of traditional cultures, yet they are enmeshed with what is invariably represented as technological development as a necessary, let alone an essentially beneficial transformation of society, presents itself as apparently uncontestable, consumer culture can even start to look like a unifying solution to cultural 'problems'. A closer inspection of some of the discourses and investments is warranted if there is to be an understanding of what is at stake.