Стр. 16 - V (1)

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Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
should take account of some powerful economic driving forces underlying the develop-
ment of a global cultural products market, in which American and European mass cultures
have become very attractive to a great many subjects of the globalized world.
The process of cultural expansion does not always lead to cultural homogenization. On
the contrary, it has been increasingly accompanied by the emergence of socio-cultural dif-
ferences between Western center and peripheral areas, including inside Western commu-
nities. Indicatively, local cultures demonstrate a high degree of viability and sustainability,
while persistently rejecting the prospect of becoming a feeble semblance of American or
Western cultural identities.
It is no secret that in the past few years a share of American citizens of European descent
has been dramatically shrinking due to the growth of Latin American and Asian diasporas,
which have a much higher birth rate. California is number one in this regard, claiming the
status of the first state with a non-European population majority.
It is particularly disappointing that in their deliberations about the harmful effect of mul-
ticulturalism eminent authors come out with almost racialist conclusions, saying that prob-
lems of modernization and development are entirely dependent on cultural factors.
Summing up the above, one can assume that the orientation of a globalization vector will
largely depend on the sustainable economic growth in the non-Western countries, partic-
ularly in India and China. A growth of their power accompanied by an increase in their
influence on the worldwide global processes will ultimately lead to a gradual demise of
Western domination, including in the global cultural environment.
International and national efforts in the field of cultural development will be aimed to
seek some kind of equilibrium between global and local trends.