Unmasking Americanization: De Grazia’S Irresistible Market Empire Advancing Through Twentieth Century Europe: Review Article

Prometheus, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 101-115, March 2006

16 Pages Posted: 25 Aug 2009 Last revised: 21 Sep 2009

See all articles by Peter Clark

Peter Clark

Queen Mary, University of London

Emanuela Todeva

Business Clusters, Networks and Economic Development

Date Written: 2006

Abstract

Victoria de Grazia’s book (Irresistible Empire. America’s Advance through 20th-Century Europe) is at the centre of two related debates in innovation studies. First, the array of books, articles and symposia with ‘varieties of capitalism’ and ‘trajectories of capitalism’ in their titles reveals the strong position of those who aim to revise the broad claims about globalization and homogenizing. This involves an examination of the geo-historical roles of nations and regions. Second, in the post-Cold War era there is a strong re-assessment of the extent to which Americanization through military, cultural and economic colonization created hegemony. We discuss the way de Grazia attempts to confront both debates with her bold and rich narrative about the irresistible Americanization of European consumption from the early 1920s into the late 1980s. Our critical review contrasts the three contested views on the Americanization of global social and political space, the global hegemony proposition, and the emergence and evolution of the European Consumer.

Keywords: Americanization, consumption

JEL Classification: B25, P10

Suggested Citation

Clark, Peter and Todeva, Emanuela, Unmasking Americanization: De Grazia’S Irresistible Market Empire Advancing Through Twentieth Century Europe: Review Article (2006). Prometheus, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 101-115, March 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1460247

Peter Clark

Queen Mary, University of London

London, London
United Kingdom

Emanuela Todeva (Contact Author)

Business Clusters, Networks and Economic Development ( email )

London
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.bcned.co.uk

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