Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label arrogance; US exceptionalism; markets for education

American hegemony in Communication: Neo-imperialism and market-logics

So much of the discipline of Communication research and the pedagogy of Communication is founded on the principles of developing communication skillsets for effectiveness. As global markets have opened up to the export/import of education, Communication skills training has sought to find robust markets abroad. The assumption behind this marketing enterprise is that Americans have something to offer (in this case, a US-branded knowledge base about what makes up good and effective communication) to the rest of the world. The competitive advantage of the American brand of communication education therefore ties to this ability of the brand to develop a unique selling proposition and to sell it well to its target audiences abroad. So we have wholesale programs ranging from public speaking to writing that are attempting to make entries into Asian markets. What I find completely misguided about this picture though is that it continues to reek of US-style imperialism and arrogance (based o