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Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures
 
 
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Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures (Paperback)

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4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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  • This item: Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures by Tyler Cowen

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"He provides an important counterbalance to knee-jerk reactions against globalization". -- Alan Clardy, Personnel Psychology

Cowen argues that global trade and communication are enriching all the world's cultures and that there's no such thing as cultural authenticity. . . . In fact, Cowen believes that commerce and art are allies. And he contends that because commerce is driving technology, ideas, goods, services and people across borders more freely than ever before, we are in the midst of an unprecedented boom in creativity all over the world. The quality, quantity and variety of cultural output is greater than ever; if there is more dreck, there is also more genius. And more people have more access to it than ever, at lower prices, regardless of where they live. -- Review


Review

Mr. Cowen's point, argued neatly in Creative Destruction, is that the invasion works both ways. Indeed, it has for such a long time that it is hard to say exactly where one culture begins and another ends. Wherever people are, almost all the cultural products that they think of as indigenous owe their existence to the cultural exchange brought about by trade.
(David R. Henderson Wall Street Journal )

A short but rich study. . . . The book's basic point is that cultural globalization can increase the diversity of choices for the individual while reducing the diversity between societies across the globe. . . . Mr. Cowen underscores that cultural globalization is and always has been a dynamic process. . . . It can be an unsettling, disruptive process, but Mr. Cowen's book argues persuasively that it is a more creative way to go than the misguided cultural nostalgia peddled by the anti-globalization crowd.
(David R. Sands The Washington Times )

Cowen has created a text at once impressively academic and thoroughly accessible.
(Library Journal )

Cowen's thesis is that diversity within society is heightened by globalization, at the same time that diversity across societies, as he puts it, is diminished. . . . His book is an attempt to take a realistic look at the changes wrought by today's market-driven, free trade-oriented world.
(Philip Marchand The Toronto Star )

Cowen argues that global trade and communication are enriching all the world's cultures and that there's no such thing as cultural authenticity. . . . In fact, Cowen believes that commerce and art are allies. And he contends that because commerce is driving technology, ideas, goods, services and people across borders more freely than ever before, we are in the midst of an unprecedented boom in creativity all over the world. The quality, quantity and variety of cultural output is greater than ever; if there is more dreck, there is also more genius. And more people have more access to it than ever, at lower prices, regardless of where they live.
(Daniel Akst Los Angeles Times )

Product Details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0691117837
  • ISBN-13: 978-0691117836
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #510,930 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #56 in  Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Comparative

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Tyler Cowen
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8 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars the economics of culture, April 28, 2003
By "luiedu" (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
Cowen's book is one of the few books to
discuss free trade in the context of
cultural goods. easy and fun to read.
No economics background needed.
You will learn a lot about
the history of different cultural goods, including
persian rugs and the successful
movie industry in India (Bollywood).
simply great!
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Better than Hoan Chau's review, February 3, 2005
If you're at all interested in this book, ignore Hoan Chau's review. How does Cowen know Mexicans enjoy the choices available at Wal-Mart? Simple, they shop there and keep it in business. You don't have to like Wal-Mart (I sure don't) to recognize that it doesn't coerce anyone into its store. In an impoverished country like Mexico, it brings in more goods at lower prices than were previously available, thus improving people's standard of living.

On creativity: Cowen isn't writing a philosophical treatise on creativity, so if he ignores the "external influences" on it, that's not a just criticism. But it's surprising that someone could read this book and miss the point: Cowen is arguing that the creativity of others is an external influence on an individual's creativity, so the value of global exchange is that our creativity is stimulated by contact with other country's cultural goods.

Consider the U.S. without Chinese or Mexican food (or, in my case, the nightmare of not having Thai food). Consider the U.S. without the influence of African music. No spirituals, no jazz or blues, no "Graceland" by Paul Simon. Consider how popular Jackie Chan is, not to mention the more respectable Chinese films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." If you're more highbrow, consider the absence of Mozart or Paganini. Imagine no access to Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" or the Tao Te Ching, or the Boddhisatva.

In short, Cowen's point is that the global exchange of cultural goods enriches our lives. Efforts to restrict globalization will restrict the flow of these goods, impoverishing us all in ways that are hard to measure in dollar terms, but are easily understood in terms of cultural vivacity and creativity.

And, importantly, contrary to popular wisdom, America isn't exerting cultural hegemony--the Disneyfication of the world is overstated (easy to do when we have such jarring sights as a McDonalds jammed next to Beijing's Forbidden City. But other countries, including developing countries, export their cultural goods to the U.S. This increases the value of their cultural traditions, making it beneficial for people to hang onto them.

Remember, it's individual people (you and me) making these choices. We don't choose them unless we believe we're benefitting. And while we will make mistakes, it's a bit hard to believe that almost all our decisions almost all the time are actually harmful to us. It's even harder to believe that a small group of elites--whether in government or the self-appointed protectors of culture--will be able to make better choices for us. In short, this book is also an argument for preserving individual liberty.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Book, February 6, 2007
By Philip Gaudet (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is about how globalization is *changing* world cultures, for better or for worse. One of Cowen's central arguments is that globalization creates less diversity between cultures but more between individuals. So should we be pro individualism or pro collectivism?

His last three chapters on Hollywood, Dumbing Down, and National Culture are the most memorable, and persuasive. I especially enjoyed the chapter on Hollywood. His explanation of how modern cinema is what it is was enlightening.

Overall Cowen does what he set out to do; explained how globalization has changed world cultures. More often than not Cowen thinks this has had a net positive effect, but he does argue the other side of the coin. In my opinion Cowen contributes to the globalization vs. anti-globalization debate arguing that it's really one of collectivist culture vs. individual culture.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Erica Anderson's Review of Tyler Cowen's Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures
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4.0 out of 5 stars really focuses on the globalization of cultures
When I bought this book, I was expecting some economical theories especially on Shumpeter' 'Creative Destruction', but T. Read more
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