Diagnose: Amerikanisierung. Zur Geschichte eines Deutungsmusters
Diagnosis: Americanization. On the History of an interpretative Pattern

Summary/Abstract: The reproach of "Americanization" and conflicts between American enthusiasm and anti-Americanism have been part of the repertoire of European self-debate for generations. Americanization was discovered by critics in Gerhard Schröder's election campaign as well as in the self-portrayal of the new German Chancellor. Americanization is often characterized by cultural changes in post-communist Europe, under the auspices of consumerism and private capitalist mass media. The term is undoubtedly still suitable for polarization. But what about his knowledge? My experience is that the closer you look at the phenomena and their history, the less of the clear associations the diagnosis promises.

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