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Globalization and American Culture: Watson vs. Cohen

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Abstract

This paper compares two essays on globalization: James L. Watson's "China's Big Mac Attack" and Roger Cohen's "Heartburn: Fearful Over the Future, Europe Seizes on Food." The paper examines how both writers address the rapid worldwide spread of American corporate culture — particularly through multinational companies like McDonald's and Monsanto — and the resistance this expansion generates. It explores contrasting viewpoints on cultural imperialism, genetic food modification, and the erosion of local identity, ultimately arguing that American corporate globalization prioritizes profit over people and threatens the cultural diversity that makes the world distinctive.

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What makes this paper effective

The paper uses direct quotations from both source essays to anchor its comparative claims, grounding the argument in textual evidence rather than assertion alone.
It moves fluidly between summary, comparison, and personal evaluation, making its analytical stance clear without abandoning the source material.
The conclusion ties cultural and public health concerns together, broadening the argument's significance beyond a simple book comparison.

Key academic technique demonstrated

This paper demonstrates comparative essay writing: rather than treating each source in isolation, the author identifies where Watson and Cohen converge (concern about corporate power) and diverge (tone and emphasis), then uses those points of contact to develop an original thesis about American cultural globalization. This technique shows how two texts in dialogue can support a larger argument.

Structure breakdown

The paper opens with a brief framing of its two sources and central question, then moves into a sustained analytical body that weaves together quotations, commentary, and authorial voice. A short but pointed conclusion delivers a normative judgment. The structure is appropriate for a short undergraduate comparative essay — single-block body with a clear thesis, evidence, and wrap-up.

Introduction: Two Perspectives on Globalization

This paper examines two essays — "China's Big Mac Attack" by James L. Watson, and "Heartburn: Fearful Over the Future, Europe Seizes on Food" by Roger Cohen — explaining what each writer is saying and comparing and contrasting the perspectives on globalization each presents. Globalization is a difficult issue facing not only America, but most industrialized nations of the world. However, American culture seems to be spreading far faster than that of other cultures, and that frightens many people who want to retain their own culture and place in the world.

American Culture as a Global Force

American culture is spreading around the world because of large, multinational companies like McDonald's and Coca-Cola that have desirable products and the financial resources to expand worldwide. While Americans are largely complacent about their food, about their companies expanding globally, and even about the genetic modification of many common foods, many people elsewhere are not. They see American expansion as threatening and even dangerous, and want American culture to remain in America, where they feel it belongs.

As one protester noted in the Cohen article, "What we reject is the idea that the power of the marketplace becomes the dominant force in all societies, and that multinationals like McDonald's or Monsanto come to impose the food we eat and the seeds we plant" (Cohen 2). Globalization thus affects not only culture broadly, but the very fabric of daily life — changing people and the way they eat, which is one of the most important markers that distinguishes cultures from one another. When one country so powerfully influences the world that others begin to adopt many of its characteristics while losing their own valuable traditions, world domination has gone too far, and profits have become far more important than people and their values.

Resistance to American Expansion

Many proponents of genetic engineering — to which Europeans especially object — contend that it will help feed more people and reduce starvation. Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana argues, "The Europeans think they are protecting humanity, but we think they want to starve the rest of the world" (Cohen 2). Clearly, the debate has merit on both sides. Yet much of the American culture spreading around the world does not have so noble a cause as ending hunger; rather, it primarily increases the profits of American companies.

2 Locked Sections · 190 words remaining

The Imperialism Argument · 110 words

"Watson's framing of globalization as corporate imperialism"

Consequences for Culture and Health · 80 words

"Cultural erosion and obesity risks from fast food spread"

Conclusion

Cohen, Roger. "Heartburn: Fearful Over the Future, Europe Seizes on Food."

Watson, James L. "China's Big Mac Attack."

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Key Concepts in This Paper

Cultural Imperialism Globalization Multinational Corporations Fast Food Culture Cultural Identity Genetic Modification American Expansion Corporate Profits Food Politics Cultural Diversity