“Pink globalization” (C. Yano): Hello Kitty and cross-cultural cuteness
I. What is globalization?
A. Three theses
1. Globalization is global interconnectivity under conditions of time-space compression
2. Globalization always produces localization—recursively.
3. Globalization’s core process is that it relativizes the standardized differences it creates (a claim I draw from Giulianotti and Robertson 2004:547)
B. Two corollaries
1. Connections around the world are not new. What is new about globality is that the quantitative expansions in connectivity and compression are becoming qualitative shifts in the conditions and consequences of that connectivity and compression.
2. Globalization is neural. It has multiple nodes. There is no single source, no single center from which forces and populations and products emanate.
II. Soft power and Gross National Cool
A. Joseph Nye on soft power
… soft co-optive power is just as important as hard command power. If a state can make its power legitimate in the eyes of others, it will encounter less resistance to its wishes. (Nye 1990)
B. Douglas McGray on Gross National Cool
…in cultural terms at least, Japan has become one of a handful of perfect globalization nations (along with the United States). It has succeeded not only in balancing a flexible, absorptive, crowd-pleasing, shared culture with a more private, domestic one but also in taking advantage of that balance to build an increasingly powerful global commercial force. In other words, Japan’s growing cultural presence has created a mighty engine of national cool. (McGray 2002:53)
III. Lessons from Hello Kitty
A. Hello Kitty is a character (kyarakutaa)
B. As a character, Hello Kitty has three essential features
- Minimalist
- Long-lasting
- Extensible
C. Cuteness (kawaii) as “pink globalization” (Christine Yano’s term)
D. Cute as cuddly, cute as cool, cute as kitsch
E. Is Hello Kitty (just) for girls?
F. Is Hello Kitty Japanese?
IV. Buying modernity
A. From customers to consumers
B. How do we consume: Are consumers passive dupes or active appropriators?
C. Why do we consume: “Shop ‘til you drop”—or “shop ‘til you define”?