Abstract
This chapter presents an inter-regional comparison of East Asian and Latin American societies to highlight the nexus of sociocultural, political and economic change as it unfolded in selected post-industrial countries from these two areas. More specifically, we explore issues surrounding the use of the Internet and social media in the post-industrial societies of Japan and South Korea, and in the fast-developing and social media-obsessed Brazil. Social networking sites have contributed to the mobilisation and empowerment of people in all three post-industrial countries, although some observers are cautious, as political elites have strengthened efforts to monitor online postings in order to identify and block unfavourable comments.
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Notes
- 1.
In the 1960s and 1970s many Latin American countries like Brazil, Argentina and Mexico borrowed huge sums of money from international creditors, notably the World Bank, for industrialization and infrastructure programmes. While these countries had soaring economies at the time, and thus the creditors were happy to continue to provide loans, the world economy went into recession in the late 1970s and 1980s and oil prices skyrocketed, creating a breaking point for most countries in the region.
- 2.
During the dictatorship years, the state in Brazil, as well as many of the other countries of the region, was traditionally assigned a role of political control and censorship. State intervention in Latin America was further aimed at reinforcing governmental powers rather than promoting democratic communications. As Fox and Waisbord (2002:xxii) noted, the whole Latin American region has had a culture of promiscuous relationships between governments and the media, thereby undermining aspirations for democratic media change.
- 3.
Brazil paid a high cost for hosting the World Cup. The stadiums alone cost Brazil $4 billion (£2.4 billion), plus a further $7 billion for associated infrastructure. At $11 billion, this was the most expensive World Cup in history. Many Brazilians believe that they are the ones who will ultimately pay the bill, and have dismissed the argument that the tournament’s legacy will mean it was money well spent.
- 4.
Women political leaders in Latin America also include Christina Kirchner in Argentina and Laura Chinchilla in Costa Rica.
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Iosifidis, P., Wheeler, M. (2016). Japan, South Korea, Brazil: Post-industrial Societies; Hard and Software. In: Public Spheres and Mediated Social Networks in the Western Context and Beyond. Palgrave Global Media Policy and Business. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-41030-6_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-41030-6_10
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