. Nation states still have strong cultures that have not been broken down by global networks. These cultures are made up of historical discourse that allows for the interpretation of signs and symbols in a variety of ways. However the globalising nature of communication networks and the cultural flows that are now present are providing new points of focus, a post-modern set of cultural references. This is the promotion of culture without a reference and this in itself could be called Americanisation. That is to say the promotion of instant consumer satisfaction, based in the present with no reference to the past. It would also be fair to say that what is being globalised is the capitalist system and though this is opening endless possibilities it is in fact being driven by TNCs. This then poses questions about the sort of global culture that is potentially being created. Though there are now points of reference outside of the nation state and possibilities for different communities there are the problems of distribution that are inherent to capitalism. In trying to draw some conclusions it is clear that the spread of a global consumer culture is a difficult phenomenon to assess. Capitalist development throughout the globe relies on the consumption ideology of capitalism. In this sense the notion of a global consumer culture is viable because capitalism is now the dominant ideology and this is maintained by a transnational capitalist class that have access to its benefits. The proponents of this class come from the wealthy financial areas of the globe, TNCs and the wealthy in the developing countries. This process is aided by the growth of telecommunication technologies and time space compression. This in turn has enabled the promotion of the dominant ideology of consumption and provided global reference points that are equal to some of the claims of post-modernists. However Nation States and their cultures are not...
