>
> While in Germany, I saw a teen girl, who looked to be about 14, who'd
> decorated her backpack with silver magic markered versions of U.S.
> corporate logos - among them the Nike swoosh, of course, and FUBU
> (For Us By Us, intensely popular in black urban neighborhoods). What
> does that mean? Why did she do that? Is is "manipulation," or was she
> expressing some desire? "America" represents something to people
> outside this lovely country - what is it? "Manipulation" is just too
> simple an answer; people aren't *that* malleable, are they?
>
Perhaps some answers can be found here:
The American Impact on Western Europe: Americanization and Westernization in Transatlantic Perspective Conveners: Volker R. Berghahn, Anselm Doering-Manteuffel, Christof Mauch German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C. March 25-27, 1999
Almost all papers are available online at:
http://www.ghi-dc.org/conpotweb/westernpapers/index.html
Johannes