Westernization

When countries that aren't in Western Europe or North America adopt culture from those places, it's called Westernization. The presence of McDonald's restaurants in Egypt is an example of Westernization.

Throughout history, Westernization was often the unwanted side effect of colonization: European colonizers occupied other nations and brought their cultural practices along with them. The conversion of Indigenous people from native spiritual beliefs to Christianity was a kind of Westernization. Trading traditional culture for Western versions is another example of the phenomenon, like watching U.S. television shows in Nigeria or eating pizza in China.

Definitions of Westernization

1. noun

   assimilation of Western culture; the social process of becoming familiar with or converting to the customs and practices of Western civilization
   synonyms: Westernisation, westernization

   type of:

   absorption, assimilation

   the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another