Franchising the Golden Arches in Italy

A New Perspective on Americanization

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13135/1592-4467/10106

Keywords:

Americanization, McDonald's, Franchising, Italy

Abstract

The article discusses whether “Americanization” is still a viable concept to historically investigate Euro-American relations, and how the related process has changed in an era of growing global integration, multipolarity and competition like the one opened by the rise of the “Neoliberal order” in the 1970s-1980s. It does so through the case study provided by the arrival of McDonald’s in Italy and the debate on the country’s Americanization during the 1980s. By framing McDonald’s export of its franchising formula within the growth of Italy’s franchising industry, the article casts light on new forms of American hegemony.

Author Biography

Giulia Crisanti, “Sapienza” University of Rome

Giulia Crisanti holds a PhD in Modern History from Fordham University. She is a postdoc researcher at the University La Sapienza in Rome, where she is taking part in the project “ATLas Atlante delle Televisioni Locali” (PRIN 2020). Previously, she worked as a research fellow at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, within the project “Transatlantic Transfers: The Italian Presence in Postwar America” (PRIN 2017). She is an adjunct lecturer in U.S. History at the University of Pisa. Her research interests include the history of Italy-U.S. relations and cultural exchanges, studies of business history, the history of Americanization and globalization, media history, and food history. Her book Europeans Are Lovin’it? Coca Cola, McDonald’s and Responses to American Global Businesses in Italy and France, 1886- 2015 (BRILL 2023) received the “Rob Kroes Publication Award.” With Simone Cinotto, she edited the volume Un oceano di stile: Produzione e consumo di Made in Italy negli Stati Uniti del dopoguerra (Mimesis 2023).

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Published

2024-07-25

Issue

Vol. 35 No. 1 (2024): Books Erased: Printed Word Censorship and US National Identity

Section

Articles

License

RSAJournal will apply a CC BY 4.0 license to all its contributions starting with issue 37 (2026). Previous issues are licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND licence.