Bowling Green State University ScholarWorks@BGSU Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical 2015: Cultural Landscapes and Critical Studies Possibilities: Perspectives on the Local & Global Feb 13th, 3:00 PM - 4:20 PM Popular Culture and Individual Empowerment in the Global World Rama Alapati [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/rbc Part of the Other American Studies Commons Alapati, Rama, "Popular Culture and Individual Empowerment in the Global World" (2015). Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies. 3. https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/rbc/2015conference/panel4/3 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences and Events at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@BGSU. Popular Culture and Individual Empowerment in the Global World Dr. Rama Naga Hanuman Alapati Assistant Professor of English, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India. & Post-Doctoral Scholar, Dept. of Popular Culture, Bowling Green State University, USA Email: [email protected] , [email protected] ABSTRACT Popular culture studies are central to the study of Liberal Arts, which enhance the spirit of the academia. They help people to understand their own culture, appreciate it, and grow up as participating members of the community. The present study focuses attention to analyze popular culture in relation to the domains of governance and self-help literature. The study is significant because it helps understand the trajectory adopted for individual empowerment. Existence of multicultural societies across the Globe is more in the present day as the world has become a global village. It can, therefore, be understood that popular culture studies are imminent for promoting goodwill and mutual understanding among members of different societies. One of the major facets in this respect is politics, which focuses on governing of a state. In tune with the changing trends, political parties need to update and upgrade their strategies to influence the emotions of people through several means. Self-Help Books (SHBs) emphasize on the individual well-being while cutting across the social and psychological barriers in terms of culture. It is an established fact that, millions of SHBs are sold annually worldwide with promises of making a person slimmer, calmer, smarter, richer and more attractive. Individual empowerment has always been the central focus throughout the world cultures. The present study is significant as it helps to analyze and understand popular culture in relation to the governing of human life by the State and the individual over himself. .