Cross-National Cultural Diffusion: The Global Spread of Cricket

while others either arrive dead in the water or take hold only to wither and die? Modern diffusion studies have focused primarily on the structural aspects of diffusion, or the existence of tangible points of contact between adopters and adoptees, as well as the environmental contexts that modulate such interactions. But as Strang and Soule (1998:276) note, “[S]tructural opportunities for meaningful contact cannot tell us what sorts of practices are likely to diffuse,” whereas an “analysis of the cultural bases of diffusion speaks more directly to what spreads, replacing a theory of connections with a theory of connecting.” According to this more culturally minded approach, diffusing practices are most likely to be adopted when they are first made congruent with local cultural frames or understandings, and are thus “rendered salient, familiar and compelling” (Strang and Soule 1998:276; see also Gottdiener 1985; Rogers 1995). In other cases, however, more than just “congruence” is needed for successful adoption; institutional support, repeated exposure, and/or active instruction in the new practice are required for it to “take hold” in new settings. The original cultural profile of that practice is often transformed in the process (e.g., Appadurai 1996; Bhabha 1994; Guillén 2001; Watson 2002). Sometimes, moreover, it is the very difference in social, cultural, and political power between change agents Cross-National Cultural Diffusion: The Global Spread of Cricket