Manuel Gallego Murcia
1568/PIN-10309
On Cultural Diversity
Manuel Gallego Murcia
“Take your boat and escape, happy man, far away from any form of culture” Epicurus Two Ideas of Culture Culture can be regarded as one of the key ideas of our time. We talk about culture in a multitude of ways: "enterprise culture", "regional and national culture", “cultural diversity”, "American culture", "cultural centre”1 or “culture of globalization” are only a few examples of a word that we find everywhere. One of the most quoted definitions of the concept of culture is due to EB Tylor, who defined culture as "the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society". Culture is no longer just a Mozart concerto or a Dostoyevsky novel, but also a football game or a bad TV program. According to Tylor, culture is not only limited by the scope of the Ministries of Culture and UNESCO, but armies, technology, sports and politics are included within the "complex whole". Moreover, in his famous book "The Myth of the Culture" the Spanish philosopher Gustavo Bueno states the two great ideas of culture throughout history: 1) To the Greeks and Romans was the body of knowledge that an individual acquires during his life. 2) For the German idealist philosophers, culture is formed by the people as they write their history. Culture is the "spirit of the people" which elevates the individual above his animal condition. This second idea of culture as "the spirit of the people" is present today in the Ministries of Culture and other cultural organizations. These organizations select a set of cultural contents as “excellent contents” which an individual must learn to be a highbrow person. In this way, the “cultural set” raises the spirit of the people above the common and ordinary life. Cultural Diversity and Cultural Relativism The issue of cultural forms and cultural diversity in relation to the phenomenon of globalization is nowadays linked to the cultural relativism. The success of cultural relativism in two ideologies (Alvargonzález, 2002): the ideology of tolerance associated with liberal democracies (all votes are equal, and all opinions are respected by the mere fact of being issued, even opinions springing from ignorance) and the environmentalist fundamentalism 1
The concept of “cultural centre” (maison de la culture) was invented in France in the 30s with the objective of “transform a common good into a privilege”, online at <http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/historique/rubriques/43ans.pdf>
Manuel Gallego Murcia
(“environmentalism who preaches the conservation of all species ignoring that evolution is impossible without extinction”). In this section we intend to criticize the principle of cultural relativism, as a principle accepted by many as the ABC of modern anthropology. According to Harris, cultural relativism is defined as "the principle which states that all cultural systems are inherently equal in value, and that the characteristics of each must be assessed and explained in the system in which they appear." One of the leading representatives of cultural relativism, Claude Lévi-Strauss, popularized the famous formula "savage is a person who calls another person savage." From this point of view, the cultural content of a particular cultural sphere can only be evaluated within that sphere and not from the outside. The elements, features and cultural patterns can only be understood when we are placed within the cultural sphere, it is impossible to make value judgments from outside. Nevertheless, the claim that all cultural systems are "equal in value" is characterized by ambiguity. What values are we talking about? Commercial, aesthetic, moral or ethical value? If we consider the value in the field of ethics, namely, "all cultures are equal in ethical value" the main issue will be to determine which ethical judgments are based on truths valid in all cultural systems. In other words, if scientific truths can establish universally, ethical judgments are valid for all cultural fields, and therefore beyond any relativism. In this way, there will be totally condemnable practices that violate the basic ethical principles of people such as the right to physical integrity in the case of female circumcision of the clitoris. There are ethical principles, that although they have been developed in a particular culture (the West) are universally valid. In addition, when we talk about cultural diversity, we cannot look at all cultures on the basis of equality. The scientific and technological superiority of certain cultures over others is overwhelming.2 Globalization and Culture The phenomenon of Globalization is a cultural process, according to the definition of culture by Tylor. In the encyclopaedia Britannica we can find the next definition for “cultural globalization”: phenomenon by which the experience of everyday life, as influenced by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, reflects a standardization of cultural expressions around the world. The relationship between globalization and culture refers therefore to the influence that globalization is exerting over parts or elements of culture. When talking about culture, we are referring to the "selected culture” by the Ministries of Culture and those persons who know about, arts, literature, music, theatre, traditions, etc. It is appropriate to evaluate the true extent of the "culture of globalization." Already in 1998 an article in The Economist entitled "Culture Wars" cast a shadow upon the "cultural imperialism" allegedly pursued by Hollywood as others U.S. cultural industries around the 2
Prof. Fernando Savater asserts that: “to say that all cultures are equal is like saying crossing a river by swimming or by a bridge is the same” (2005) DiarioVasco.
Global Initiatives Symposium in Taiwan 2009
world. This article argues that cultural industries are heavily influenced by non-American individuals and companies outside the U.S. and that Americans are experiencing the influence of other foreign cultural contents, such as Hispanic American immigration in the U.S.3 An example from a business strategy point of view is the failure of the global strategy of Coca-Cola in the 90s, which highlights the differences between countries: Pankaj Ghemawat in his book "Redefining Global Strategy" shows data that in any case let us talk about globalization. Instead of it, Ghemawat talks about a “semiglobalization”.4 The Idea of Culture as a Driving-Idea We can say that the idea of culture today is one of the most prestigious ideas. The prestige of this idea comes from two sources (Bueno, 2005): 1. The first would be national sources, using the idea of "state of culture" by Fichte, namely, once a culture has been revealed, it is his right to claim a legitimate state. 2. A second source of prestige would come through the Ministries of Culture and other cultural agencies of government. The mission of these institutions would be to "enhance the value" of the culture, as if the value of a work by Beethoven, for example, came from his cultural condition and not on the contrary. I think it is relevant to add another one: 3. The growing importance of cultural industries in the economic activity. A report published by the European Commission in 2008 entitled "The economy of culture in Europe" states that "whilst the nominal growth of the European economy forum in the years 1999 to 2003 was 17.5%, the growth of the cultural & creative sector was 12.3% higher.” In this way, the sector turned over more than 654 billion Euros in 2003 so as it contributed to 2.6% of EU GDP in 2003 Case study: Culture in danger5 The use of the idea of culture as a driving-idea appears in a very clear way in the advertising campaign conducted by some artists in the Canadian province of Quebec as a protest to the Canadian Federal government of Stephen Harper due to the cut in the cultural budget. It should be noted that in this Canadian province of French-speaking majority, a strong nationalism has developed during the last few years. The official video of the campaign shows the attempt to raise funds by a musician of the Canadian Francophone region of Quebec to the Canadian government committee responsible for allocating funds to promote Canada abroad. During the performance, the misunderstanding between the jury (English-speaking) and the musician (French-speaking) abounds.
3
In 2005, the Hispanic TV channel Univision entered in the Nielsen Television Index as the fifth TV channel in the USA. 4 Alfred Kleinknecht and Jan ter Wengel also discuss the real impact of globalization on "The myth of economic globalization." Cambridge Journal of Economics, 1998. 5 The video of the campaign is available in <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhgv85m852Q>
Bliss or Misery? Contemplating the Engagement of Cultural Forms and Economic Progress
Manuel Gallego Murcia
The committee, representing the Canadian government (conservative and English-speaking), is shown as authoritarian and archaic, and ready to crush the minority Quebec people. On the contrary, the artist is characterized by his powerlessness with regard to the jury. That is, the clash of two cultural spheres: the Canadian and Quebec. One sphere would be the Canadian one, the "cultural imperialism”, which tries to absorb, and even beat, the Québec sphere, a regional cultural sphere. There are two aspects from the artist that deserve a careful analysis. On the one hand, the fact that the folk singer is interpreted as a hallmark of Québec culture, on the other hand, the role of exclusive representative of Quebec society. These facts have a double root: 1. It would be assumed the idea that artists are these "sculptors of the human soul" that makes people to "move up on the mundane daily arable land." As if they believe that culture is what really makes us human, the addition to our animal nature. 2. It would use the idea of "cultural state" of Fichte; when a national culture is revealed, it is the right to claim a legitimate state. This would be a way to claim an independent state from Canada. Quebec nationalists create a clash between two cultural spheres, a "clash of civilizations" in the sense of Huntington, to ensure their survival and, in this case, central government funds. Because, wouldn’t it lose much interest and diffusion if there were not a threat, real or invented, over a certain culture? Quebec can not be considered an isolated case. In Europe, regions such as Catalonia, Flanders, Corsica or Scotland are in the same situation; the cultural justification for a legitimate state or the use of culture as a driving-idea.
Global Initiatives Symposium in Taiwan 2009
Bibliography -Alvargonzález, David, “Del relativismo cultural y otros relativismos”, 2002, El Catoblepas. -Bueno, Gustavo, “La vuelta a la caverna. Terrorismo, Guerra y Globalización”, 2004. -Bueno, Gustavo, “El mito de la cultura”, 1996. -European Commission, “The economy of culture in Europe”, online at <http://ec.europa.eu/culture/key-documents/doc873_en.htm> -Ghemawat, Pankaj, “Redefining Global Strategy. Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter”, 2007 -Harris, Marvin “Introduction to general Anthropology” 1991. -Kleinknecht, Alfred & Wengel, Jan, “The myth of economic globalization”, 1998, Cambridge Journal of Economics. -Lévi-Strauss, Claude, “Tristes Tropiques”, 1955. -The Economist, “Culture Wars”, 1998.
Bliss or Misery? Contemplating the Engagement of Cultural Forms and Economic Progress
Manuel Gallego Murcia
Global Initiatives Symposium in Taiwan 2009