1) Cultural action in Central America: rebelling
identities
Also:
see under the same rubric in French on this
site.
2)
Civil society and social transformation in Congo
The
organisation of African populations according
to western models (cooperatives, various
development projects, multi-party
parliamentary democracy) has not achieved the
desired results. However, African social
dynamics is strong outside of the recognised
structures and out of the reach of states and
external bodies (NGOs etc.).
Tradition
and local culture influence social realities
and its evolution. It is essential to promote
social activists sensitive to these socio-cultural
dynamics and able to stimulate participative
action-oriented research which aims to
empower communities to promote themselves.
The representative of Network Culture's
regional base in Africa, Badika Nsumbu,
brings together African and africanist actors
and researchers to discuss these issues.
See
also on this site the French text (same
rubric).
3)
Reciprocity North/South and East/West
Development
belongs to the same logic (paradigm) as
colonisation and globalisation. It is deeply
steeped in modern materialism/competitiveness/economism/utilitarianism
as known in the West since the 18th century.
Today we need a new paradigm and to learn
from each other rather than imposing one
single definition of "civilisation".
Reciprocity, on the basis of mutual respect
for our cultural differences, may be that new
paradigm. Reciprocity (learning from
each other), instead of old-fashionned and
paternalistic "development co-operation"
may be at the origin of renewed solidarity
world- wide, so as to achieve more social
justice and more respect for the earth.
See
also on this site the French text (same
rubric).
4)
Economy, business management and local cultures
The
thematic research programme "Cultures
and Economy" raises such questions as:
How does culture determine the behaviour of
humans as producers, savers and consumers? In
what way can it provide alternatives to the
dominant economic system? Does it propose
endogenous solutions to social and economic
exclusion, unemployment and poverty?
The
first workshop was held in Glasgow in 1991,
dealing with alternatives to the dominant
economy, based on experiences recorded in
Germany, India, Scotland, Cameroon, Brazil,
the Netherlands etc.
"Management
and African Cultures"
A
research was made over several years with 20
African and some European researchers
examining business management practices in
the French-speaking African countries and the
Magheb. It brought to the fore the extent to
which economics and management are determined
by values, sentiments, perceptions and
customs. Economic "laws" are not
universal and neutral but are dependent on
culture. "The embededness of
economic practices": Capitalism is
cultural not naturalThe research
project brought together people from all
continents and cultures so as to explore if
and in what way the globalising economy is
actually imposing its single-minded profit
and competitiveness orientation on peoples'
mind. In North and South alike it is very
obvious that the presently dominant form of
ultra-liberal capitalism is by no way
universal. Capitalism is not natural. It is
cultural. This research highlights how local
social and ethical norms and customs
influence economic rationality. Experiences
are drawn from such diverse countries as
Colombia, China, Germany, Zimbabwe, Thailand,
Costa Rica and Russia.
Alternative
money: the "lets" in Mexico
See
also:
LA OTRA BOLSA DE VALORES on this site.
Also:
see under the same rubric in French on this
site.
5)
Health and cultures in Europe
In
Europe, many people continue to reproduce
habits, at the risk of distroying their
health or that of their family. Groups resist
to the doctor's recommendations. Maybe people
in charge of health promotion do not take the
culture of the people enough into account.
"Good
health" has not the same meaning for all
of us. It is influenced by (and has an
influence on) our experiences, our
relationship to the medical discourse, to our
social and economic environnement. Pain is
linked to a story, to subjective reactions.
Illness is, first and foremost, experienced
in life, imagined, "represented".
It exists on an affective and cultural level
and not just on a scientific level.
The
scientific vision of the human body as it is
proposed by western medecine is one approach
among others. Other medical models are
actually not really exterminated and continue
to be alive in society. Faced with modern
scientific medecine,.people are sometimes
unable to"appropriate" their health.
Their body is given up into the specialists'
hands.
In
this context, how do people create their
autonomy? What kind of choice do they have?
We
would be interested to study how to promote
awareness of persons who are in charge of
health promotion (about their own conception
of health, pain and illness) and how to
discover the capacities of persons and
communities to become responsible subjects
with regard to their own health.
We
wish to facilitate the confrontation between
the "vernacular" knowledge and the
"scientific" one.
Also
see under the same rubric in French on this
site.
6)
Cultural dynamics in urban districts in the South
and in the North
The
workshop "Are North and South that
different?", organised by the regional
base in Europe, the Belgian NGO ITECO and the
Belgian and Quebecois federations of street
workers, was based on experiences in Luanda,
Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Bangalore,
Montreal, Brussels and Poitiers. The main
purpose was to identify cultural dynamics in
socially troubled urban areas and work out
how to handle these dynamics. The workshop
also aimed at tackling the similarity and
diversity between North and South, both at
the levels of analysis and collective action
to be undertaken. This led to an exchange of
experiences and constructive criticism of
action-oriented research and of community
development based on local socio-cultural
dynamics. The reflection on cultures and
conflicts in Europe will be carried out in
the years to come.
See
the special issue of our journal in this
topic: Cultures
and Development N° 27/28.
7)
The role of cultural values in creating just,
democractic and sustainable societies in Asia
This
programme which was organised in
collaboration with the Alliance for a
Responsible and United World. The coordinator
of Network Cultures Asia, Siddhartha, was the
joint coordinator of the workshop along with
Bishop Julio X Labayen of the Philippines.
One
1998 workshop was concerned with experiences,
insights and strategies from the Asia-Pacific
region that could go into the development of
a global approach which could provide hope
and concrete tasks for the next century. The
meeting underscored the reality of
globalisation that was now part of the daily
life of people in the region. Globalisation
was now largely at the service of the elites
in the Northern countries and, even there,
controlled by the Transnational Corporations.
This
kind of globalisation was going to exclude
large sections of the Earths population from
a dignified and honourable existence.
Besides, it was also going to make human life
tenuous from an ecological point of view. In
many parts of the Asia-Pacific region
pollution of air, water and earth was
creating serious health problems,
particularly for the poorer sections of the
population who are directly exposed to these
effects. In Manila, participants noted that
life had become precarious for a lot of poor
people because of poverty and pollution. In
New Delhi each year 10,000 people die on an
average due to pollution related illnesses.
If 10,000 die each year in New Delhi, it was
noted, then almost everybody in the
population was effected. Even if they did not
die they were half-dead, three-quarter dead,
one tenth dead or one fiftieth dead. Apart
from mounting medical bills this state of
affairs was seriously effecting the quality
of life of all sections of society.
It
was also underscored that many of the efforts
of social activists had borne fruit and
created the conditions for deepening
democracy, enlarging civil society, creating
gender consciousness and developing large-scale
ecological awareness. Unfortunately the
globalisation process had the potential to co-opt
creative alternatives. It was noted that many
social activists themselves were seduced by
the process, even if they were unwilling to
admit it. What this meant was that we needed
the inner resources to withstand the negative
effects of globalisation and foster positive
directions. Where would this strength come
from? Bishop Labayen made the distinction
between 'truth known' and 'truth experienced'.
Many of us know what the answer to a
particular problem is, but as long as we have
not experienced this truth ourselves, it does
not carry conviction with us, and we are
unlikely to act in a determined and concerted
way. Therefore we have to experience the
truth of our being and activities if our work
has to make an impact.
Siddhartha
provided a complementary metaphor from Indian
tradition: the metaphor of the bow and arrow.
The force and distance of an arrow's
trajectory will depend on how far inward it
is drawn. Likewise the effectiveness of the
journey outward will depend on the quality of
the inward journey. What are these inward
trails that we must learn to make and nurture
if we are to enable the 21st century to be
more liveable, more human and more just? The
workshop came to the conclusion that these
journeys should be an integral part of social
action. The journeys could be inspired from
the spiritual masters in the Asia-Pacific
region or from other regions, and from modern
insights and experiences as well. The
participants felt that Asia-Pacific partners
of the Network Cultures Asia and the Alliance
for a Responsible and United World would
strongly emphasise the journeys in the
republic of the spirit to give coherence,
strength and hope to the tasks that the
twenty first century must urgently address.
Various
sub-regional workshops and activities were
planned out for the year 1999 as a follow-up
to the workshop.
8)
Culture and human rights for children
In
September 1998 (3-6th) the Human Rights
Foundation of Osaka and the National
Commission for Human Rights organised a four-day
workshop in New Delhi. Network Cultures was
invited as the only resource organisation for
the workshop. Siddhartha acted as resource
person and made a presentation on the role of
cultural values, both traditional and modern,
in fostering or retarding the development of
Human Rights awareness and action in the
region. Justice Venkatachalliah, the former
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India,
inaugurated the workshop. As a follow-up it
was decided to organise country-wise
workshops to extend human rights education in
schools in the sub-continent( Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and India). It
was realised that a lot of work needed to be
done to develop curriculum models that would
be culture-specific to respective countries,
cultural areas and communities.
9)
Methodology for social and cultural analysis and
action
How
is the connection between culture and
development made? Is it possible to put into
practice the collective knowledge gathered by
Network Cultures? How to change ways of
building development cooperation and ideas of
planning, partnership and outside support for
local initiatives? What is the best way to
identify current socio-cultural dynamics and
how can donors, educators, social workers,
planners, agronomists, doctors, urbanists etc.
take them into consideration? These questions
on methodology come from NGOs in the North
and South, from public cooperation agencies,
civil servants and field workers. Once the
importance of the often neglected cultural
aspect is understood, Network Cultures is
asked for the appropriate tools and methods
to identify this dimension in development
projects.
A
workshop held in 1992 critically examined and
amended ten cultural analysis tools used in
development cooperation.
Another
workshop (Brussels 1995) studied urban areas
troubled by violence and social exclusion in
the North and South. It resulted in questions
concerning action: how to find an alternative
course of action once the cultural dynamic
has been identified. "micro-meso-macro"
interaction was also questioned: how can the
daily experience (micro) of people be
recorded and synthesised in a way that
respects the diversity of their experiences?
How does one usefully communicate these
results to decision-makers (macro)? What
exactly can be the role of an intermediary
NGO or social worker (meso-level)?
The
preparation of pedagogical tools relating to
the methodology continues by capitalising the
knowledge and experience of the members and
by integrating the conclusions of the
methodology of socio-cultural analysis
sessions which took place worldwide.
10)
Arts, society and intercultural understanding
European
NGOs, anxious to overcome the often wretched
image propagated by the media, are organising
an increasing number of events dedicated to
the arts from non-industrialised countries.
They aim to show the cultural wealth of the
South. But which arts do the organisers
choose? Which artists? Who judges the quality
of the works? Although these efforts are to
be applauded, do they have the required
effect on the public? How much do these
artistic expressions conserve their
significance once they are removed from their
socio-cultural and historic roots? What
passes through the mind of Europeans when
they watch African dance, listen to Andean
music or admire Asian paintings? Do they
change their preconceived ideas, formed over
the centuries, of peoples from different
cultures?
The
reactions of the public, artists, organisers
and development educators were collected and
analysed at a workshop held during the Images
of Africa festival in Copenhagen in June 1993.
This meeting gave rise to a questioning of
the way these artistic events are organised
and staged. During a second workshop in 1995
this research was carried further through an
exchange of experiences between thirty
artists, event organisers and donors (Brussels,
"The Arts and Intercultural
Understanding". A third international
workshop will take place in Austria during
the Sura Za Afrika Festival in June 1996.
Fifteen Austrian and foreign participants
will evaluate the effect of the Festival on
the public. Reflection continues on
appropriate methods which take into account
the questions mentioned above. A further
workshop in 1997 will examine the results of
a number of evaluations of these cultural
events, carried out using common analytical
tools.
Also
see under the same rubric in French on this
site.
11)
Languages and intercultural communication
On
past form, the application of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights is a prime
example of how - leaving aside politicians'
scandalous failures to live up to their
undertakings - a text framed in one or two of
the languages of international communication
does not have the same connotations for all
groups of people coming from different
historical and cultural contexts.
Is
it because these texts are purportedly rooted
in a solid base of values common to humankind
but do not (wish to?) take into account the
widely differing cultural interpretations of
these values as they apply in the real-life
practice of inter-personal relations? Or is
it rather that the individuals who represent
their people at the highest international
levels, and are tasked with finding common
ground in framing such texts, are unaware
that by working in a given language (usually
English or French), they are unwittingly
permeated by the culture from which it stems?
By immersing themselves - through the
intermediary of language - in a complex set
of interacting values and practices, do they
overlook the fact (in negotiations) that
notions, concepts and principles which are
"clear" in the working language,
have different or sometimes no overtones at
all in the language of the cultures of their
homelands? Whence the problem of implementing
values agreed upon as "universal";
whence cross-cultural misunderstandings; and
whence opportunities for political
manipulation "in the name of"
culture and religion.
Mindful
that this is a challenge fraught with
difficulties, the Charles Léopold Mayer
Foundation for the Progress of Humankind (hereafter
FPH), under its programme " Living in
peace in a diverse world", backed a
tentative attempt to shed light on these
veiled problems. The FPH initiated and
supports a worldwide movement called the
" Alliance for a Responsible and United
World ". Its courageous laying open of
the Alliance's Platform (founding text) to a
kaleidoscope of cultural analysis proved its
sincerity.
The
book entitled "WHAT WORDS DO NOT SAY:
the art of intercultural listening" (to
be published in French and English by
Editions Charles Léopold Mayer in its "Dossier
pour un Débat" series, spring 2000-)
gives an account of an exercise in
intercultural cross-fertilization based on
the difficulties encountered when translating
the Alliance's Platform into a score of
mainly non-Western languages. The exercise
brought to light underlying, and often
fundamental, differences in the way people
perceive "the world", "us"
and "the future", as well as a host
of concepts and values like "responsibility",
"solidarity", "citizenship",
"planning", "countervailing
power", "destiny", "balance",
not to mention "democracy" and
"justice".
The
main recommendation to emerge from this
approach is that the procedure has to be
turned on its head. Instead of translating a
"ready-made" text framed in one of
the dominant international languages, the
more realistic option would be to start by
writing a series of context-sensitive texts
in local languages. These texts could then be
translated into French and English with a
view to discussing their contents and working
out a collective document. The underlying
idea of this recommendation is that we first
have to get the specifics clear to find out
where the common ground lies.
A
new challenge: framing an Intercultural Earth
Charter which embraces the individual and the
shared
It
is a message which the FPH and the Alliance
have taken on board. Which is why a new
project was started on the basis of the above
mentioned recommendations. This time the
objective is to contribute to the framing of
an Earth Charter which truely reflects the
diversity of cultural visions as expressed by
a variety of languages.
The
idea for an Earth Charter along the lines of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the Charter of the United Nations, first
surfaced at the United Nations Stockholm
Conference (1972) and was pressed at the
United Nations Environment Conference in Rio
de Janeiro (1992). The initial thinking was
that it would be a Charter focussed on the
environment, protecting the Earth and
interactions between humankind and nature,
and that its scope would clarify the meaning
of "sustainable development". It
would be submitted to the Assembly of the
United Nations in 2000 or 2001.
A
Commission set up by the Earth Charter
Council drafted a Charter which is discussed
in national committees.
The
Alliance proposes taking a parallel tack, but
from an intercultural approach where "context-sensitive"
texts would be produced, without working
from a pre-set text. The reason is, that
if it is trying to stir people and
organizations all over the world to action to
create "a responsible and united world",
it is duty-bound to take part in this world-wide
process of giving thought to and making
proposals for the Earth Charter. So,
grassroots community groups have been set up
in Asia, Latin America and Africa to give
expression to their ideas, and make the
process of framing such a key Charter a truly
democratic one.
Also
see under the same rubric in French on this
site.
12)
Identity, democracy and local development
Here
follows the text sent out around the world to
call upon interested people to participate in
this project called: international research
and sharing project on "The impact of
identity on local development and democracy"
We
are looking for people from the South ("third
world") and from Europe who have
personal experience of (or expertise on)
minority groups (e.g. tribal or "aboriginal"
people from Asian countries such as India or
the Philippines, Pygmies and other African
minorities), "Indigenas" from
Central or South America, Catalonians or
Basks from Spain and France, Gypsies, Jews,
"Lap" Sami people, Welsh, etc…).
We do not exclude people from majority groups
with an interesting sense of identity (e.g.
Singaporeans, South Africans, Haitians, any E.U.
or East European national …).
By
identity is meant here the way a
given community looks at itself and presents
itself to outsiders. We look at identity in a
non-deterministic way, that is as a "social
construction" related to things people
have in common (like nation, ethnicity,
religion, language, territory, historical
heritage, common skills, etc.). Recent events
in former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda show
dramatically that identity may have very
negative and violent consequences.
Conversely, identity and cultures (e.g.
Scottish or Indian American identity) enable
people to resist positively to what they see
as alienating and imperialistic structures.
By
local development is meant here
any process which draws on local resources
and know-how so as to enhance people-based
quality of life, social justice and
environmental care and, as opposed to a
merely quantifiable and profit-oriented
economic growth process, subservient to the
dominant paradigm of neoliberal globalization.
By
democracy is meant here a process
towards achieving on-going peoples'
participation and a strong sense of
collective responsibility, i.o.w. "deep"
democracy which goes beyond an occasional
electoral consultation whereby people
delegate to politicians, and to established
powers that be, the definition and care of
the common good.
Also
see under the same rubric in French on this
site.
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