Essay On The Cultural Dimension .Cultural identity is not a problem fbr the general public but for the educated, whose upbringing has often included virtually inevitable elements of cultural alienation. The elite must return to their culture to understand it more effectively, and experience it as a living reality in order to find their roots in it. Seen from this angle, cultttral identity should be asserted primarily in the schools and universities.
An elite, often educated in other schools and sometimes unsure of its identity. must be helped into awareness of its own heritage, and its eyes opened to the fact that popular culture is not merely folklore.The question of each group of nation's cultural identity. which is at the meeting-point of culture and communication, shows the importance of language both as a vehicle of communication and as part of the cultural heritage.
Linguistic richness imposes not only a respect for the many languages existing but also a complex and costly adaptation of the communication network to the different linguistic areas, as well as the use of many language by the communication media in order to avoid standardisation. Language policy. therefore. constitutes one of the thorniest and most important issues in the formulation of communication policies.
Culture. which was not something separate from consciousness of the community's identity. was probably regarded first and foremost as a factor making for a stronger sense of national individuality: but the quest for cultural identity was, in all cases combined with sympathetic receptivity to the other cultures of the region and of the world, and. ultimately, to all that is universally human. which ruled out cultural isolationism and entailed the disavowal of chauvinistic assertions of distinctive nationhood.
The fate of modern societies is enacted on stage which now encompasses the planet. Societies which until a few decades ago were able to live in almost total ignorance of each other are today in increasingly close and regular contact. There is a growing interplay of reciprocal influences: interdependence is a reality in many fields of human activity .
Yet. while this interdependence is undoubtedly a source of mutual enrichment, receptivity, new initiatives and creativity, it is also a cause of frustration to the extent that it is accompanied by worsening conditions for certain people. and feelings of growing uncertainly and increased vulnerability. Sensitivity of changes, wherever they occur in the world, is becoming acute.
It is perhaps in the field of culture that the contradictory demands of new world relationships are most readily discernible. Communication between human beings is becoming global in its scope. and the quantity of knowledge and information available is constantly increasing. With the development. of computer technology', the possibilities of collecting this knowledge and information, of storing them and transferring them from one point on the planet to another, are also continually expending.
These exchanges and contacts are accompanied by a growing tendency towards a standardization of tastes and behaviour. and a homogenization of certain patterns of life, thought and action. of production and consumption propagated by the uniform dissemination of the same television series, the same musical rhythms. the same clothes, and the same escapists dreams.
This growing conformity. which seems to follow an internal logic of its own, is gradually invading more and more areas of human activity. In its turn it generates distortions, since it tends to promote whatever conforms to it, and to destroy everything that resists it. Whale sectors of creativity are thus repressed. and societies multitude in their individuality and their distinctive structure. Carried to the extreme, this logic could lead to the ossification of mankind, since diversity if accepted on a footing of complete equality', is an essential and fertile source of vitality for both individual societies and the whole world.
However, as a kind of reaction of this trend. a renewed. explosive affirmation of individuality is emerging. Communities everywhere -- ethnic and national, rural and urban, cultural and religious -- are asserting their originality and endeavouring to take in hand, and defend with vigour- those features by reference to which their identity is defined.
The will to affirm and defend cultural identity. appears now one of the major driving forces of history. Far from representing a withdrawal into an immutable, self-enclosed past. it fosters a lively. original and constantly renewed synthesis. A sense of cultural identity thus appears more and more to be sine qua non of progress for individuals, groups and nations; it is the force that animates and underpins the collective will, mobilizes inner resources, and turns necessary change into creative adaptation.
It is today recognised that the notion of cultural identity less at the very heart of development problems, but it is only recently that this t'act' has own full acceptance by the international community. It is only in the last ten years that our understanding of development, its paths and aims, has broadened and deepened. Originally equated with simple, liner economic growth -- vital. certainly, in so far as an increase in the production of material goods makes a decisive contribution to the improvement of people's living conditions.
When such goods are equitably distributed -- development has increasingly been seen to be an infinitely more complex, comprehensive and multidimensional process. which is effective only if it is based on the will of each society to full itself. and only if it truly exercise each society's underlying identity.
Genuine development can only be generated from within. willed conducted by all the vital forces of the nation. It should therefore. encompass all aspects of life and involve all the energies of a community within which each individual, each occupational category and each social group has its part to play in the general effort. and has its share in resulting benefits.
As so often happens. this growing awareness of the true nature of development was largely brought about by the setbacks experienced in development and industrialized countries like India.
The development countries, tempted to catch up with the industrialized countries by following the same path, have sometimes endeavoured to adopt approaches to development which, seeking to achieve raid economic progress by often inappropriate men's, did not always produce the expected results. or even brought new constraints which not only reproduced but aggravated those which had handicapped the industrialized countries.
At the same time, the industrialized societies, considered to be the most developed, have also come to realise the very serious problems caused by economic growth seen as an end in itself. Damage to the natural environment is exacerbated by new constraints which threaten man's very existence as a social being attached to a community with which he can fully identified.
The whole international community is thus, today. in different ways, increasingly coming to accept the idea of integrated development in which economic. social and cultural factors are commonly linked and contribute together to progress. Culture. which is connected with all expressions of life and which, of every
human being and every people, is the expression of their highest values and their very sense of life, emerges as the factor which is to guide and humanise economic growth and technical progress.
Communications technology has made such strides in the last few years that it has revolutionized life and development in both industrialized and developing societies. Increasingly, people are encountering other cultures in their everyday lives, discovering other values, observing attitudes unfamiliar to them, and thereby coming to know the any faces of mankind. And son. through direct satellite television broadcasting, it will be possible to transmit knowledge globally, and the irruption of other cultures into every home will be a permanent fact.
Whether the role of the new instruments is beneficial or harmful, will depend on the way in which they are used by mankind. It seems indispensable to integrate the communications media into culture polices, for it would be vain to pretend that the media only raise problems of technical order. They' are bound to have repercussions on political attitudes, on social behaviour, on ways of thinking. and thus on culture in the broadest sense.
If development is the concern of all institutions of the United Nations system. cultural questions devolve exclusively on UNESCO. which has for some years. been making an original contribution to the problem of cultural development by launching and promoting the idea of -cultural policy.
An elite, often educated in other schools and sometimes unsure of its identity. must be helped into awareness of its own heritage, and its eyes opened to the fact that popular culture is not merely folklore.The question of each group of nation's cultural identity. which is at the meeting-point of culture and communication, shows the importance of language both as a vehicle of communication and as part of the cultural heritage.
Linguistic richness imposes not only a respect for the many languages existing but also a complex and costly adaptation of the communication network to the different linguistic areas, as well as the use of many language by the communication media in order to avoid standardisation. Language policy. therefore. constitutes one of the thorniest and most important issues in the formulation of communication policies.
Culture. which was not something separate from consciousness of the community's identity. was probably regarded first and foremost as a factor making for a stronger sense of national individuality: but the quest for cultural identity was, in all cases combined with sympathetic receptivity to the other cultures of the region and of the world, and. ultimately, to all that is universally human. which ruled out cultural isolationism and entailed the disavowal of chauvinistic assertions of distinctive nationhood.
The fate of modern societies is enacted on stage which now encompasses the planet. Societies which until a few decades ago were able to live in almost total ignorance of each other are today in increasingly close and regular contact. There is a growing interplay of reciprocal influences: interdependence is a reality in many fields of human activity .
Yet. while this interdependence is undoubtedly a source of mutual enrichment, receptivity, new initiatives and creativity, it is also a cause of frustration to the extent that it is accompanied by worsening conditions for certain people. and feelings of growing uncertainly and increased vulnerability. Sensitivity of changes, wherever they occur in the world, is becoming acute.
It is perhaps in the field of culture that the contradictory demands of new world relationships are most readily discernible. Communication between human beings is becoming global in its scope. and the quantity of knowledge and information available is constantly increasing. With the development. of computer technology', the possibilities of collecting this knowledge and information, of storing them and transferring them from one point on the planet to another, are also continually expending.
These exchanges and contacts are accompanied by a growing tendency towards a standardization of tastes and behaviour. and a homogenization of certain patterns of life, thought and action. of production and consumption propagated by the uniform dissemination of the same television series, the same musical rhythms. the same clothes, and the same escapists dreams.
This growing conformity. which seems to follow an internal logic of its own, is gradually invading more and more areas of human activity. In its turn it generates distortions, since it tends to promote whatever conforms to it, and to destroy everything that resists it. Whale sectors of creativity are thus repressed. and societies multitude in their individuality and their distinctive structure. Carried to the extreme, this logic could lead to the ossification of mankind, since diversity if accepted on a footing of complete equality', is an essential and fertile source of vitality for both individual societies and the whole world.
However, as a kind of reaction of this trend. a renewed. explosive affirmation of individuality is emerging. Communities everywhere -- ethnic and national, rural and urban, cultural and religious -- are asserting their originality and endeavouring to take in hand, and defend with vigour- those features by reference to which their identity is defined.
The will to affirm and defend cultural identity. appears now one of the major driving forces of history. Far from representing a withdrawal into an immutable, self-enclosed past. it fosters a lively. original and constantly renewed synthesis. A sense of cultural identity thus appears more and more to be sine qua non of progress for individuals, groups and nations; it is the force that animates and underpins the collective will, mobilizes inner resources, and turns necessary change into creative adaptation.
It is today recognised that the notion of cultural identity less at the very heart of development problems, but it is only recently that this t'act' has own full acceptance by the international community. It is only in the last ten years that our understanding of development, its paths and aims, has broadened and deepened. Originally equated with simple, liner economic growth -- vital. certainly, in so far as an increase in the production of material goods makes a decisive contribution to the improvement of people's living conditions.
When such goods are equitably distributed -- development has increasingly been seen to be an infinitely more complex, comprehensive and multidimensional process. which is effective only if it is based on the will of each society to full itself. and only if it truly exercise each society's underlying identity.
Genuine development can only be generated from within. willed conducted by all the vital forces of the nation. It should therefore. encompass all aspects of life and involve all the energies of a community within which each individual, each occupational category and each social group has its part to play in the general effort. and has its share in resulting benefits.
As so often happens. this growing awareness of the true nature of development was largely brought about by the setbacks experienced in development and industrialized countries like India.
The development countries, tempted to catch up with the industrialized countries by following the same path, have sometimes endeavoured to adopt approaches to development which, seeking to achieve raid economic progress by often inappropriate men's, did not always produce the expected results. or even brought new constraints which not only reproduced but aggravated those which had handicapped the industrialized countries.
At the same time, the industrialized societies, considered to be the most developed, have also come to realise the very serious problems caused by economic growth seen as an end in itself. Damage to the natural environment is exacerbated by new constraints which threaten man's very existence as a social being attached to a community with which he can fully identified.
The whole international community is thus, today. in different ways, increasingly coming to accept the idea of integrated development in which economic. social and cultural factors are commonly linked and contribute together to progress. Culture. which is connected with all expressions of life and which, of every
human being and every people, is the expression of their highest values and their very sense of life, emerges as the factor which is to guide and humanise economic growth and technical progress.
Communications technology has made such strides in the last few years that it has revolutionized life and development in both industrialized and developing societies. Increasingly, people are encountering other cultures in their everyday lives, discovering other values, observing attitudes unfamiliar to them, and thereby coming to know the any faces of mankind. And son. through direct satellite television broadcasting, it will be possible to transmit knowledge globally, and the irruption of other cultures into every home will be a permanent fact.
Whether the role of the new instruments is beneficial or harmful, will depend on the way in which they are used by mankind. It seems indispensable to integrate the communications media into culture polices, for it would be vain to pretend that the media only raise problems of technical order. They' are bound to have repercussions on political attitudes, on social behaviour, on ways of thinking. and thus on culture in the broadest sense.
If development is the concern of all institutions of the United Nations system. cultural questions devolve exclusively on UNESCO. which has for some years. been making an original contribution to the problem of cultural development by launching and promoting the idea of -cultural policy.
An inter-governmental conference on cultural policy was held by UNESCO in Venice, in 1970. and subsequently, a number of regional conferences met in order to deepen and continue, in their specific contexts. the process of reflection begun by the international community. and the accelerate the evolution from a elitist concept of culture to that of cultural action committed to development. which would promote the fulfilment of individuals and communities.
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