6GEO4 Unit 4 The World of Cultural Diversity

1. 6GEO4 Unit 4 The World of Cultural Diversity

2. What is this option about? • The Cultural Diversity option focuses on people and their cultures • This includes the landscapes, both urban and rural, that humans produce and which reflect their culture • The impact of a globalising world on culture is a key question to investigate • People’s attitude and relationship to the wider environment is also considered

3. CONTENTS • Defining culture and identifying its value • How and why does culture vary spatially? • The impact of globalisation on cultural diversity • Cultural attitudes to the environment Click on the information icon to jump to that section. Click on the home button to return to this contents page

4. 1. Defining culture and identifying its value • Culture means a set of values, traditions and beliefs that are shared by a group of people • People from the same culture are likely to share a set of ‘norms’ or ways of behaving • These norms may seem different, strange, amusing or even alien to people from other cultures.

5. The meaning of ‘culture’ • The word culture has Latin roots, meaning to cultivate (cultura) • In the past, ‘culture’ was often used in the sense of improvement and progress. • The word can also be used to mean ‘high art’ such as ballet, opera or sculpture (implying that there is ‘low art’). • In geography the word is used to refer to groups of people who share similar values • These groups often have interesting and distinct geographies. The Guggenheim art gallery in New York. A visit here might define you as ‘cultured’. The gallery itself displays works from many different cultures around the world

6. Cultural landscapes • Much of culture is in the mind i.e. beliefs • Cultural beliefs also produce symbols which posses meaning, as well as objects (artefacts) • Entire landscapes are the product of cultures – both urban and rural. • People from a culture can ‘read’ symbols, objects and landscapes in ways in which others cannot.

7. Contrasting cultural landscapes

8. Vulnerable cultures and landscapes • A range of threats, some subtle others more immediate, affect cultures and their landscapes • Tourism has been blamed for gradually undermining cultures • Technological change, especially in farming, has radically altered traditional rural landscapes • Conflict and warfare frequently destroy cultural sites and may even deliberately seek to destroy cultures

9. Valuing culture and cultures Wupatki Pueblo in Arizona To the Hopi Indians, Wupatki Pueblo is a spiritual place, still home to the spirits of their ancestors. To the tourist, the Peublo is an interesting self-guided tour around an historic site. To scientists and archaeologists the Peublo’s remains are a window on the past. This example shows how different players have different concepts of value in relation to a cultural site. At a broader scale, cultural diversity is valued by some but not by others. Cultural mixing and diversity might be perceived as a threat to ones own culture, or an opportunity to learn from and experience other cultures.

10. 2. How and why does culture vary spatially? • Some countries and regions are culturally homogenous, such as Japan (see pie chart) • Others are much more mixed • Physical isolation may help explain this, but policies and traditions are important • Culturally mixed places often have a history of trade (Netherlands, Singapore) and contact with other groups. • Migration explains Canada’s cultural mixing; many European countries (Netherlands) have received people from former colonies in recent decades.

11. The Irish diaspora • People of Irish descent are spread worldwide. • Mass emigration to escape poverty and conflict began in the 19th Century • By some definitions there are over 80 million people with Irish ancestry outside Ireland (population 7 million in 2009). • Most of the world’s major cities have an ‘Irish Pub’ including Bangkok, Shanghai and Rio.

12. Cities: cultural mixing pots http://www.londonprofiler.org/ For some interesting maps of multicultural London. • The most culturally diverse places tend to be cities • Cities have numerous pull factors which attract migrants such as variety of jobs, low cost housing and good transport links. • Migrants are most likely to meet people from their own culture in big cities • Often they form cultural enclaves (or ghettoes) with a concentration of a particular ethnic, religious or national group. • Cities may be very diverse, but often different cultural groups live and work in distinct locations within cities Ellis Island was the arrival point for 1000s of migrants to the USA.

13. Attitudes to diversity • Diversity, and other cultures, are not universally valued • Often cultures different to one’s own are viewed as a threat, especially when linked to immigration and the arrival of ‘new’ people.

14. Attitudes to diversity • Globally, the UN has adopted the Universal Declaration of Cultural Diversity • UNESCO World Heritage Sites recognise the importance of cultural landscapes • In the UK, cultural diversity is part of the National Curriculum • The rights of cultures are not respected everywhere however • In Tibet, Tibetan’s claim their culture is subject to Chinese ‘colonisation’ • Even today, many conflicts have a cultural side, with people of difficult religions, traditions and ethnicities at war. • This peaceful Buddha in Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka is in sharp contrast to the civil war which raged there between the Hindu Tamils and the majority Buddist Sinhalese between 1976 and 2009

15. Cultural groups • There are often complex relationships between cultural groups • Some cultural groups remain deliberately separatefrom wider society e.g. the Amish in the USA • Other groups gradually merge and mingle with the dominant culture; this may produce hybrid cultures • Cultural groups who are recent migrantsmay, initially, make tentative links with the host society as they strive to overcome language and other barriers • Counter-cultures emerge due to dissatisfaction with the dominant culture e.g. Punk culture in the 70s • In some cases the dominant culture may force another culture to conform by assimilation, sometimes forced (cultural imperialism).

16. 3. Impact of globalisation on cultural diversity • Globalisation is the process creating increasing connectedness and ‘shrinking’ the world through trade, travel and communication. • Some people identify a trend towards ‘cultural globalisation’ i.e. an increasingly homogenous global culture. • Concern has been expressed over the rise of a ‘global’ culture at the expense of local cultures, but there are differing views: Taking over the world, 24 hours a day?

17. Cultural imperialism? • Is the spread of global trade, its brands (Nike, Coke, Disney, Ford) and western culture simply a side-effect of globalisation or is it more sinister? • Anti-globalisation movements often portray the spread of ‘western’ culture as a deliberate attempt to impose this culture on the rest of the world. • It is important to consider to what extent cultural imperialism exists and is a threat. Westernisation McDonaldisation Cocacolonisation Cultural imperialism Americanisation Disneyfication Cultural hegemony

18. The global media • Global media corporations occupy a uniquely powerful position • They can spread their message globally, instantly, to millions of people. • Only in the last 60 years have the technologies shown (right) become commonplace. • There are concerns that the global media is dominated by ‘western’ companies:

19. Globalised cultures • Cultural globalisation might be expected to affect a range of different aspect of local cultures such as: • Diet – a higher fat, higher protein, higher sugar i.e. a more ‘western’ die • Language – erosion of highly localised languages in favour of national or even global ones i.e. English (see map) • Religion and community – traditions being replaced by globalised media as a source of news, information and entertainment • Costume – traditional forms replaced by ‘jeans, trainers and t-shirt’

20. Cultural hybridisation • On a more positive note, there is evidence that cultural globalisation is not ‘one way traffic’ • Bollywood films, made in Mumbai (Bombay), have transferred into ‘western’ cultural consciousness. • Even McDonalds, one of the princes of corporate global capitalism, adapts its products to local markets (often referred to as ‘glocalisation’). • Asian and Chinese immigrants do not loose their identity, they blend it with their new surroundings to produce new hybrid cultures. Chinatown in San Francisco, a hybrid culture

21. Changing cultural landscapes • There are question marks over how far cultural change will damage traditional ways of life and landscapes: • In Dubai, traditional buildings have been swept away in favour of westernised, modern alternatives. • Religion remains relatively untouched, but for how long?

22. 4. Cultural attitudes to the environment • Concern for the natural environment, and the landscapes it contains, varies around the world • Traditional cultures – hunter gatherers, farmers – tend to have a close and sometimes reverential relationship to the environment • Modernisation and industrialisation tend to ‘divorce’ cultures from direct contact with the environment

23. Exploiting or protecting? • There is a complex relationship between human exploitation and conservation, and the question of whether humans are acting sustainability can be difficult to answer. In Pompeii, tourists are in awe of the ancient Roman ruins, but may be contributing to their long-term degradation Quarrying is a scar on the landscape of Majorca, but stone could be viewed as much more ecologically sound than concrete. Yosemite is a protected National Park, but it is open to visitors – Some 3.5 million visit every year. In Kielder Forest, felled trees are replanted and therefore sustainable, but most trees in this man-made forest are not native to the UK and the forest has low biodiversity.

24. What do we mean by ‘sustainable’? • People’s understanding of sustainability varies. • Originally the term was linked closely to the idea of development (see quote) • Today the term tends to be more linked with the idea of ‘environmental sustainability’ – often focussing on the green agenda. • Different players may have quite different understandings of ‘sustainability’.

25. Our consumer culture • Many environmentalists and scientists argue that ‘western’ levels of consumption cannot be sustained. • Modern humans see themselves as ‘at the top of the food chain’ due to their ability to exploit the environment for products and pleasure. • This ‘humans first’ or anthropocentric view of the planet is what has led to global environmental problems such as global warming, deforestation, soil degradation and water shortages.

26. Squaring the circle • There is a conflict between the desire to develop and the desire to respect and protect cultures, their landscapes and the wider environment. • Can this be resolved? • Beginning in the 1970s the Green Movement (initially a counter-culture, but now ‘mainstream’) formulated an alternative model (see diagram) for politics and economics • Green movement ideas have gradually been adopted worldwide, but many green politicians argue much more needs to be done.