In their book, Nation of Rebels, Heath and Potter1 show why counterculture advocated for by anti-globalisation movement is counterproductive and has instead helped create the very consumer society that they oppose. They successfully depict how capitalism snatches, distorts, commodifies and sells any piece of social justice resistances and making it palatable and fashionable to digest.
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Cultures and Conflict The English word “conflict” comes from the Latin com-, meaning “together,” and fligere, meaning “to strike.” The term denotes a sharp disagreement, especially in terms of interests or ideas. Conflict is difficult because of the emotional and psychological tension that it entails. However, as its etymology suggests, conflict can also be empowering because of the action and solidarity that ensues from it. If culture is a process that defines the rules and limitations of interaction, then conflict can be seen as an important element of culture. But the promotion of cultural cooperation often denies the presence of conflict; it often has to give a semblance of harmony. But it is precisely this altruistic language of culture that can be used to obscure power and inequality from which conflict may arise; the determination to facilitate understanding through mutual knowledge obscures the processes—and the language—of hegemony of one culture over another. Defining culture in the context of development, there is a prevailing optimism about the nature of development, especially within the international and multicultural spheres. If conflict entered the dominant positivist model of culture and cooperation, then we would have begun a questioning of the conventional conceptualisations and practices of development. All this would also require looking into the situation and role of women as the bearers, protectors, and preservers of cultural heritage. |
Group Rights vs. Individual Rights? Navigating the Tension in Western Liberal Statesby Lyra Porras Garzon
As the term has been used in recent history, “nation-building” generally implies a “melting pot” or “national integration.”1 This means that the various ethnic, religious and cultural groups that find themselves living within defined borders of an internationally recognised State are expected to give up parts of their collective identity so as to adopt the values of the dominant or majority groups.2 And since the dominant groups are usually the ones that wield political power, they can then define the national culture in terms of their own cultural identities. Furthermore, the dominant groups expect all other groups to conform to this model, even if it means the erosion of a particular minority group’s collective identity, in the long run.
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Cultures and Conflict The English word “conflict” comes from the Latin com-, meaning “together,” and fligere, meaning “to strike.” The term denotes a sharp disagreement, especially in terms of interests or ideas. Conflict is difficult because of the emotional and psychological tension that it entails. However, as its etymology suggests, conflict can also be empowering because of the action and solidarity that ensues from it. If culture is a process that defines the rules and limitations of interaction, then conflict can be seen as an important element of culture. But the promotion of cultural cooperation often denies the presence of conflict; it often has to give a semblance of harmony. But it is precisely this altruistic language of culture that can be used to obscure power and inequality from which conflict may arise; the determination to facilitate understanding through mutual knowledge obscures the processes—and the language—of hegemony of one culture over another. Defining culture in the context of development, there is a prevailing optimism about the nature of development, especially within the international and multicultural spheres. If conflict entered the dominant positivist model of culture and cooperation, then we would have begun a questioning of the conventional conceptualisations and practices of development. All this would also require looking into the situation and role of women as the bearers, protectors, and preservers of cultural heritage. |
Ethnic Minority People in Yunnan: Naxi Culture and the Role of Women by Andrea Stelzner with Ge A-gan and He Xiaoxun
Southwest China’s Yunnan Province is home to 26 officially recognised ethnic minorities—who account for one third (approx. 15 million) of the total population of the province—and is also home to about 29 million Han Chinese. The Han constitute the majority of the people in China. Their history has been recorded in the official annals, while ethnic minorities have been merely mentioned therein. The status and recognition of ethnic minorities has changed—from being heroes defending the Han Chinese "Central Kingdom’s" frontier regions against barbarian aggressions from the outside, to being referred to as "uncivilised frontier people" themselves.
Read more: Ethnic Minority People in Yunnan: Naxi Culture and the Role of Women
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Sexual Cultures As Western culture develops its hegemony over the world, destroying local belief systems in the process, it is to be expected that what were originally local problems within Western thinking must increasingly become global problems. The world seems to be suffering a global cultural pandemic, which is currently unrecognised but potentially more disastrous than AIDS, SARS, and bird flu combined. Problems concerning the acceptance of various forms of sexual identity generally seem to involve deeply ingrained attitudes and traumas that are often derived from Western cultural values and power systems. Perhaps, it would be interesting to see more clearly how problems of sexual identity might relate to indigenous cultures.
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Spelling It Out: From Alphabet Soup to Sexual Rights
In August 2004, in Kathmandu, Nepal, 39 metis—self-identified “cross-dressing males”—were arbitrarily arrested and held in custody without food or water for 13 days. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)2 was called on to work with the Blue Diamond Society (BDS) to prepare an Action Alert3 to mobilise international protest to denounce the arbitrary arrests and unreasonable detention of the 39 metis, and to demand their release. BDS is a sexual rights organisation that provides information, advocacy, and resources to men who have sex with men, metis, people living with HIV, and sex workers in Nepal. The director of BDS drafted the majority of the Action Alert, and described a meti as a “cross-dressing male.” Since our work at IGLHRC rests on respecting the identities and expressions that local activists use in their own contexts, we defined metis in English using the language of the BDS director. However, when we sent the Action Alert to our office in Argentina to be translated into and circulated in Spanish, we were met with the difficulties of translating identities across boundaries: In the Argentine context, the use of the term “cross-dressing males” refers most often to heterosexual males who, on occasion, wear women’s clothing. In Argentina, the terminology can be seen as inaccurate to the transgender and travesti activists and organisations that demand to be understood on their own terms rather than with reference to their departure from traditional masculinity or femininity—in this case, gendered dress codes.
Read more: Spelling It Out: From Alphabet Soup to Sexual Rights
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Sexual Cultures As Western culture develops its hegemony over the world, destroying local belief systems in the process, it is to be expected that what were originally local problems within Western thinking must increasingly become global problems. The world seems to be suffering a global cultural pandemic, which is currently unrecognised but potentially more disastrous than AIDS, SARS, and bird flu combined. Problems concerning the acceptance of various forms of sexual identity generally seem to involve deeply ingrained attitudes and traumas that are often derived from Western cultural values and power systems. Perhaps, it would be interesting to see more clearly how problems of sexual identity might relate to indigenous cultures.
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Putting You in Your Place: Culture and the Filipino Lesbian by Angie S. Umbac
At an early age, both girls and boys are keenly conscious of the fact that, in our society, being male means being privileged.1
Read more: Putting You in Your Place: Culture and the Filipino Lesbian
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Isis Resource Center holds one of the largest feminist collections of materials in the Global South. With 40 years of publication experience, Isis holds a vast collection.