Communication Democracy and Cultural Diversity 1202488580406647 5 (1)

8/3/2019 Communication Democracy and Cultural Diversity 1202488580406647 5 (1)

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Alfonso Gumucio-Dagron

Community Media Forum

Communication,

Democracy andCultural Diversity

Geneva, 11 December 2003


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It is through the evolution of our own

genuine culture that our identity canbe fully discovered.

Steve Biko


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Outline

Dramatic situation of culture and values in developingnations under the push for a globalised world

Freedom, participation and democracy is undermined

by the weakening of cultures and values National states have a responsibility in providing

adequate policy frameworks

Communication is the main tool for strengtheningcultural diversity and democracy

Political empowerment for democracy is possible ifpeople take in their own hands the communicationprocess


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VANISHING CULTURES& COMMUNICATION


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Cultural diversity is the mirror ofnatural diversity. Creation is unity

within diversity, where all forms of life

coexist harmoniously. Every time aforest is devastated, a form of life is

violated, another language is lost, aform of civilization is curtailed,

genocide is committed.Rigoberta Mench


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Vanuatu, sand drawings

In central and northern islands of Vanuatu.

A means of communication among the members of some 80

different language groups.

They also serve as mnemonic devises to record and transmit

oral information about local history, indigenous cosmologies,

kinship systems, traditions, values, etc.

Multi-functional "writing" form, occurs in a wide range of ritual,

contemplative and communicative contexts.

Drawings are produced directly on sand, volcanic ash or clay.

Using a finger the drawer traces symmetrical composition of

geometric patterns.

Exposed to winds, the drawings seldom remain intact for long

periods.


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Central Africa, Aka Pygmies songs

An extremely complex type of contrapuntal polyphony based on

four voices.

Vocal musical tradition that differs radically from those of

neighbouring ethnic groups and can be found nowhere else on

the African continent.

The songs perpetuate knowledge considered essential to the

cohesion of the group and the preservation of community

values, such as courage and solidarity.

Relying entirely on oral transmission, they have succeeded in

preserving their musical knowledge over the generations by

including children in rituals at an early age.


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Bolivia, Kallawaya cosmovision

The Andean cosmovision of the Kallawaya culture is a coherent

body of beliefs, myths, rituals, values and artistic expressions

that provides an original vision of the world.

Derived from belief systems of ancient indigenous peoples, is

manifested through traditional medicine, whose virtues are

recognized not only in Bolivia but in the many South American

countries where Kallawaya priest doctors travel & practice.

This healing art involves an exceptionally deep understanding of

animal, mineral and botanical pharmacopoeia and a corpus of

ritual knowledge intimately linked to religious beliefs.

Their botanical pharmacopoeia, which rates as one of the

worlds richest with some 980 plant species.


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Culture & Communication

Examples from different regions, out of 28 Masterpieces of the

Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity that UNESCO has

recently proclaimed.

What do they have in common? The intermingling ofcommunication and culture, for the preservation of values and

participation in society.

Also in common: they might disappear

Arts and culture are much more than performance, aesthetic

tradition, artistic and media representation. They are communication tools that communities use to preserve

their history, memory and cultural diversity.


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More access, less choice

Mass communication is unfortunately promoting the unevenglobal trend towards homogenisation of culture.

Hopes that more sophisticated technologies would have broughtincreasing diversity, improved access for all and better choices

for content in mass media, were betrayed. While access to technology improved, diversity and quality of

content have suffered.

We were promised the best television choice ever throughsatellite and cable -500 channels- but we could go on zappingforever.

In poorest nations, local production dropped to zero. In LatinAmerica, the best scenarios: 10% to 20% of soap operas fromBrazil, Mexico or Colombia. The worst and most likely: 80% to90% of old reruns from US television.


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Internet: Unlikely mirror

The Spaniards brought to Latin America colourcrystals and mirrors to exchange them for gold andgems. At least, the mirrors were useful

Internet (the web), is not yet a good reflecting mirrorof our cultures and reality

The latest promise for a better world is actuallyreproducing the same pattern as cable and satellitetelevision:

a) too expensive and benefits only the wealthy segment ofsociety,

b) its contents are irrelevant for the large majority of thepopulation of Third World nations, and

c) it is largely dominated by English.


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Internet & languages

Web content is: 68.4 percent in English, followed veryfar by 5.9 in Japanese, 5.8 in German, 3.9 inChinese, 3.0 in French and only 2.4 Spanish

(Global Reach, January 2004)

However, Spanish is the third largest first-language inthe world.

Ethnologue lists over 6,000 living languages:Chinese Mandarin comes first with over 960 million,Hindi is second with 366 million, Spanish is third with358 million and English is fourth with 341 millionsspeakers. (2002)


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Disappearing languages

Over 50% of worlds 6,000 languages are in danger

(UNESCO)

One language disappears every two weeks

90% of worlds languages are not represented in

Internet

A language that disappears, carries to death the

whole culture when oral tradition is the main vehicle

of transmission of culture and values from onegeneration to the next


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Thus, there is nothing new underthe sun, except what has been

forgotten.

Rigoberta Mench


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CULTURE INA

GLOBALIZED WORLD


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The market leads the initiative within the

globalisation process, it now regulates the

relationships between peoples, nations andcultures, it imposes communication models

and speeds up networks.

Jess Martn Barbero


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Cultural resources are replacing naturalresources as the primary raw material of

economic growth. Where timber, iron and oilonce ruled, knowledge creativity and designare establishing themselves as the crucialsources of added value.

Francois Matarasso


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Culture as merchandise

The economically successful US cultural industry is occupyingthe global imaginative and creative sphere. Global culturalhomogenization is sweeping the world.

Monoculture of the mind - calls it Indian physicist and activist

Vandana Shiva. The global monoculture has infiltrated every corner of the world,

dominated by western values and lifestyles, driven by aconsumer-based ideology and carried through the massive USentertainment-industrial complex.

Nations need to oppose it with the richness of their own

cultures, as alternative ways of seeing, of thinking, of creating. Communities need to create bridges between other languages,

other cultures, and values, to participate in world.

Internationalisation, rather than globalisation.


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Cultural purity?

There are no pure cultures and should not be.

Every culture is the unique result of multiple interactions withother cultures.

Cultures are always in the process of evolving, changing and

sharing with other cultures their values and forms of expression. A culture that doesnt interact with other cultures is dead.

Cultures are always negotiating their boundaries. The scarsthat remain in the texture of exchanges, are defining the lossesor gains of the negotiation.

The terms of cultural interaction have to be balanced and fair tomaintain dialogue within equity and democratic principles.

While the terms of interaction are more balanced at local levels,at the international level globalisation has set the rules for themost uneven and unfair terms of cultural -and economic-exchanges.


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Public service media

Increasing concentration in control of media

ownership homogenization of content and limitation

of access.

The cultural and educational mission of public servicemedia is lost in many countries.

Cultural policies must take into account the impact

and importance of mass media.

Public radio and television editorially independentand free of political or commercial constraints, are

instruments for consolidating democracy.


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NATIONA

L CULTURE &COMMUNICATIONPOLICIES


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The more wealth we have created, the worstiniquity results from its distribution; the moresophisticated is our technology, and morepeople are excluded through ignorance; the

more our wealth grows, the more is theecosystem destroyed; the more diverse is ourculture, the more incapable we are tocommunicate our identities; the moredemocracy is expanded, the more are its

mechanisms manipulated; and when we endwith a form of war we immediately discover amore insidious one.

Manuel Castells


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Policy frameworks

Multilateral institutions which have no cultural mandate areestablishing policy frameworks that affect culture.

The international language of commerce increasingly supersedesthe language of culture.

National states to provide frameworks for the representation of theknowledge, experiences and practices of diverse communities thatcontribute to the human dimension of the society as a whole.

They must ensure equal opportunities for cultural, critical andintellectual exchanges among urban and rural communities.

Facilitate the expression of heritage consciousness & collective

memory, to replace the dominant forms of selective memory. Preserve specific cultural profiles from erosion by powerful external

audio-visual and communication systems.

Prevent cultural creativity from being watered down by trans-national commercialization.


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Diversity for Democracy

National states treat cultural communities as absolute groups,whereas in reality they are not unitary and there is discussionwithin communities about their identity, and aspirations.

Diversity is a basic building block of the emerging global civic

culture based on ethics and values & new forms of conviviality. Diversity is a major source of social energy for development.

Cultural policies are necessary to accommodate cultural bordersof ethnic diversity, the plurality of languages and lifestyles.

They need to reflect critically on hegemonic cultural discourseand establish frameworks for exploring dominance & dissent.

A pluralism that cherishes and nurtures cultural diversity iscritical to guaranteeing respect for the freedom of all.

Democracy flourishes in diversity, because interaction withindiversity requires of mutual respect.


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Harmony between culture and development,

respect for cultural identities, tolerance for

cultural differences in a framework of plural

democratic values, socio-economic equityand respect for territorial unity and national

sovereignty are among the preconditions for a

lasting and just peace.

Stockholm Conference on Cultural Policies for Development, 1998


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UNESCO Principles

Sustainable development and the flourishing ofculture are interdependent

Participation and access to cultural life is afundamental human right

Dialogue between cultures is an essentialcondition for peaceful coexistence

Globalisation links cultures more closely but mayalso be detrimental to creative diversity and

cultural pluralism We must empower all communities to harness

their creativity and forge ways of living togetherwith others


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Culture as a Human Right

Cultural rights are human rights, an expression and requirementof human dignity

Their recognition and exercise are vital to promote culturalidentities and foster dialogue in democratic societies.

Cultural freedom provides protection for individual freedom andthat the affirmation of cultural rights is a constructive rather thana divisive force within and between societies.

Problems with the notion of cultural since cultures are dynamicwhile rights must not be. Ideological tensions: individual's rightsconflict with group rights.

Communication, is often considered only as technology, leavingaside its importance in promoting culture

Excluding communication from the benefits of legislationprotecting cultural rights results in community radio stationsbeing ignored or even punished by normative bodies.


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Opportunities

The concept of a central powerful governments, toooften doing the dirty work for neo-colonial powers,and serving the wealthy in each nation, is in question.

Civil society movements are demanding a moreactive role in the decision-making process that affectstheir lives.

Elections are no longer synonym of democracy, toooften only promote a dormant society.

The context of decentralisation and the new conceptsof governance at local levels include more power tolocal governments and municipalities.


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Democratic values

Culture and communication can contribute toconsolidate local power, based on participation anddemocratic values.

The role of culture is even more important fordemocracy and development in multiethnic andmulticultural societies.

Public debate, ends up supporting fundamentaldemocratic values.

Access to high-quality information, free ofcommercial, political or partisan pressures, is anessential element of a healthy democracy.


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Mainstream

Mainstream is a culture of public practice informed by elitist

politics and practices of a dominant minority. The principal

agenda is diversifying the mainstream.

The preferred future is a broader community that no longer

focuses on cultural differences but which reflects the diverseorigins of different peoples and their varied cultural inheritances.

Cultural environment should be nurtured through participatory

processes. In negotiating the representation of cultural values,

cultural policy frameworks must ensure community

empowerment through effective participation. Nurturing participatory processes and practices that are

developed and negotiated through extensive community

engagement.


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COMMUNICATION,PARTICIPATIONAND

OWNERSHIP


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Taking rights

In the absence of cultural and communication

policies in most developing countries, or the lack

of enforcement for existing cultural policies due to

the fragility of national states after the tidal waveof globalisation, civil society organisations and

communities have struggle to provide themselves

with the tools to support their own objectives of

democratic participation in society.


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Community Media

Committed to human rights and social justice approaches.

Is key to promote participation, to ensure sustainability ofdevelopment programmes, and strengthen social organisations.

During decades, community radio has been the platform for

communities to convey their cultural expressions, exchangeinformation and promote local dialogue and debate.

Radio is by far the most important electronic media andparticularly of poor communities in Third World nations.

Community radio has been a collective tool for empowermentthrough participation in the communication process.

Recent years have seen an important trend to networking, thusstrengthening both local and regional capacity and participationin social movements.


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Empowering voices

Community radio is a real place that anyone canenter to exercise the experience of human contact.

To turn on a radio set in the context of a community

is a social gesture of civic value. One turns on a radio the way one opens a windowonto his street, onto his community, onto his city,onto his country, onto the world. (Sylvain Lafrance)

To treat content like a transformable product, which is

recyclable and industrial, is to deny certain basicprinciples of human communication. Radio is asimple medium, which technology and industry areforever trying to complicate.


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Communication as a process

Participation in community media can only be

ensured through a process that aims key

objectives:

Ownership

Local contents

Language and cultural pertinence

Networking and convergence

Appropriate technology


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Ownership principles

Relevance and importance of cultural networks

Appropriate representation and accountability

Identifiable community benefits along with economic

outcomes

Access to excellence; consultation, participation and

negotiation

Co-operation and co-ordination

Cultural diversity; inspiration, innovation andimagination

Quality of experience and resourcefulness.


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I believe it is precisely this explosion ofcommunication at the local level that makes

citizens media into empowering tools fordemocracy. The disruption of established

relations of power is a messy enterprise,and our attempts to impose order andorganization will only cause our alienationfrom these processes.

Clemencia Rodrguez

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Communication Democracy and Cultural Diversity 1202488580406647 5 (1)