Investing In Cultural Diversity And Intercultural Dialogue .

WRCD Exec Sum – layout 4a:Layout 123/9/0917:13Page 3INTRODUCTION . 3What is cultural diversity?Cultural diversity is above all a fact: there exists a widerange of distinct cultures, which can be readilydistinguished on the basis of ethnographic observation,even if the contours delimiting a particular culture provemore difficult to establish than might at first sightappear. Awareness of this diversity has today becomemuch more widespread, being facilitated by globalizedcommunications and increased cultural contacts. Whilethis greater awareness in no way guarantees thepreservation of cultural diversity, it has given the topicgreater visibility.Cultural diversity has moreover become a major socialconcern, linked to the growing diversity of social codeswithin and between societies. Confronted by thisdiversity of practices and outlooks, States sometimes findthemselves at a loss to know how to respond, often as amatter of urgency, or how to take account of culturaldiversity in the common interest. To contribute to thedevising of specific responses, this report seeks toprovide a framework for renewed understanding of thechallenges inherent in cultural diversity, by identifyingsome of the theoretical and political difficulties that itinevitably entails.Cultural diversity isnot simply an assetto be preserved buta resource to bepromoted.including in areasrelatively distantfrom culture in thenarrow senseA first difficulty has to do with the specifically culturalnature of this form of diversity. Many societies haverecourse to various proxies, particularly ethnic orlinguistic characterizations, to take account of theircultural heterogeneity. The first challenge will thereforebe to examine the different policies pursued withoutlosing sight of our topic, which is cultural diversity andnot the proxies to which it is sometimes reduced. Onesolution would be to adopt the broadest possibledefinition of culture, along the lines of the consensusembodied in UNESCO’s 1982 Mexico City Declaration onCultural Policies, which defined culture as the ‘wholecomplex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual andemotional features that characterize a society or socialgroup’ including ‘not only the arts and letters, but alsomodes of life, the fundamental rights of the humanbeing, value systems, traditions and beliefs’. This has themerit of neither adopting an excessively restrictivedefinition of culture nor focusing on a particular aspect(e.g. religion) in order to define a culture.

WRCD Exec Sum – layout 4a:Layout 123/9/0917:14Page 44What is needed is anew approach tocultural diversitywhich takesaccount of itsdynamic natureand the challengesof identityassociated withcultural changeI A billboard on Suva'smain street, FijiAnother difficulty concerns the identification of theconstituents of cultural diversity. In this connection, theterms ‘culture’, ‘civilization’ and ‘peoples’ have differentconnotations depending on context, for examplescientific or political. Whereas ‘cultures’ refers to entitiesthat tend to be defined in relation to one another, theterm ‘civilization’ refers to cultures that affirm their valuesor worldviews as universal and adopt an expansionistapproach towards those that do not (or do not yet) sharethem. It is therefore a very real challenge to attempt topersuade the different centres of civilization to coexistpeacefully. As conceived by UNESCO – a conceptionremote from those ideological constructions that predicta ‘clash of civilizations’ – ‘civilization’ is to be understoodas work in progress, as the accommodation of each ofthe world’s cultures, on the basis of equality, in anongoing universal project.L A man playing a trumpetin the old French Quarter ofNew Orleans, USA third difficulty concerns the relationship of cultures tochange. For it took almost seven decades of the 20thcentury before cultures started to be understood asshifting entities. Previously, there was a tendency to viewthem as essentially fixed, their content being ‘transmitted’between generations through a variety of channels, suchas education or initiatory practices of various kinds. Today,culture is increasingly understood as a process wherebysocieties evolve along pathways that are specific to them.The concept of difference aptly captures this particulardynamic, whereby culture changes while remaining thesame. What is needed, then, is to define policies that give apositive slant to these ‘cultural differences’ so that groupsand individuals that come into contact, rather than withdrawing into closed identities, discover in this ‘difference’an incentive for continuing to evolve and change.These considerations argue in favour of a new approachto cultural diversity – one that takes account of itsdynamic nature and the challenges of identity associatedwith the permanence of cultural change. This necessarilyentails substantial changes to UNESCO’s role in thiscontext. For whereas the Organization’s longstandingconcern has been with the conservation andsafeguarding of endangered cultural sites, practices andexpressions, it must now also learn to sustain culturalchange in order to help individuals and groups tomanage diversity more effectively. For this ultimately isthe major challenge: managing diversity.I Women practising atraditional dance inShanghai, China

WRCD Exec Sum – layout 4a:Layout 123/9/0917:14Page 5PART I:Cultural Diversity:What is at Stake?In the context of globalization andincreasing migration andurbanization, the interrelatedchallenges of preserving culturalidentity and promoting interculturaldialogue assume a new prominenceand urgency. The World Reportbegins by considering the impact ofaccelerating globalization processeson the different facets of culturaldiversity, highlighting the way inwhich strong homogenizing forcesare matched by persistentdiversifying trends. The report goeson to examine the essential role ofintercultural dialogue in bridgingcultural differences, while nurturingthe diversity of cultural expressionsthrough processes of mutualinteraction, support andempowerment.

WRCD Exec Sum – layout 4a:Layout 123/9/0917:14Page 66 . PA R T I C U LT U R A L D I V E R S I T Y : W H AT I S AT S TA K E ?Chapter 1: Cultural diversityCultural diversity in a globalizing worldWhile cultural erosion has become an issue of globalconcern in light of the perceived impact oftechnologically mediated Western paradigms, theassociation of globalization with standardization andcultural homogenization is often overstated. Trade andcultural transfer invariably involve processes ofadaptation and, in an increasingly complex andinteractive international environment, do not usuallytake place unilaterally. Moreover, cultural roots rundeep and in many cases lie beyond the reach ofexogenous influences. In this sense, globalization isbest seen as a multidimensional and multidirectionalprocess involving accelerated and increased flows ofvirtually everything – capital, commodities,information, ideas, beliefs, people – along constantlyevolving axes.Generally speaking, the globalization of internationalexchanges is leading to the integration of a diversity ofmulticultural exchanges in almost all national contexts,paralleling and nurturing the trend towards multiplecultural affiliations and a ‘complexification’ of culturalidentities. This is not to ignore, however, the negativeimpacts of globalizing forces on the diversity of culturalpractices.One of the main effects of globalization is to attenuatethe link between a cultural phenomenon and itsgeographic location by transporting distant events,influences and experiences into our immediate vicinity.In some cases, such attenuation is experienced as asource of opportunity; in others, as a loss of certainty andidentity. A parallel phenomenon is the growth ininternational migration, which is leading in some casesto novel cultural expressions, demonstrating thatdiversity is ever in the making. The growth in the numberof international tourists is another phenomenon withpotentially significant impacts on cultural diversity. Whilesuch tourism is to some extent self-contained and itsconsequences ambiguous for local populations, itsoutcome in terms of greater knowledge andunderstanding of differing cultural environments andpractices would seem self-evidently positive.Our increasing intercultural contacts are also giving riseto new forms of cultural diversity and linguistic practices,particularly due to advances in digital technology. Thus,rather than attempting to preserve diversity in all itsforms, the focus should be on devising new strategiesthat take account of such changes while enablingvulnerable populations to ‘manage’ cultural change moreeffectively. Every living tradition is subject to continualself-reinvention. Cultural diversity, like cultural identity, isabout innovation, creativity and receptiveness to newinfluences.L Weavers on TaquileIsland, Lake Titicaca, PeruI The polyphonic singingand dancing of the AkaPygmies of central AfricaJ Group of tourists in frontof the Giza sphinx in Egypt

WRCD Exec Sum – layout 4a:Layout 123/9/0917:14Page 7National, religious, cultural and multiple identitiesThe question of identities – national, cultural, religious,ethnic, linguistic, gender-based or consumer-based – isassuming renewed importance for individuals andgroups who see globalization and cultural change as athreat to their beliefs and ways of life. The growingtensions over identity, which are often the result of aculturalization of political claims, are in contradiction witha more general trend towards the emergence of dynamicand multifaceted identities. Political activism related toreligious identity can serve as a powerful marker ofcultural identity and difference. In this context, there is arisk of religious conviction being instrumentalized for thefurtherance of political and related agendas, with thepotential for precipitating intra-religious conflict as well asdissensions within democratic societies.There has been a tendency to equate cultural diversitywith the diversity of national cultures. Yet nationalidentity is to some extent a construction, grounded in asometimes reconstructed past and providing a focus forour sense of commonality. Cultural identity is a morefluid, self-transforming process, to be seen less in termsof a past inheritance than of a future project. In aglobalizing world, cultural identities often derive frommultiple sources; the increasing plasticity of culturalidentities reflects the growing complexity of theglobalized flows of people, goods and information.In a multicultural context, some people will choose toadopt a particular form of identity, others to live in a dualmode, and still others to create for themselves hybrididentities. Many contemporary novelists have beendrawn to the theme of migrants confronted by a newcultural environment and faced with the challenge offashioning new cultural identities. Generally speaking,the blurring of boundaries in the context of globalizationhas favoured the emergence of a nomadic spirit, whichcan be seen as the new horizon of contemporarycultural experimentation.L Aboriginal elder usesmobile phone, centralAustraliaL The Hudhud chanting ofthe Ifugao in the Philippinesl An elderly woman inSurgut, RussiaThere is a generaltrend towardsdynamic andmultifacetedidentities in thecontext ofglobalization,which is favouringthe emergence of anomadic spiritChapter 1:Cultural diversityC U LT U R A L D I V E R S I T Y . 7

WRCD Exec Sum – layout 4a:Layout 123/9/0917:15Page 88 . PA R T I C U LT U R A L D I V E R S I T Y : W H AT I S AT S TA K E ?Regional and international initiativesIn a world marked increasingly by the intermingling ofcultures, efforts to safeguard the manifestations ofcultural diversity assume particular importance fornational governments as well as for the internationalcommunity. In domains as varied as tangible heritage,intangible heritage, cultural expressions, culturalexchanges and the illicit traffic in cultural goods, theagreements and standard-setting activities at regionaland international levels have sought to protect andpromote some of the key tokens of cultural diversity andmarkers of cultural identity. UNESCO, in keeping with itsmandate within the UN, has played a leading role in theformulation, promotion and implementation of many ofthese normative and other instruments.L A beggar passing a streetadvertisement in Athens,GreeceThe development that leads from the 1954 HagueConvention for the Protection of Cultural Property in theEvent of Armed Conflict, through the 1970 Convention onthe Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import,Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, the1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the WorldCultural and Natural Heritage, and the 2001 Convention onthe Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage to theCulture refers both to the creative diversity embodied in particular‘cultures’ and to the creative impulse at the heart of that diversityof ‘cultures’2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the IntangibleCultural Heritage reflects a progressive extension of theconcept of cultural heritage, increasingly understood toinclude not only the material expressions of the world’sdiverse cultures but also their intangible manifestations,including oral traditions, performing arts and traditionalknow-how. In parallel, there has been a shift of emphasisfrom an implicit ranking of World Heritage sites (deemed‘of outstanding universal value’) to a concern forhighlighting exemplars of the intangible heritage thatprovide its repositories with a sense of identity andcontinuity. The development reflects a dual movement:one leads to the recognition of a ‘common heritage’ thatthe international community has a duty to safeguard asthe expression of a common human inheritance; theother leads to the recognition of the specificities ofcultures, which, though they may be fluctuating andtransitory in nature, must be valued and recognized intheir own right.A new era has begun in the exploration of the conceptof cultural diversity with the adoption in 2001 of theUniversal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and in 2005 ofthe complementary Convention on the Protection andPromotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Inaddressing the exchanges between the cultures thatconstitute our universal heritage, the 2005 Conventionaims to preserve the specificities of cultures whilepromoting their development on a global scale throughinteraction and commercialization.Indeed, culture has two meanings, which are differentyet wholly complementary. Firstly, culture is the creativediversity embodied in particular ‘cultures’, with theirunique traditions and tangible and intangibleexpressions. Secondly, culture (in the singular) refers tothe creative impulse at the heart of that diversity of‘cultures’. These two meanings of culture – one selfreferential, the other self-transcending – are inextricablylinked and provide the key to the fruitful interaction of allpeoples in the context of globalization.J African immigrantsqueue at the port ofLampedusa before beingtransferred to Sicily, Italy

WRCD Exec Sum – layout 4a:Layout 123/9/0917:15Page 9I N T E R C U LT U R A L D I A LO G U E . 9Chapter 2: Intercultural dialogueIn a culturally diverse world, it is necessary to developnew approaches to intercultural dialogue, beyond thelimitations of the ‘dialogue among civilizations’paradigm. The prerequisites include consideration ofthe ways in which cultures relate to one another,awareness of cultural commonalities and shared goals,and identification of the challenges to be met inreconciling cultural differences.Cultural interactionsCultures are not self-enclosed or static entities. One ofthe fundamental obstacles to intercultural dialogue isour habit of conceiving cultures as fixed, as if faultlines separated them. One of the main objections toSamuel Huntington’s thesis of a ‘clash of civilizations’ isthat it presupposes singular rather than multipleaffiliations between human communities and fails totake account of cultural interdependency andinteraction. To describe as fault lines the differencesbetween cultures is to overlook the porosity ofcultural boundaries and the creative potential of theindividuals they encompass. Cultures, like individuals,exist in relationship to one another.The intermingling of cultures throughout history hasfound expression in a variety of cultural forms andpractices, from cultural borrowings and exchanges(the Silk Roads) to cultural impositions through war,conquest and colonialism. Yet even in the extremecircumstance of slavery, exchanges take placewhereby certain discreet processes of reverseenculturation come to be assimilated by thedominating culture. Recognition of the universality ofhuman rights has made it possible today – in theory atleast – to think in terms of genuine exchanges on thebasis of equality between all the world’s cultures.J The Mostar Bridge wasrebuilt after the war inBosniaCultural stereotypes and intoleranceCultural stereotypes, while serving to demarcate onegroup from the alien ‘other’, carry with them the risk thatdialogue may stop short at difference and that differencemay engender intolerance. Cultures belonging todifferent civilizational traditions are particularly prone tomutual stereotyping.Intercultural tensions are often bound up with conflicts ofmemory, competing interpretations of past events, andconflicts of values – particularly religious values. Where ithas not been excluded by the will to power anddomination, dialogue remains the key to unlocking thesedeep-rooted antagonisms and to pre-empting their oftenviolent political expressions. The cultural challenge thatfaces each multicultural society is to reconcile therecognition of, protection of and respect for culturalparticularities with the affirmation and promotion ofuniversally shared values emerging from the interplay ofthese cultural specificities. In seeking to meet thischallenge, the tensions between different identities canbecome the driving force for a renewal of national unitybased on understanding social cohesion as theintegration of the diversity of its cultural components.The challenges of dialogue in a multicultural worldIntercultural dialogue is largely dependent onintercultural competencies, defined as the complex ofabilities needed to interact appropriately with those whoare different from oneself. These abilities are essentiallycommunicative in nature, but they also involvereconfiguring our perspectives and understandings ofthe world; for it is not so much cultures as people –individuals and groups, with their complexities andmultiple allegiances – who are engaged in the process ofdialogue.L A caravan of camels atMingsha Shan inDunhuang, ChinaK The Samba de Roda ofRecôncavo of Bahia, BrazilL Muslims praying inJakarta, IndonesiaChapter 2:Intercultural dialogueGlobalization processes are giving rise to more systematiccultural encounters, borrowings and exchanges. Thesenew transcultural links are potentially powerful facilitatorsof intercultural dialogue. Rethinking our culturalcategories, recognizing the multiple sources of ouridentities, helps to shift the focus away from ‘differences’towards our shared ability to evolve through interaction.Awareness of history and understanding of cultural codesare crucial to overcoming cultural stereotypes on thepath to intercultural dialogue.

WRCD Exec Sum – layout 4a:Layout 123/9/0917:15Page 101 0 . PA R T I C U LT U R A L D I V E R S I T Y : W H AT I S AT S TA K E ?Interculturaldialogue requiresthe empowermentof all participantsthrough capacitybuilding andprojects that fosterinteraction withouta loss of personal orcollective identityRather than knowledge of others, what determines thesuccess of intercultural dialogue is the basic ability tolisten, cognitive

Chapter 7: CULTURAL DIVERSITY: A KEY DIMENSION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The cultural approach to development 24 Perceptions of poverty and poverty eradication 25 Cultural diversity and environmental sustainability 26 Chapter 8: CULTURAL DIVERSITY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNA