Cultural liberty
Cultural liberty
Updated 06:07am (Mla time) Sept 22, 2004
By Michael Tan
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the September 22, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
DOES culture affect development?
Over the last hundred years or so, social scientists have debated this link. Max Weber, for example, wrote, almost a hundred years ago, that there was an "elective affinity" between Protestantism and the development of capitalism. In the period after World War II, many social scientists were recruited by development agencies to look into cultural reasons behind underdevelopment. In the Philippines, certain values, such as “hiya” [sense of shame] and “utang na loob” [debt of gratitude], or even the entire "flawed culture" have been blamed for our underdevelopment.
Now the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has come out with still another exploration of the links between culture and development. Their latest Human Development Report is different though in that it rejects the idea that culture dooms certain countries to failure.
Multiculturalism
While in the past social scientists were busy trying to describe cultures in a homogenous way -- for example, most Filipinos carrying the value of “bahala na” [come what may], or most Filipinos using their nose to point -- the UNDP emphasizes that even within a culture, there is much diversity and variation. Even more importantly, it is this diversity, and the freedom to practice and develop that diversity, that are crucial for development.
What is the link here? I'm going to give some of my own ideas as an anthropologist who has worked in development for several years. Cultural liberty and diversity mean tapping into a greater reservoir of talents and skills. This even includes worldviews, how we look at a problem. For example, we often end up being on the receiving end of development plans from the United States, formulated by bureaucrats in Washington. Yet the solutions to some of the most difficult problems in many of our communities may come from indigenous knowledge, from the "natives" who know their own environment.
The extent of "cultural liberty" depends on a country's multicultural policies, described by the UNDP as those "that recognize differences, champion diversity and promote cultural freedoms, so that all people can choose to speak their language, practice their religion, and participate in shaping their culture -- so that all people can choose to be who they are."
The UNDP emphasizes that it is important to develop these multicultural policies because in two-thirds of the world's countries, there are minority groups that make up more than 10 percent of the population. Just watch the "American Idol" competitions and you can already see how "American" has become so diverse, including any number of ethnicities, including Filipinos.
The Philippines, too, is extremely diverse, culturally. I walked through one densely populated street in Manila’s Sampaloc district the other night and heard the dialects Ilokano, Cebuano, Waray, Ilonggo, Kapampangan, Maranao... and Hokkien Chinese being spoken. There were, I am sure, other Filipino languages I couldn't quite identify.
Language isn't the only marker for ethnic diversity. There are differences in clothing, food, architecture, even body language (I've always felt Visayan groups are more alive with their body movements).
Another aspect of cultural diversity is religious affiliation. We say Roman Catholicism is the majority religion in the country, but there are in fact variations to being Roman Catholic. You have, for example, Mike Velarde's El Shaddai, which many people think is a separate sect but is actually still, for now at least, part of the Catholic Church. Certainly, El Shaddai has its own culture, its own variations on the practice of Roman Catholicism, some of which are looked upon with some discomfort by the bishops-the famous upturned umbrellas, for example, to receive heaven's blessings.
'Isang bansa, isang diwa?'
The leaders of many young nations, the Philippines included, have tended to subscribe to the idea that the way to development comes by uniting the country, and by trying to create a common culture.
This approach is best epitomized by a slogan used during Ferdinand Marcos' time: "Isang bansa, isang diwa" [one nation, one spirit]. The slogan is difficult to translate but more or less refers to the idea of having one country and one spirit. How is this diwa, or spirit, to be brought about? We see this even in textbooks, with all the references to national symbols, the national flag, a national bird, a national flower... the list goes on and on.
The problem with this approach is that a choice of one symbol may displace many other possibilities. Thus, when the Tagalog dialect was chosen as the basis for Filipino, it provoked negative reactions from Cebuanos, who rightly pointed out that there were actually more native speakers of Cebuano than Tagalog.
More than holidays
The first chapter of the Human Development Report talks about the need to be able to practice one's own religion, to speak one's language, to celebrate one's ethnic heritage, "without fear of ridicule or punishment or diminished opportunity."
It's a point we should reflect on. Just think of the stereotyped biases Tagalogs have against the "Bisaya," the noun becoming a pejorative adjective. The Bisaya will often fight back but with smaller ethnic groups, a child may grow up ashamed of his or her culture and suppress it. That is a loss for the entire country because that takes away from the national pool of knowledge we could otherwise have.
Even worse, the suppression of particular cultures further reinforces biases against the discriminated groups because we fear the unknown. And as biases grow, resentments may spill over into violent civil strife, as we see with our Muslims.
Promoting cultural liberty takes many forms. For example, the President has included the start and end of Ramadan as national holidays, recognizing Muslims are now everywhere in the Philippines and would appreciate those holidays.
But declaring Ramadan a holiday should also be an opportunity to educate non-Muslims about Islam. I worry that Ramadan, and Islam, will remain exotic and distant unless the mass media help to explain to people what the spirit of the fasting is all about, and how people of other faiths might want to relate to that special season for Muslims. I'd also like to see recognition of Ramadan incorporated into work policies, to make employers more understanding of the needs of fasting Muslims. The nongovernmental organizations (NGO) I work with are conscious, too, about avoiding Ramadan when scheduling a training workshop or seminar. (This year, Ramadan more or less runs from Oct. 15 to Nov. 14.)
There's much more, of course, to the practice of cultural liberty, but we should start with our homes, pointing out to our children the beauty of cultural diversity in our own environment and making sure they don't tease other children because they're of a different race, ethnicity or religion.
Updated 06:07am (Mla time) Sept 22, 2004
By Michael Tan
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the September 22, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
DOES culture affect development?
Over the last hundred years or so, social scientists have debated this link. Max Weber, for example, wrote, almost a hundred years ago, that there was an "elective affinity" between Protestantism and the development of capitalism. In the period after World War II, many social scientists were recruited by development agencies to look into cultural reasons behind underdevelopment. In the Philippines, certain values, such as “hiya” [sense of shame] and “utang na loob” [debt of gratitude], or even the entire "flawed culture" have been blamed for our underdevelopment.
Now the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has come out with still another exploration of the links between culture and development. Their latest Human Development Report is different though in that it rejects the idea that culture dooms certain countries to failure.
Multiculturalism
While in the past social scientists were busy trying to describe cultures in a homogenous way -- for example, most Filipinos carrying the value of “bahala na” [come what may], or most Filipinos using their nose to point -- the UNDP emphasizes that even within a culture, there is much diversity and variation. Even more importantly, it is this diversity, and the freedom to practice and develop that diversity, that are crucial for development.
What is the link here? I'm going to give some of my own ideas as an anthropologist who has worked in development for several years. Cultural liberty and diversity mean tapping into a greater reservoir of talents and skills. This even includes worldviews, how we look at a problem. For example, we often end up being on the receiving end of development plans from the United States, formulated by bureaucrats in Washington. Yet the solutions to some of the most difficult problems in many of our communities may come from indigenous knowledge, from the "natives" who know their own environment.
The extent of "cultural liberty" depends on a country's multicultural policies, described by the UNDP as those "that recognize differences, champion diversity and promote cultural freedoms, so that all people can choose to speak their language, practice their religion, and participate in shaping their culture -- so that all people can choose to be who they are."
The UNDP emphasizes that it is important to develop these multicultural policies because in two-thirds of the world's countries, there are minority groups that make up more than 10 percent of the population. Just watch the "American Idol" competitions and you can already see how "American" has become so diverse, including any number of ethnicities, including Filipinos.
The Philippines, too, is extremely diverse, culturally. I walked through one densely populated street in Manila’s Sampaloc district the other night and heard the dialects Ilokano, Cebuano, Waray, Ilonggo, Kapampangan, Maranao... and Hokkien Chinese being spoken. There were, I am sure, other Filipino languages I couldn't quite identify.
Language isn't the only marker for ethnic diversity. There are differences in clothing, food, architecture, even body language (I've always felt Visayan groups are more alive with their body movements).
Another aspect of cultural diversity is religious affiliation. We say Roman Catholicism is the majority religion in the country, but there are in fact variations to being Roman Catholic. You have, for example, Mike Velarde's El Shaddai, which many people think is a separate sect but is actually still, for now at least, part of the Catholic Church. Certainly, El Shaddai has its own culture, its own variations on the practice of Roman Catholicism, some of which are looked upon with some discomfort by the bishops-the famous upturned umbrellas, for example, to receive heaven's blessings.
'Isang bansa, isang diwa?'
The leaders of many young nations, the Philippines included, have tended to subscribe to the idea that the way to development comes by uniting the country, and by trying to create a common culture.
This approach is best epitomized by a slogan used during Ferdinand Marcos' time: "Isang bansa, isang diwa" [one nation, one spirit]. The slogan is difficult to translate but more or less refers to the idea of having one country and one spirit. How is this diwa, or spirit, to be brought about? We see this even in textbooks, with all the references to national symbols, the national flag, a national bird, a national flower... the list goes on and on.
The problem with this approach is that a choice of one symbol may displace many other possibilities. Thus, when the Tagalog dialect was chosen as the basis for Filipino, it provoked negative reactions from Cebuanos, who rightly pointed out that there were actually more native speakers of Cebuano than Tagalog.
More than holidays
The first chapter of the Human Development Report talks about the need to be able to practice one's own religion, to speak one's language, to celebrate one's ethnic heritage, "without fear of ridicule or punishment or diminished opportunity."
It's a point we should reflect on. Just think of the stereotyped biases Tagalogs have against the "Bisaya," the noun becoming a pejorative adjective. The Bisaya will often fight back but with smaller ethnic groups, a child may grow up ashamed of his or her culture and suppress it. That is a loss for the entire country because that takes away from the national pool of knowledge we could otherwise have.
Even worse, the suppression of particular cultures further reinforces biases against the discriminated groups because we fear the unknown. And as biases grow, resentments may spill over into violent civil strife, as we see with our Muslims.
Promoting cultural liberty takes many forms. For example, the President has included the start and end of Ramadan as national holidays, recognizing Muslims are now everywhere in the Philippines and would appreciate those holidays.
But declaring Ramadan a holiday should also be an opportunity to educate non-Muslims about Islam. I worry that Ramadan, and Islam, will remain exotic and distant unless the mass media help to explain to people what the spirit of the fasting is all about, and how people of other faiths might want to relate to that special season for Muslims. I'd also like to see recognition of Ramadan incorporated into work policies, to make employers more understanding of the needs of fasting Muslims. The nongovernmental organizations (NGO) I work with are conscious, too, about avoiding Ramadan when scheduling a training workshop or seminar. (This year, Ramadan more or less runs from Oct. 15 to Nov. 14.)
There's much more, of course, to the practice of cultural liberty, but we should start with our homes, pointing out to our children the beauty of cultural diversity in our own environment and making sure they don't tease other children because they're of a different race, ethnicity or religion.
posted by Dante at 4:22 PM
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