C/W 23/3/17‐ Qu: What is cultural erosion?

‐ Starter: Watch BBC Human Planet clip of uncontacted tribe: ‐ How could globalisation affect people like this?

‐ Aim: To D&E the impacts of cultural erosion on people & the environment & how this has led to opposition to globalisation and the forms this can take.

http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/uncontacted­brazil/threats

Then watch this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dvpb5

Highlight your copy to keep track of where we are.

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ContextLast lesson we asked whether the cultural diffusion of Western culture was leading to a global cultural homogeneity. This lesson develops this ideas looking at the impacts of cultural erosion (led by globalisation) on people and the environment. This can take many forms; loss of language, traditional food, music, clothes and social relations and in some cases can result to changes to the built and natural environment, de­valuing local and larger­scale ecosystems. In particular we will focus on the loss of tribal lifestyles in Papua New Guinea. It then goes on to look at the way that concern about the cultural, economic and environmental impacts of globalisation has led to opposition from various groups of people. You need to be aware of the attitudes of both pro (TNCs, government) and anti­globalisation groups (NGOs) and environmental movements.

http://www.survivalinternational.org/progresscankill

Activity

1. Watch the video clip below

2. Use the snapshots from the 'Progress can kill' report from Survival International to outline how globalisation can lead to the cultural erosion of indigenous people's traditional way of life.

next slide

http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/1438/progresscankill.pdf

Named Example

Papua New Guinea has a number of indigenous communities that have been profoundly affected by globalisation.

Activity

Watch this short video. Focus particularly on the part of the video that talks about urbanisation leading to crime and unemployment. Think about what drives urbanisation...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine­27350410

Textbook work(double sided A3 photocopies)

ActivitiesUse the double sided photocopy of Hodder and Pearson to complete the following activities:

Pg 1 ­ Cultural Erosion and Papua New Guinea

Pearson ­ Cultural Erosion1. What is meant by the term 'cultural erosion' and why does it happen?2. Why are developing countries more vulnerable to the erosion of cultural landscapes than developed countries?

Hodder ­ Costs of cultural erosion

3. What does hyperglobalisation mean?4. What fears do pessimistic hyperglobalisers have?5. What is the opposing view?

Pearson ­ Papua New Guinea 6. Briefly describe traditional life of the indigenous people in PNG.7. D & E two different ways that outside influences (as a result of globalisation) have led to cultural erosion in PNG.

Hodder ­ Indigneous people's of Papua New Guinea

8. How has globalisation/urbanisation threatened local ecosystems and culture?

Pg 2 ­ Opposition to Globalisation

Pearson ­ Cultural erosion and opposition to globalisation

1. Who are 'structuralists' and why do they oppose globalisation?2. Explain why other groups support globalisation as a development tool.

Hodder Sections

3. Outline the spectrum of reactions to cultural change4. Give examples of negative reactions against globalisation (France/China/N.Korea)5. How can local culture be preserved?

Pearson ­ Contrasting attitudes to globalisation

6. Contrast the views of the World Social Forum to the World Economic Forum.

Loss of ecosystems can increase opposition to globalisation

7. Outline how globalisation has negatively impacted the environment in India and how a rising anti globalisation movement has grown to oppose this.

Extension/Homework

Using the following 4 articles to investigate the changes wrought by globalisation on people and the environment in Papua New Guinea.

Loss of culture Loss of language

Environmental threats TNC Conflict

Fusing ethnology and portraiture, Stephen Dupont's striking photographs of Papua New Guinea capture the fierce dignity of people whose tribal culture has been eroded by the forces of modernization.

An inadvertent ethnologist from Sydney, Australia, he has documented in haunting images the human cost to people forging new identities as their way of life changes.Traveling through the far­flung island nation north of Australia, Dupont set up outdoor studios made of bed sheets to photograph Papua New Guineans attending Sing­Sings, singing competitions that have been organized to defuse tribal conflicts.

Organized by Dupont and Museum Curator of Visual Anthropology Ilisa Barbash, the exhibit in Gallery 12 features more than 100 photos in several grids of people in traditional dress at the Sing­Sings often being photographed against a cloth backdrop and nearby grids of people in contemporary street clothes, flip­flops and T­shirts and hats displaying Western advertising logos.

Men wear extravagant headdresses of woven plants, feathers and what appears to be bones. Muscular beyond middle age, they cover their torsos in ash­colored pigments or paint their faces and bodies in brilliantly colored designs. Naked from the waist up, women wear grass skirts and elaborate shell necklaces and hairpieces braided into their hair.

In brief text accompany photos of traditionally dressed women and men, Dupont observed that as Sing­Sings grow in popularity, more tourists attend sometimes compromising good "photo ops.''

She said Dupont's intention might have been to document the powerful, often negative impacts of rapid modernization on an insulated island nation but she felt the peoples' resilience and endurance shines through.

Dupont has taken memorable photos that open windows to a fascinating culture and into our own preconceptions.

Breaking down language barriers or bringing down languages?

The demand of globalisation to provide more effective communication between Australia and Papua New Guinea ﴾PNG﴿ risks bringing extinction to the languages of the indigenous communities there.

Papua New Guinea is amongst the most culturally diverse countries in the world with 852 languages registered for the country, of which 12 have no known living speakers. Most of these languages have less than 1000 speakers. Culturally and geographically, it is amongst the world’s least explored countries. Many species of plants and animals are thought to exist there remain undiscovered, as well as communities of people never previously contacted.

The most commonly spoken indigenous language in Papua New Guinea is Enga, ﴾with about 200,000 speakers﴿ followed by Melpa and Huli. There are four official languages for Papua New Guinea, including English, Enga, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu. Though it isn’t spoken by the majority of people, English is the language of government and the education system in Papua New Guinea. It is estimated that there are more than a thousand cultural groups and because of this diversity many styles of cultural expression have emerged. These cultural differences are apparent in art, weapons, clothes, singing, dancing, music, architecture and more.

Language in Papua New Guinea is a major factor in the development of a village or tribe and, as globalisation has gained momentum, it impacts education, employment, housing, social wellbeing, homelessness, sustainability and community cohesion.Compelling indigenous people to progress ﴾as the western world would view progress﴿ does not make the indigenous people more content or necessarily healthier. The effects of globalisation can be disastrous for indigenous people and in particularly, for their languages. An important factor for tribal peoples’ well­being is whether their culture is respected.

As economic and cultural globalisation continues to take hold, more and more languages will become threatened and perhaps extinct. Economic integration works best when dominant languages are used such as English, Chinese and Spanish. But that is western economics and they do not match the economics, or indeed the culture, of Papua New Guinea.

The forces of globalisation are economic and include trade and the flow of goods, money, natural resources, knowledge and ­ possibly ­ people. Resistance to the forces of globalisation depends on indigenous peoples acting in concert, globally. Access to technology ­ the Internet for example ­ and common language is essential if indigenous people are to influence their exploitation and the terms of global trade.

For a tribe or group of people living in Papua New Guinea, shutting themselves away from the world, even if desired, is impossible but they can dictate terms of their relationship with the rest of the world. Language, technology and globalisation can be extremely damaging to indigenous populations but it also promises opportunities.

What is important, is that indigenous people take ownership of the communication process and use any ‘progress’ to benefit themselves, their communities and their culture. Globalisation demands conformity and if it is allowed a free hand will become the new face of imperialism.

http://www.newtekjournalismukworld.com/luke­cresswell/effects­of­globalisation­in­papua­new­guinea

Papua New Guinea has a population of 5.1 million (PNG National Census 2000), and 80 % of thispopulation (approximately 4 million people) live a traditional rural subsistence lifestyle that is supported by the biological richness and diversity of the forests, inland waters and coastal seas. In recent years the sustainable capacity of these ecosystems to continue to support the country’s rural population has come under threat as the country’s rapidly growing population, which has averaged an annual growth rate of 3.5 % over the last 10 years (Saulei et al. 2002), imposes greater demands on these natural resources.

These demands stem from the underlying expectation of all Papua New Guineans that development will bring an improved quality of life with improved welfare services (health and education) and increasing opportunities for personal income generation and the economic benefits these would bring. At the core of these demands is the exploitation of natural resources for revenue generation, both by government and by the local people, particularly in rural areas that lack employment opportunities. In the absence of well­developed commercial and employment sectors, government has to rely on taxes and royalties from the exploitation of its natural resources as a principal source of revenue.

Much of the mainland and the central areas of the larger islands is extremely rugged and inaccessible. With few roads and navigable rivers, many of these areas remain sparsely populated and isolated from government services and development opportunities. Like its larger neighbour to the south, much of the population is concentrated in the coastal regions, although dense populations are located in parts of the highlands around the central plateau, and along some of the major (navigable) rivers in both the highlands and lowland areas. Thus, although the country has a land area of a little over 460,000 square kilometres, large parts of this remain sparsely populated and inaccessible to development. Those areas of land that are accessible and suitable for development show a rapidly growing population, which is pushing the limits of natural resource sustainability in these areas.

Major environmental issues include:

• inappropriate land use practices due to intensified farming systems that accelerate land degradation (eg. soil erosion, siltation, and loss of soil fertility)'

• unsustainable logging practices that result in adverse environmental impacts (eg. soil erosion, hydrology and water quality impacts, and loss of habitat and biodiversity

• destructive fishing practices and coastal pollution due to run­off from land­based activities and oil spills that cause impacts on coastal and marine resources

• environmental impacts pf large­scale mining operations (eg. discharge of heavy metals, cyanide, and acids into rivers) that cause adverse impacts on forests and water quality

PNG is very rich in natural resources but degradation occurs at a rapid pace. According to the most recent estimates, a very significant part of the total land area is, in spite of large­scale deforestation, still covered with natural forest. The country also has vast swampy plains, wide rivers; high mountain ranges and so on, which all present their unique challenges.

In the foreseeable future, the main threat of deforestation may well come from clearing for agricultural use. Due to the high population growth rate and the very large proportion of the population dependent for their livelihood on subsistence farming, it may be expected that forest clearing to maintain traditional agricultural systems will increase significantly in the near future. Furthermore, forest will continue to be cleared for commercial farming, infrastructure and urban development etc. This will almost certainly mean that land clearing will be extended to areas that are more vulnerable to erosion of the topsoil and the rapid depletion of soil nutrients.

https://whaiwhakaaro.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/regulating­transnational­corporations­in­papua­new­guinea/

Plenary:

Discuss ideas on your table then feed back

Is tension inevitable? Evidence from last lesson and today's lesson please...