Politics of Culture: Controversies and Debates

1
Politics of Culture Controversies and Debates

• Politics of Culture, introduction - Conceptions
  of culture
• Tuesday 02-24 1000/1200
• Migration - Migration policies, rights and
  belonging
• Thursday 02-26 1000/1200
• Gender and religion - The politics of veiling
• Tuesday 03-03 1000/1200
• State and Law 1 - Public Authority at the Margins
  of the State, 1
• Thursday 03-05 1000/1200
• Sexuality - Sexuality in Africa Colonial
  Perceptions, Postcolonial Debates
• Tuesday 03-10 1000/1200
• State and Law 2 - Public Authority at the Margins
  of the State, 2 Thursday 03-12 1000/1200
• Religion - Religion and Global Radicalisation
• Tuesday 2009-03-17 1000/1200
• Citizenship - Citizenship and Social Movements
• Thursday 2009-03-19 1000/1200

2

• Ways of seeing culture in development studies
• Previously seen as less important than economy
  and politics
• If important, seen as obstacle to development
• This has changed Today even the World Bank sees
  culture
• as mattering as much as economy and politics
• Also in the North Politics of Culture are on the
  increase
• A re-definition of political realities
• from economic needs
• to problems of identity and security
• removing fears of the unknown

3

• Focus on Culture contexts, meanings,
• understandings, interpretations
• Politics of culture Always diversities,
• along lines of religion, gender, class, race
  etc
• embedded in power relations
• Whose culture?
• Who has the power of interpretation?
• Controversies and debates Power struggles
• discussions, contestations
• Not just one reality many realities

4
Conceptions of culture, 1

• nature / culture
• Culture obstacle to development ( their
  culture) /
• culture asset for development ( our culture)
• Culture and Development (Danida strategy 2002)
• a) development partnerships in the field of
  'culture
• ex National Cultural Fund in Tanzania
• b) culture as an aspect of (all) development
  work
• ex HIV/AIDS campaigns

5
Amartya Sen How Does Culture Matter?In Rao and
Walton (eds) Culture and Public Action, 2004

• How does culture interact with economic
  Development?
• Culture as a goal for part of development (
  culture as enjoyment)
• Economically remunerative cultural values (eg
  tourism)
• Cultural factors influencing behavoiour (eg Max
  Weber Protestant Ethic)
• Culture and political participartion (eg
  practice of democracy)
• Social solidarity and association (good if
  inclusive bad if exclusive)
• Cultural essentialism power differences breed
  racism and stereotypes
• Culture as dynamic, volative, interactive
• Cultural identity one of many aspects of
  identity (gender, class, race etc)
• Internal divergence and heterogeneity
• Cultural globalization Asymmetry of power
  between
• the West and the Rest

6
Jan Nederveen Pieterse Globalization as
Hybridization, in Featherstone et al (eds)
Global Modernities, 1995

• Globalisation homogenization
• one way influence Cultural Imperialism
• Globalization diversification
• influence both ways
• Hybridity, creolization, melange, mestijaze
• OBS! Power relations
• under which conditions does cultural exchange
  take place?

7
Jan Nederveen Pieterse Globalization as
Hybridization, in Featherstone et al (eds)
Global Modernities, 1995

• Culture 1
• territorial culture
• endogenous
• societies, nations, empires
• communities, regions
• organic, unitary
• authenticity
• inward-looking
• race
• ethnicity
• identity

• Culture 2
• translocal culture
• exogenous
• diasporas, migrations
• crossroads, borders
• diffusion, heterogeneity
• translation
• outward-looking
• half-caste, mix-breeds, métis
• new ethnicity
• identification