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Kincaid's Site

Multiculturalism in the New World

The history of the last five hundred years has been that of the domination of the world by Western, Christian culture. The history of the last fifty has been that of people throwing off that domination -- both in the "Third World," where Western domination took the form of various kinds of colonization, and in the minority cultures of Western countries themselves, most dramatically in the United States.
At the same time, traditional cultures struggling for survival find themselves under unremitting pressure from "globalization" in its many forms. Local communities are dragged into dependence on the global market, while increasing concentrations of media control expose everyone to the same images and ideas.

There is a strong tendency in some circles to write off the individualist and egalitarian character of modern society as merely the product of Western civilization, to be rejected as soon as non-Western societies regain the power to make their own decisions.

This tendency serves different functions in different communities. In some, it is strongest among elite groups who hope to succeed to the positions of power they believe elites held before the coming of modernity. In others, it shows up among dispossessed and excluded groups who associate the trappings of "Western" culture with the elite groups.

People forget, however, that Western society had to go through the same processes of modernization which are now bedeviling the rest of the world. Western culture started out with men dominating women, parents children, aristocrats peasants, and with a religious establishment lording it over everyone. That changed, but there were elements in Western society who fought the changes every step of the way -- and some who still want to.

If other cultures are to find a place in the world of the future, they will have to go through the same changes.

Religious traditions, for example, can usually go in several directions -- toward forms that emphasize the equality of all members of the community or forms that emphasize the "duty" of those at the bottom to obey those over them. Women and young people can seek greater independence and freedom without ceasing to be members of their own cultural communities -- even if some traditionalists tell them it isn't possible. Most traditions can also be understood to encourage the despoliation of the environment or its preservation.

So each community has choices to make. And any who try to reject the coming of equality, freedom, and sustainability will either fail -- too many of their people will not go along -- or find themselves shut out of full participation in the modern economy, and treated as a moral leper by the rest of the world. (The Serbs and the Taliban are examples, as this is written in mid-1999.)

Multiple cultures can survive, but only by looking forward and adapting to the new realities.

The West had to.

As with everything else, non-Western cultures have no chance of survival if they cannot meet environmental constraints. At the same time, however, many indigenous cultures have long traditions of fitting into their physical environments -- though not always to the extent imagined by Western romantics. So we have a page on Sustainability Issues.

Many traditional cultures -- including the traditional West -- have been rigidly hierarchical. A large part of the challenge they now face revolves around adapting to a modern economic world which fosters social equality. So we have a page on Equality Issues.

Again, many traditional cultures have been oriented toward preserving a social order which did not change much, and in which individual independence and creativity were not highly valued. This also has to change in under modern economic and cultural conditions. So we have a page on Freedom Issues.

If they are to survive, traditional cultures must assure that they respect the freedom and equality of their people, and that can only be achieved if those people are in control of their communities. At the same time, control of the community cannot rest in the hands of the people unless the cultures by which they define themselves are respected and valued. So we have a page on Participation Issues.