Theme 4: Cultural universalism monocultural approach

1
Theme 4 Cultural universalism - monocultural
approach

• We and them in the politics of identity
• From familiar circle to global identities
• Placement of national culture
• Genotype as the origin of culture
• The idea of cultural universalism as based on
  mono-culturalism
• Cultural universalism in service of
  globalisation
• Creativity taken into commercial use
  productivisation (profitability) of culture

2
We and them in the politics of identity

• In cultural political terms identities are
• defined for progressing common interests of
  we-groups
• against interests of the others
• We know who we are only when we know who we are
  not, and often only when we know against whom we
  are settled (Huntington 1996 The Clash of
  Civilizations see also Hannerz Reflections on
  varieties of culturespeak, in European Journal of
  Cultural Studies, vol. 2. no. 3.1999 (translated
  into Finnish in Erilaisuus, ed. by M. Lehtonen
  O. Löytty. Vastapaino. Tampere 2003).

3

• Cultural identities are labels for the social
  groups formations
• How is this member group characterised?
• What are the specific qualities of this group?
• How can this culturally identified group to be
  typified in comparison with other corresponding
  groups?
• How can the typologies be ordered to form
  systems of categories (classifications) in the
  certain (given) social structure

4
From familiar (local) circle to global identities

• The family as the basis for identifying kinship
  formations
• Lineal consanguinity (verisukulaisuus) - ethnic
  formations
• Families, relatives
• tribes
• nationalities
• Citizenship in international coalitions
• Neighbourhood- Northern Countries Scandinavia
• Common cultural heritage - EU-membership the
  cultural community of states
• Continental (geographic) definitions of cultural
  identity (Europeanism, Americanism, Africanism,
  Asianism)
• Global citizenship
• transnationalism
• Global coalitions the membership in the United
  Nations
• The global willage
• postcolonialism

5
The placement of the home-born culture

• The family ? siblings, relatives
• sharing a home, having same roots
• learning cultural habits in ways by which
  children are brought up
• defending their habitual rules of intimacy
• in the partnership of spouses
• in the parenthood
• in the sisterhood
• Tribes, ethnic formations
• living in a same region, having close
  relationship
• bearing traditions in their habits and symbols
• saving (and defending) a common cultural heritage

6
Patriarchal rules of nations

• Nations as homecountries (the fatherland)
• national states are formed as based on the
  ideology of nationalism (home ? ethnicity ?
  nationalism)
• having strictly defined borders against other
  nations
• defending their national independence by means of
  legislation and armed forces
• Territorial boundaries of nation states enclose
  its members and give them a distinct geographical
  and political identity including a collective
  name (Parekh 2000, 180) - to be subjected to the
  authority
• The ideals of patriarchy and patriotism

7
Genotype as the origin of culture

• The idea of genetically inherited properties of
  communities
• the common single origin of people can be found
  by following the roots of cultures backwards
• The origin of human culture is based on the
  principle of similarity of people - primordialism
  
• All variations are metonymic in principle
  qualitatively homogenous (sameness)
• generalisations based on cultural classifications
  can be made by following the logic of the origin
  of species
• biological darwinism is analogical with cultural
  darwinism
• Biosociology, evolutionism

8
The idea of cultural universalism as based on
mono-culturalism

• If the origin of the human race is the same, then
  mankind has a common basis for the human
  civilisation
• Human civilisation is a continuously progressing
  process
• from low culture to high culture - cultivation
• Cultural values can be hierarchically ordered
  according to the qualifications included in them
• Undeveloped (primitive) forms of culture are not
  qualified high in comparison with the developed
  (refined) forms of culture
• Civilisations are evaluated according to the
  stage achieved in the cultural development
• Intellectual capacities of people are used for
  making civilisations to progress effectively
• The idea of elitism is included in the principle
  of high culture as representing the sublimed
  principles of civilisation
• Elites favour high culture on the basis of
  aesthetic (qualified) value of cultural products

9
Cultural capital (cf. Coleman Bourdieu)

• Cultural values are ordered according to general
  principles of qualification
• Local products are used as elements for most
  valued global production in the service of
  accumulation of cultural values to common capital
• The capital consists of different elements
• Economic , accumulation of productivity in terms
  of quantities and price products
• Social - community, interaction, cohesion
• Cultural quality, meaningfulness, creativity

10
Culture in service of global capitalism

• Globalisation is grounded on terms of cultural
  universalism accumulation of cultural capital
• The basic idea is social integration of cultural
  producers (and consumers) accumulation of
  social capital
• Social cohesion of included interest groups is
  forwarded by means of production of culture
  qualified values
• Culture, seen as cultural capital (comparable
  with economic capital) is instrumentally used for
  increasing the accumulation of values circulated
  at the global commodity markets
• Cultural products are seen as profitable
  commodities in terms of exchange because of their
  qualifications
• Thanks to globalization, technology travels
  freely across the globe and carries its cultural
  inscriptions. (Parekh Rethinking
  Multiculturalism 2000, 163).

11
Creativity as a cultural commodity

• Creativity as taken into innovative use for
  economic purposes is the ability to create
  meaningful new forms as Webster dictionary puts
  it is now the decisive source of competitive
  advantage (see Florida, Richard The Rise of the
  Creative Class and how its transforming work,
  leisure, community every day life. (2002,
  republished in the paper form in 2004). Basic
  Books, New York. p. 5)
• Creativity has come to be valued because new
  technology, new industries, new wealth and all
  good economic things flow from it (p. 21)
• Creativity has come to be the most highly
  prized commodity in our economy (p. 5
• Although not a commodity, human creativity is
  the ultimate economic resource. The ability to
  come up with new ideas and better ways of doing
  thing is ultimately what raises productivity and
  thus living standards. (p. xiii)
• service economy is the best support of
  infrastructure of the creative age

12
The creative class

• The basis for the creative class is economic
  its economic function both underpins and informs
  its members social, cultural and lifestyle
  choices. The creative class consists of people
  who add economic value through their creativity
  (p. 68)
• A class the members of the creative class
  engage in work to create meaningful new forms
• Super creative core (content producers creating
  specific qualifications)
• others working in the knowledge-intensive
  industries

13
Use of creativity in service of rising inequality

• A key element of the social structure of
  creativity is the rise of new institutions and
  systems for actually producing things not
  limited to product innovations but extends to
  manufacturing as well (Florida, p. 52)
• Rising inequality
• creative workers earn more than people in low-end
  service work or those in rote manufacturing
• their work is more enjoyable
• they contribute more adding creative value the
  reason why they are paid highly than other
  workers)
• Parts of the low-paid service work can be
  improved to be more creative for example the
  work in the hair saloons or in the food
  production
• The idea of learning society is utilised here
  (creative economy, self-learning economy)