Culture Change and the Modern World

1
Culture Change and the Modern World
2
Making the Modern World

• As world population grows and travel and
  communication get faster,
• You can find can of soda, radio, CD player
  anywhere
• But economic inequality, difference in quality of
  life and life expectancy increase

3
Making the Modern World

• How do history and culture contribute to
  differences in quality of life?

4
European Expansion

• In 1400
• Muslim nations from Spain to Indonesia preserved
  scholarship of regions and developed astronomy,
  math, medicine, chemistry, zoology
• Chinas central government managed large area and
  vast trade
• European cities smaller and ruled by small local
  governments

5
European Expansion

• In 1500-1700s
• Missionaries spread Christianity
• Search for fortune and wonders, fountain of
  youth
• Technological development and growing population
  drive quest for resources

6
European Expansion

• In 1500-1700s
• While traveling to world to introduce
  Christianity and claim resources,
• Europeans introduce diseases that kill up to
  95 population of the New World

7
European Expansion

• Pillage gold and silver sent to Europe
• Pizarro captured Inca emperor, Atahuallpa got 91
  million in gold and silver ransom
• Forced Labor population drain impoverished
  Africa, plantations to grow sugar and cotton
• 11.7 million slaves from Africa to Americas
• Joint Stock Companies Dutch East India Co.
• Trade monopolies, massacres, huge profit at
  expense of locals

8
Colonialism

• Active possession of foreign territory
• Strategic locations like Yemen
• Exploit native people and resources, Africa
• Settlement by growing European population

9
Colonialism

• Industrialization in Europe and America
• Production of weapons
• Need for resources
• To get profit out of colony, impose taxes
• Native subjects charged taxes
• Forcing them to work for colonists or produce
  products the colonists wanted

10
Independence and Poverty

• Most nation in the Americas gained independence
  in 18th and 19th centuries
• African and Asian nations gain independence
  mostly after WWII
• Expensive to suppress rebellion
• In 2001 1/5 worlds population, more than a
  billion people, live on less than 1/day half
  the worlds population on 2/day

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Independence and Poverty

• End of colonialism not end of forced cultural
  change and foreign intervention

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Independence and Poverty

• Development
• Expectation that success will come from
  developing industrialized market economy
• Soviet Union and US provide aid money
• Development projects introduced often without
  regard for traditional practices

13
Independence and Poverty

• Multinational Corporations
• Large wealthy corporations influence small, local
  economy
• Profits made by manufacture and sales in poor
  nations go to shareholders in wealthy nations

14
Independence and Poverty

• Urbanization
• 1970 1997 city dwellers in high income
  countries increased 5 in low income
  47
• People move to cities in search of work
• Separation from family changes culture

15
Independence and Poverty

• Population Pressure
• Any economic gains lead to population growth
  until subsistence pattern cant support the
  population
• Search for more land causes conflict
• Population is a problem, consumption also problem

16
Independence and Poverty

• Instability
• Past 100 years very violent
• WWI, WWII, Cold War proxy (Ethiopia, Somalia,
  Nicaragua, El Salvador), Rwanda
• Anthropologists cant cause or prevent violence,
  only record and document political instability

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Looking to the Future

• World is very interconnected
• Anthropology is important in a world where we
  encounter different cultures
• Culture is flexible, changeable, varied
• Therefore we are not locked into any bad
  situation, we can create new norms