Genealogía de la diversidad : la diversidad cultural como poder constituyente

El motivo de este artículo es analizar la trayectoria mutante de la diversidad cultural, con el objetivo de entender su importancia en las políticas públicas contemporáneas. Para ello se repasan los distintos períodos históricos por los que cruza este concepto. En la noción de diversidad cultural converge la lucha por los derechos civiles y políticos de los inmigrantes africanos y asiáticos así como, la crítica a las visiones del desarrollo político y las teorías coloniales y postcoloniales que sitúan el debate sobre las relaciones culturales entre el norte y el resto del mundo a mediados del siglo XX. En un segundo momento los territorios de lo diverso amplían sus actores, enfoques y tramas y los estudios culturales de corriente crítica reconocen estas rupturas obligando a la toma de decisiones políticas en materia de cultura. En 1997 y como síntesis a estos procesos, la Comisión Mundial de Cultura y Desarrollo publica el Informe Mundial sobre la Diversidad Cultural, documento fundamental cuyo impacto se ve reducido por una tendencia al multiculturalismo laxo propio de la orientación ultraliberal. En 2010, el Informe Mundial de la UNESCO 'Invertir en la diversidad cultural y el diálogo intercultural' sitúa definitivamente la diversidad como poder constitutivo de las políticas no solo de desarrollo sino también de participación democrática y uno de los asuntos más esenciales de las agendas contemporáneas

Transmitting music through culture: a way forward to harmonise a discordant world

This paper situates itself in an Australian society that has become increasingly globalised and cosmopolitan. It is concerned with the implementation programs and policies that reflect a context of diversity as one that promotes respect for a multicultural society and one that promotes respect for diversity across the community. Considering the contradictory and ambivalent understandings that underpin these discussions and their implications for the conceptual and material conditions that structure the debate, the authors explore the use of teaching African music at tertiary level as a pathway for change. The authors further reflect whether such a diffusion of intercultural dialogue through music can promote cultural tolerance and diversity in our changing world.

Multicultural places and the idea of home

Place identification in urban sociology has traditionally be associated with a sense of ‘being at home’ and connected to the formation of stable and fixed identities. The rise in transnational migration and the increasing number of refugees around the world has made particular regions and communities, within many western nations, culturally diverse. This has led to a re-conceptualisation and re-examination of the relationship between place and home. In light of this new paradigm I explore the existence of multicultural places and investigate the ways, if any, we can speak of ‘being at home’ in these diverse urban places. If home has been traditionally associated with order, sameness and identity while multicultural places are conceptualised in terms of fluidity, contingency, heterogeneity and difference then there seems to be an inherent tension between these two ideas. Are the ideas of home and multiculturalism mutually exclusive? I maintain that they are dialectically interwoven, especially when we acknowledge that otherness and home should not be conceived in binary terms. In order to examine this complex relationship the paper provides a brief discussion of home within the discourses of modernity and postmodernity and then links these discourses to phenomenological and sociological approaches to home. The concluding section demonstrates how home and otherness are expressed in intercultural moments where sameness and diversity rub against each other causing occasional friction but also moments of intercultural dialogue.

Negotiating cultural difference in everyday life : some insights for inclusionary local governance

With the waning of state-sponsored multiculturalism, local governments in Australia have assumed leadership and responsibility for establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with stakeholders to promote diverse and inclusive cities. Engaging with residents often through consultation processes and interacting with key institutions, local governments aim to value local knowledge and mobilise citizen participation. This social interactive approach to building local knowledge in places officially and popularly identified as socially disadvantaged and culturally diverse, however, is fraught with interethnic tensions if cultural practices unintentionally priviÌege whiteness. In this paper I argue that such tensions can also give rise to moments of affective ambivalence that ate productive if it leads to the acknowledgement and questioning of white privilege within the formal agencies of government. Such questioning provides the possibility to value the voices of local residents and engage in meaningful intercultural dialogue. This paper draws on indepth interviews with planners, elected local councillors and residents in the City of Greater Dandenong, Melbourne, to illustrate the potential that the affective dimension of living with cultural diversity has in building governance capacity and inclusive understandings of citizenship.

Comparing experiences of academic mobility and migration

Academic mobility and accompanying migration have become increasingly evident as manifestations of globalization and internationalization of education worldwide. This paper aims to provide some insights into intercultural communication in academia by comparing experiences of students and academics who partake in academic mobility or/and academic migration. It seeks to reflect on how differences in cultural patterns impact on the integrational experiences and outcomes of academic learning and everyday interactions. Two contrasting cultural patterns of collectivism and individualism are explored, as they are displayed in intercultural interactions among migrants and hosting societies. To expose this contrast effectively, this paper focuses on the Russian-speaking mobile academics and compares their intercultural experiences in academia of two countries—Italy and Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-two academic migrants or/and mobile academics on their experiences, views and perceptions of intercultural integration in two diverse settings. This paper explores diverse aspects of intercultural dialogue and compares perceptions of intercultural integration and feelings of wellbeing. It analyses evolving empirical manifestations of cosmopolitanism in everyday intercultural interactions and argues that postmodern cosmopolitan milieu facilitates intercultural integration and enables knowledge transfer and creation of shared cultural meanings.

Cosmopolitismo e literatura em Ferreira de Castro: imagens do Brasil e de Portugal nos romances de um português incompreendido

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Educação escolar Kyikatêjê: novos caminhos para aprender e ensinar

A educação escolar para povos indígenas serve historicamente aos propósitos colonizadores de integração e assimilação à sociedade hegemônica. A partir do protagonismo de lideranças indígenas e das conquistas legais inscritas na Constituição Federal de 1988, na Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (LDB- Lei 9.394/96) e na Convenção 169 da Organização Internacional do Trabalho (OIT), a escola indígena passa a se constituir espaço privilegiado e estratégico de diálogos interculturais, onde se trabalham tanto os conhecimentos tradicionais, como os demais conhecimentos requeridos pelos interessados à qualificação de quadros técnicos e políticos na/para o movimento indígena. Na dissertação, apresenta-se a trajetória histórica do povo Kyikatêjê, desde o atual estado da Maranhão até a Reserva Indígena Mãe Maria, na região Sudeste do estado do Pará. Trabalha-se a apropriação de direitos à educação escolar pelos Kyikatêjê que no exercício da autonomia e da autodeterminação constroem no espaço da escola Tatakti Kyikatêjê os rumos da educação escolar que se constitui, hoje, em instrumento de luta face à negação e não-efetividade de direitos. Contextualizam-se as estratégias de lideranças e parceiros dos povos indígenas no enfrentamento cotidiano pela efetivação do direito à educação escolar nos diversos níveis de ensino, conforme a demanda pela preparação de quadros para atuar na defesa e promoção de direitos relativos aos territórios, à educação de qualidade nas aldeias, à saúde e à sustentabilidade econômica frente às históricas ameaças. Tais estratégias correspondem ao esforço de se instituir e manter-se Kyikatêjê.

Valores culturais e organizacionais em transformação: estudo sobre o Programa de Intercâmbio Social da Aiesec

Many young people have chosen go on exchange experiences, expecting to live in a context full of diversity, to know elements in the country they are visiting and also to develop themselves personally and professionally. Organizational and cultural values can be acquired or developed through these professional exchange experiences. This paper aimed to understand the vision of young people who went on the social exchange of AIESEC related to cultural and organizational values in the experience. AIESEC is a global and nonprofit organization formed by university students, with the objective of peace and the fulfillment of the humankind needs. Thus, professional exchanges are the main tool for achieving this goal. The study analyzes the experiences of 15 exchange students as well as the point of view of five managers of the organization in order to gain a broad perspective in relation to exchange experiences to understand how young people understand the concept of culture. The interview results suggest that in labor relations, autonomy and egalitarianism are values that go together, while the harmony could be observed by the fact that the projects deal with the issue of sustainability. Furthermore, responsibility, tolerance and collective were the human values that the exchange students developed the most, indicating that experience enables openness to live the diversity and to the intercultural dialogue in order to value local cultures of the visited countries

La rappresentazione della cultura arabo-islamica nei libri di storia per la scuola secondaria di primo grado. Uno sguardo particolare sull'immagine della donna musulmana

Il presente lavoro di ricerca si focalizza sulla rappresentazione della cultura arabo-islamica, così come viene restituita nei libri di storia per la scuola secondaria di primo grado. Il fatto che il mondo di oggi è caratterizzato, ora più che mai, da continui e inevitabili incontri tra persone con multiple appartenenze esige un forte impegno volto a favorire pacifici rapporti interculturali. A tale scopo si ritiene che i contenuti dei libri di testo abbiano un ruolo molto rilevante. Di qui, uno degli obiettivi consiste nel verificare se i libri di testo veicolano un’efficace educazione alla conoscenza e al rispetto delle altre culture e religioni, all’ascolto e al dialogo interculturale; nonché al superamento dell'etnocentrismo, degli stereotipi e dei pregiudizi. Si è cercato così di verificare – nel campione dei libri di testo presi in esame – quali eventuali pregiudizi ricorrenti, stereotipi o prospettive etnocentriche vengono costruite, consolidate, reiterate e trasmesse, consapevolmente o inconsapevolmente, attraverso le affermazioni o le immagini che illustrano la cultura arabo-islamica. La prima parte della tesi, quella teorica, è dedicata all'approfondimento di due temi: il primo riguarda il rapporto Oriente-Occidente e la rappresentazione dell'altro e il secondo riguarda invece la condizione della donna musulmana tra stereotipi e realtà. La seconda parte invece, quella empirica, è dedicata principalmente all'analisi del contenuto dei testi di storia. Dall'analisi effettuata è evidente l'interesse, da parte degli autori e degli editori dei libri di testo, per il tema della cultura arabo-islamica. Nonostante ciò, si è potuto riscontrare nei libri presi in esame, sebbene in misura differente, la presenza (o compresenza) di stereotipi, generalizzazioni e informazioni parziali, imprecise o errate attorno alla cultura arabo-islamica e a chi vi appartiene.

The Importance of Place Names in the Search for Ecosystem-Like Concepts in Indigenous Societies: An Example from the Bolivian Andes

This paper aims to deepen the search for ecosystem-like concepts in indigenous societies by highlighting the importance of place names used by Quechua indigenous farmers from the central Bolivian Andes. Villagers from two communities in the Tunari Mountain Range were asked to list, describe, map and categorize the places they knew on their community’s territory. Results show that place names capture spatially explicit units which integrate biotic and abiotic nature and humans, and that there is an emphasis on topographic terms, highlighting the importance of geodiversity. Farmers’ perspectives differ from the classical view of ecosystems because they ‘humanize’ places, considering them as living beings with agency. Consequently, they do not make a distinction between natural and cultural heritage. Their perspective of the environment is that of a personalized, dynamic relationship with the elements of the natural world that are perceived as living entities. A practical implication of the findings for sustainable development is that since places names make the links between people and the elements of the landscape, toponymy is a tool for ecosystem management rooted in indigenous knowledge. Because place names refer to holistic units linked with people’s experience and spatially explicit, they can be used as an entry point to implement an intercultural dialogue for more sustainable land management.

Valorization of agrobiodiversity products and strengthening of local identities in the Peruvian Andes: Experiences from the BioAndes Programme

In the Peruvian Andes, a long history of interaction between the local populations and their natural environment has led to extraordinary levels of agrobiodiversity. However, in sharp contrast with this biological wealth, Andean indigenous populations live under most precarious conditions. Moreover, natural resources are undergoing severe degradation processes and local knowledge about biodiversity management is under serious pressure. Against this background, the BioAndes Programme is developing initiatives based on a biocultural approach that aim at fostering biodiversity through the enhancement of cultural processes. On the basis of intercultural dialogue, joint learning and capacity development, and transdisciplinary action-research, indigenous communities, development practitioners, and researchers strive for the creation of innovative ways to contribute to more sustainable economic, socio-cultural, and political valorization of Andean biodiversity. Project activities are diverse and range from the cultivation, transformation, and commercialization of organic Andean fruits in San Marcos, Cajamarca Department, to the recuperation of natural dying techniques for alpaca wool and traditional weaving in Pitumarca, Cusco Department, and the promotion of responsible ecotourism in both regions. Based on the projects’ first two-years of experience, the following lessons learnt will be presented and discussed: 1. The economic valorization and commercialization of local products can be a powerful tool for the revival and innovation of eroded know-how; at the same time it contributes to the strengthening of local identities, in parallel with the empowerment of marginalized groups such as smallholders and women. 2. Such initiatives are only successful when they are embedded within activities that go beyond the focus on local products and seek the valorization of the entire natural and cultural landscape (e.g. through the promotion of agrotourism and local gastronomy, more sustainable management of local resources including the restoration of ecosystems, and the realization of inventories of local agrobiodiversity and the knowledge related to it). 3. The sustainability of these initiatives, which are often externally induced, is conditioned by the ability of local actors to acquire ownership of projects and access to the knowledge required to carry them out, which also means developing the personal and institutional capacities for handling the whole chain from production to commercialization. 4. The confrontation of different economic rationalities and their underlying worldviews that occur when local or indigenous people integrate into the market economy implies the need for a dialogical co-production of knowledge and collective action by local people, experts from NGOs, and political authorities in order to better control the conditions relating to the market economy. The valorization of local agrobiodiversity shows much potential for enhancing natural and cultural diversity in Southern countries, but only when local communities can participate in the shaping of the conditions under which this happens. Such activities should be designed in the mid- to long-term as part of social learning processes that are carefully embedded in the local context. Supporting institutions play a crucial role in these processes, but should see themselves only as facilitators, while ensuring that control and ownership remain with the local actors.

Making co-management work in protected areas with indigenous peoples in Bolivia and Peru

Sustainable and equitable management of biodiversity in protected areas inhabited by indigenous peoples is often a challenge. It requires an intercultural dialogue based on local norms of resource use and indigenous knowledge. Moreover, mechanisms that generate economic incentives must be able to compete with income from illegal activities such as logging, mining, and land trafficking. Finally, efforts are needed to ensure that regulations and policies on conservation and resource extraction do not overlap and contradict each other, as this hampers efforts both to conserve biodiversity and to promote development at the local level.

Introducción

Este dossier se inicia con una entrevista de Teresa Basile a Néstor Rodríguez en la cual se abordan diversos conflictos territoriales, lingüísticos y culturales suscitados en la frontera entre Haití y República Dominicana, tanto en la historia de ambos países como en el presente. El artículo de Juan Valdez analiza en el contexto de la frontera domínico-haitiana, las discusiones sobre el valor del español y el kreyòl que ofrecen la oportunidad para examinar en qué modo específico las representaciones lingüísticas intervienen en las luchas políticas donde se construyen las nuevas identidades. En acorde con metodologías y aproximaciones elaboradas por sociólogos del lenguaje y lingüistas-antropólogos, analizo un corpus de textos representativos del discurso metalingüístico y de las relaciones haitiano-dominicanas. Mi análisis de la dimensión lingüística de los conflictos políticos aspira a contribuir a la reflexión crítica en búsqueda de alternativas a las miradas conflictivas, y a motivar el diálogo intercultural y la convivencia de grupos diversos

Introducción

Este dossier se inicia con una entrevista de Teresa Basile a Néstor Rodríguez en la cual se abordan diversos conflictos territoriales, lingüísticos y culturales suscitados en la frontera entre Haití y República Dominicana, tanto en la historia de ambos países como en el presente. El artículo de Juan Valdez analiza en el contexto de la frontera domínico-haitiana, las discusiones sobre el valor del español y el kreyòl que ofrecen la oportunidad para examinar en qué modo específico las representaciones lingüísticas intervienen en las luchas políticas donde se construyen las nuevas identidades. En acorde con metodologías y aproximaciones elaboradas por sociólogos del lenguaje y lingüistas-antropólogos, analizo un corpus de textos representativos del discurso metalingüístico y de las relaciones haitiano-dominicanas. Mi análisis de la dimensión lingüística de los conflictos políticos aspira a contribuir a la reflexión crítica en búsqueda de alternativas a las miradas conflictivas, y a motivar el diálogo intercultural y la convivencia de grupos diversos

Introducción

Este dossier se inicia con una entrevista de Teresa Basile a Néstor Rodríguez en la cual se abordan diversos conflictos territoriales, lingüísticos y culturales suscitados en la frontera entre Haití y República Dominicana, tanto en la historia de ambos países como en el presente. El artículo de Juan Valdez analiza en el contexto de la frontera domínico-haitiana, las discusiones sobre el valor del español y el kreyòl que ofrecen la oportunidad para examinar en qué modo específico las representaciones lingüísticas intervienen en las luchas políticas donde se construyen las nuevas identidades. En acorde con metodologías y aproximaciones elaboradas por sociólogos del lenguaje y lingüistas-antropólogos, analizo un corpus de textos representativos del discurso metalingüístico y de las relaciones haitiano-dominicanas. Mi análisis de la dimensión lingüística de los conflictos políticos aspira a contribuir a la reflexión crítica en búsqueda de alternativas a las miradas conflictivas, y a motivar el diálogo intercultural y la convivencia de grupos diversos