Cultural diversity is something that has existed since the dawn of man but has really only been acknowledged by the public as a quality of great importance within the last century. It consists of the world’s faiths, habits, beliefs, imaginations, traditions, and other characteristics that are products of humanity’s various manifestations of human intellectual achievements. There are many different cultures around the world that are currently facing suppression, expulsion, and even extinction. So, we must first figure out what is causing this problem, and then we must figure out how to fix it. Some argue the main cause dwindling the world’s cultural diversity is globalization, while others believe it to simply be evolution naturally taking its course. Cultural extinction existed long before globalization did, but this world’s fast moving, and growing, globalized network has increased the pace cultures are fading away to an alarming rate. Monoculturism is pushing itself into many areas of the world and, in some cases, to the detriment of multiculturalism.
Indonesia, for example, is currently dealing with problems between cultures as their Muslim population, which accounts for over 85% of the population, has been clashing with other minority faiths in recent years resulting in a political shift that seems to be pulling away from the county’s previous pursuit for unity through diversity. Indonesian politicians have recently been resorting to joining fundamentalist political groups in an attempt to win conservative votes. This could possibly empower the Islamic extremists who would most likely attempt to push out all other cultures from their borders and invoke Sharia Law. Indonesia currently has over 300 different ethnic groups, all with very rich histories and traditions that, if not protected and preserved, will slowly fade away and turn the country into a monocultural society. The reasons for these threats to cultural diversity are not entirely clear, but some believe the problem to be gaining momentum due to globalization. Globalization has brought the world many great things, none more important than the ability of people connecting with each other all over the globe. Humanity has generally believed, for quite some time now, that the benefits of globalization outweigh the harm it causes. However, more and more academics are finding and exposing the dire effects globalization is having on specific issues like cultural diversity. According to renowned anthropologist Wade Davis during a Ted Talk in 2003, over half of the worlds current languages are on the brink of extinction. Language, according to Davis, is “a flash of the human spirit” and “a vehicle through which the soul of each particular culture comes into the material world.” Invariably what this means is, each different language that exists in our world makes the human experience that much richer and fuller. So as the existence of different languages in this world grows smaller, so does mankind’s cultural diversity. What can be done? Many governments around the world are making an honest effort to protect cultural diversity within their own nations. Australia is one good example as their government, in recent years, have been making positive changes in cultural diversity promotion through government programs like the Diverse Australia Program. DAP promotes respect, fairness, and inclusion for all peoples of Australia while keeping a strong focus on multiculturalism. Programs like these show people that unity with different cultures is possible without either side having to sacrifice their beliefs, traditions, practices, or identity.
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EducationJust completed a report on Indonesia's education status. You can find this on my Political and Economics page. Please feel free to make comments below on this report.
At its core, Globalization is the result of advances in the world’s technology creating a more interconnected planet with trade and information. Almost every corner of the world has been, and is increasingly being, affected by globalization. America and China have benefited greatly on globalized trade and now are two of the most profitable nations on the planet greatly due to these advances. Europe continues to benefit from globalizational effects on travel as 6 of the 10 most visited countries in 2016 are on their continent.
Indonesia, however, has not experienced the same effects that other nations in this globalizing world have. On an economic standpoint, according to the CIA’s World Factbook, in 2016 Indonesia did not even rank in the top 30 nations in imports despite having the fourth largest population in the world. This shows that they still rely strongly on local industry and have not fully succumbed to the insatiable westernized consumerism that in many ways drives the heart of globalization. According to forbesindonesia.com though, Indonesia’s global trade value is experiencing a much faster growth than the rest of the world. This does hint to Indonesia experiencing drastic globalized economic shifts in its future. Culturally, Indonesia experienced effects of early globalization with the spread of Islam absorbing the majority of the population, ending many local religions and marginalizing the few others remaining that had influenced much of Indonesia’s cultural landscape. While this happened long before the word globalization even existed, it is definitely an effect of advances in technology that allowed for more efficient travel. This more efficient means of traveling helped the Muslim religion to travel across the Indonesian archipelago and spread its belief system. Another cultural effect of globalization is monolingualism, which frightens many people that the world may someday lose its language diversity. Indonesia currently has over 700 different dialects amongst hundreds of different spoken languages. While the nation has resorted to one official language, Indonesian, many other languages remain strong and English is also becoming more widely spread without households sacrificing their native tongue. While fears of monolingualism persist, there are studies that are showing that globalization can actually be helping the problem that it seemed to have originally caused when it comes to language. A report released on yale.edu found that there is a growth in speakers of endangered languages connecting with others around the world who also speak their language. With help of Skype, YouTube, and many other ways to connect, several languages that might have died by now remain alive. Ultimately, globalization is near impossible to avoid completely, especially if you live in a developed country. While Indonesia has kept itself relatively clear from heavy globalization, you can still find a McDonalds’s restaurant on Jakarta street corners. Also, Indonesia bought over six billion dollars’ worth of exports from the United States in 2016, and the U.S. only ranks as Indonesia’s 5th largest source of imports. Indonesia is on a much slower globalization path, but they most assuredly are on the path. While I personally find globalization to produce more good than bad, I am aware of the dangers that can come from it. Indonesia, in this respect, seems to have the right idea...invite globalization in, without letting it change what makes your country unique. This gradual approach should allow their nation to adjust properly, and protect their cultural identity. Sources: http://forbesindonesia.com/berita-1273-globalization%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2s-impact-on-indonesia.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/globalization-helps-preserve-endangered-languages https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/southeast-asia-pacific/indonesia In many areas of Indonesia, women are no longer culturally influenced to only be a stay-at-home mother. A 2010 national statistic showed that 70 percent of tertiary-educated (post high-school educated) women 25-29 years of age in Jakarta, the nation’s capital, are choosing a career over homemaker. (insideindonesia.org) Like many places that reach this transition, fertility rates decline and the average age of first marriages goes up. While Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is experiencing this effect right now, not all areas of this country are following suit.
Indonesia is a difficult nation to generalize in any one subject because of the vastly different cultures that exist within the archipelago. So, while areas in the island of Java seems to be modernizing, the nation as a whole is still dealing with a gender equality gap. The gross national income per capita for women is less than half of mens currently. (hdr.undp.org) Therefore, many male and female societal roles hold more closely to older traditions. Currently, forty percent of Indonesia’s population works in the agricultural sector. (indonesia-investments.com) The majority of those workers are male, and social norms tend to dictate that wives of farmers stay home to raise the family. However, small businesses in Indonesia are quite often owned and ran by both men and women, and currently about 1 in 5 parliament members are female. This doesn’t mean there still aren’t major problems with women’s rights in the country but they have been making steps toward gender equality for some time now. In fact, this gap was narrowing until about 2004 when a tsunami hit the shores of Indonesia and changed certain areas secular and progressive ways. Shortly after the tsunami, the Banda Aceh province was granted, by the Indonesian government, the ability to enact Sharia Law. (news.vice.com) This was due to a religiously charged public reaction to a mosque being the only building that survived in an area decimated by the natural disaster. While the majority of the nation’s Muslim population follows more modern Islamic policies, a growing push for Sharia Law across Indonesia has somewhat inhibited the progression of gender equality. Discriminatory regulations targeting women, both local and national, rose from 389 in 2015 to 422 in 2016. (hrw.org) While these recent developments do not sound promising, the government still is holding to its policy of freedom of religion, and is still pushing to remove sexist practices within the government. One example of this is, with a new military chief, the Indonesian armed forces might possibly be eliminating their so-called “virginity tests” to their female military applicants. (hrw.org) Many of the most economically strong areas of the country seem to be moving toward gender equality and hopefully that trend will continue indefinitely. Citations: Human Development Reports. (Retrieved 2018, February 12) Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/IDN Human Rights Watch. (2018, January 25). Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/01/25/indonesia-new-military-chief-should-tackle-abuses Unemployment in Indonesia. (Retrieved 2018, February 12) Retrieved from https://www.indonesia-investments.com/finance/macroeconomic-indicators/unemployment/item255? Utomo, A. (2015, April 6). A woman’s place. Retrieved from http://www.insideindonesia.org/a-woman-s-place-3 VICE News. (2018) Retrieved from https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/bjyw45/this-is-what-life-is-like-under-sharia-law Wuysang, J. H. Indonesia Events of 2016. (2016) Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/indonesia |
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