General Assembly
THE QUESTION OF GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPACTS ON CULTURAL
MINORITIES WORLDWIDE
I.
INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC
The definition of Globalization is “the growing interdependence of countries worldwide
through the increasing volume and variety of cross-border transaction in goods and services
and of international capitals flows, and through the more rapid and widespread diffusion of
technology.” Globalization started over 500 years ago when European countries first began to
colonize and imperialize other territories,
such as Southern Africa, India, and North
America’s East coast. Along with these
territories,
civilizations
dating
back
thousands of years were introduced to a
way of life that was far different from
theirs, and was believed to be superior. As
a result, Cultural Minorities were created.
Nowadays,
globalization
is
a
process of interaction and integration
among
the
people,
companies,
and
governments of different nations. It is a
process driven by international trade and
investment and aided by information
technology. This is where the problems
with globalization begin to arise. Many of
them are economic, but there are also very serious cultural and societal dilemmas that are
becoming more and more pronounced as time goes on. Over the past 500 years, nation-states
have become more under the power and influence of transnational corporations (TNCs), and
thus the centralist language of the ruling parties has dominated regional dialects and minority
languages. There are numerous examples of this phenomenon, including Cornish being
replaced with English, Breton with French, Bavarian with High German and Fu-jian-was with
Cantonese. Linguists forecast that more minorities languages and dialects are going to give
way to dominant and ‘global’ languages such as English, Mandarin and Spanish etc.
Globalization has stressed the importance of such dominant languages, thus putting
pressure on speakers of minority languages to learn majority languages. At the end of the
century, approximately 7,000 languages are expected to be extinct. Without learning the
language, they will face great difficulties doing business and a less access to information etc.
Globalization has a major role in the transfer of art and culture. Traveling artists spread
their local traditions around the world, and culinary professionals of different international
cuisines pass on their local flavors.
In spite of globalizations potential, it can bring out an increasing homogeneity that
works against local variety, traditions, and culture. In order to maximize the gains of and
eliminating the potential losses of globalization, it’s worth thinking about actions can be taken
in an effort to maintain the richness and diversity of local cultures around the world and
ensure that they can thrive in an increasingly global and connected world.
II.
BACKGROUND
There are several resolutions regarding the rights of cultural minorities including their
language, games, customs dialects and traditions that associate with the issue. The earliest
International approach on preserving cultural minorities can be searched back in 1922. The
General Assembly stated in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons to protect the existence
and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their
respective territories and shall be encourage the conditions for the promotion of the identity.
The United Nations Educational,
Scientific
and
Cultural
Organization
(UNESCO) have been always focusing on
cultural preservation of cultural minorities
from
traditional
land,
education,
preservation of indigenous culture and
other aspects. UNESCO has always been
promoting languages and multilingualism
by involving education, culture, science,
communication
and
information
and
social and human science. In fact, various
treaties and agreements were passed
through UNESCO. In 2006, UNESCO
passed an International treaty to” preserve the rich diversity of the world’s means of cultural
expression from the dangers of globalization, including its many languages”. This treaty came
into force the following year March.
III.
RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS, CONVENTIONS, ORGANIZATIONS AND
RESOLUTIONS:
•
1922- The Declaration on the Rights of Persons was adopted by the General
Assembly
•
1966- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was formed
•
1992- The United Nations proposed the Declaration of Rights of Persons Belonging
to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities
IV.
•
1998- The MOST Clearing House on Linguistic Rights was established
•
2001- Durban Declaration and Programme of Action was created
MAIN ISSUES
The preservation of cultural identity
Cultural identity is an essential aspect of peaceful cooperation. People with a strong
sense of identity are more likely to interact with other cultures. Languages especially play a
major role in constructing the identity. Experts say that every two weeks, a unique language
disappears with its last surviving speaker. One of the main reasons of languages vanishing is
due to lack of education provided in school to pursue students continue speaking them.
Although ideally culture minority student should be instructed of their own community or
home language, the unwillingness or inability of the state, either for political or economic
reasons are for why minority culture were not officially implemented in schools.
Discrimination of the culture minority
As the world is becoming more globalized and transparent, culture minorities are
pressured to interact with the culture majority by working for global companies and accessing
technology. Despite that they have disadvantages on competing for jobs, discrimination also
constantly emerges in working places from various nations. Nation-states are seeking for
solutions to manage diverse societies, on ensuring the cohesion and inclusion with various
national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. The objective is for various groups to practice
their own culture identities and recognized the values of others in the society.
Consumerist Culture
Multinational corporations create a consumerist culture, in which standard
commodities, promoted by global marketing campaigns, create similar lifestyles that are
sometimes humorously referred to as “Coca-Colonization”. Often times, Western ideals are
falsely advertised as universal, leading to what is essentially cultural imperialism. Popular
culture and mainstream news media exert pressure on societies to adopt typically Western
lifestyles, especially towards the youthful population in which English is widely use and seen
as imperialistic.
Intellectual Property and Exploitation of Resources
As of late, cultural minorities, outsiders who take advantage of their land and resources
have treated indigenous people as inferiors. With globalizations need for unlimited resources,
transnational Corporations (TNCs) have been exploiting the natural resources from ancestral
lands of the culture minorities. The most archetypal example of this is the exploitation of gas
and oil in the Amazon Forest, which involves at least 35 transnational corporations from the
United States of America, Japan, and Europe. Another concern for indigenous peoples is the
transgression of their Intellectual Property rights. One such example is when pharmaceutical
corporations take age-old medical practices from indigenous people and patent them. The
indigenous people have no means of protecting their rights, and these large corporations
have successfully stolen from those who had no intention of making a profit.
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V.
REFERENCES AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story012/en/
http://www.unssc.org/home/category/themes/development-gender-and-humanrights/minorities-development-programming
http://www.un.org/en/letsfightracism/minorities.shtml
http://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/minority_languages.php
http://calenda.org/226055
http://www.unesco.org/most/ln1.htm
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuideMinorities11en.pdf
http://www.mesacc.edu/~bricl07041/un/hs/culture.pdf
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/IExpert/Pages/IEminorityissuesIndex.aspx
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/aug/13/conservation.forests
http://blog.oup.com/2008/11/drug_discovery/
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