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Culture and Development: Culture Matters

Culture and Development: Culture Matters. Daryl Hobbs, Ph.D Rural Sociology, University of Missouri Columbia, MO USA. Presentation World Bank, Washington, DC April 8, 2002. Table of Contents. 1. Broadening Vision of World Banks 2. Globalization and Shifts in Development Paradigm

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Culture and Development: Culture Matters

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  1. Culture and Development: Culture Matters Daryl Hobbs, Ph.D Rural Sociology, University of Missouri Columbia, MO USA Presentation World Bank, Washington, DC April 8, 2002

  2. Table of Contents 1. Broadening Vision of World Banks 2. Globalization and Shifts in Development Paradigm 3. Growing Role of Community/Culture 4. Cultural Basis of Poverty 5. Culture as Development Resource 6. Culture in Development Process 7. Cultural Knowledge and Development 8. Culture and Information 9. Data Into Knowledge 10. Organization and Measurement 11. Case Study: Yemen 12. Case Study: Indonesia 13. Case Study: Indonesia 2 14. Cultural Matrix of Development 15. Development and Diversity 16. Rigidity of Technical Knowledge 17. Rationale for Cultural Focus.

  3. “As the bank begins this century with ever-grander visions--abolishing poverty, embracing global civil society, giving voice to the poor, and pursuing sustainable growth…there are calls for focus and results”. Jessica Einhorn, Foreign Affairs Sept-Oct, 2001

  4. GLOBALIZATION AND SHIFTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM Globalization and Shifts In the Development Paradigm • How is development measured and at what level • of social and economic organization? • Obsolescence of traditional measures? • Diminishing economic power/influence of nation- • states? • Curtailed domestic safety-net investments? • Enhanced conditions for diffusion of disease and • terrorism? • Growing affect of place and culture on personal • well-being /identity?

  5. “As traditional communities disappear and ancient cultures are overwhelmed, billions of human beings are losing the sense of place and sense of self that give life meaning. The fundamental political conflict in the opening decades of the new century, we believe, will not be between nations or even between trading blocks but between the forces of globalization and the territorially based forces of local survival seeking to preserve and to redefine community.” Richard Barnet, Global Dreams

  6. The Political/Cultural Basis of Poverty • Direct state transfer of resources will be unlikely to eradicate poverty, because... • Poverty is embedded in a cultural, state, and economic context. Social stratification is cultural. • Local cultures are typically associated with the capture of and influence over development initiatives by local elites reinforcing traditional cultural practices.

  7. Culture is a Development Resource When Culture Is... • Agency • Effective Social Infrastructure Especially cogent for social development... • Poverty reduction • Disease control • Gender equality in education/resource allocation

  8. Where Culture Can/Does Affect the Development Process Goal/ Problem Process Outcomes Initiating Source State? NGO? Donors? Culture? Resources State? NGO? Donors? Culture? • Development? • By what measure? • Who benefits? • Cultural Measures? • Quality of Life? • Winners/Losers? • Productivity? Impediments Conflict? Tradition? Culture?

  9. What Knowledge Affects Development? • Cultural Knowledge? • Technical Knowledge? • Differences in... • Rules of evidence • Rules of logic

  10. Culture and Information • What is information? • Who has the power to say so? • What difference does that make?

  11. Development --the Cultural Context of Information Data – Raw material from which information might be extracted Information – Data that becomes meaningful in the environment in which people live, work and make decisions Knowledge – Gaining an understanding of what is happening through the parsimonious integration of information. Acquiring knowledge usually involves the orderly \ loss of information not its mindless accumulation.

  12. “Any organization tends to get back largely what it measures and rewards.” --Ray Marshall

  13. CASE STUDY: Yemen • Including community cultural elements in design of development projects will ensure that poor communities will benefit from their efforts to increase self-sufficiency rather than continue as seekers of assistance of limited potential for viability

  14. CASE STUDY: Indonesia • Technical planning is more suited for large organizations as opposed to traditional proess of knowledge information transfer used in local villages • Lack of community access to relevant information was a barrier • Spreading information among and between community members deepened and widened project priorities

  15. CASE STUDY: Indonesia (2) GOAL: Strengthen local formal and informal institutions by making them more inclusive, accountable and effective at meeting villagers self-identified development needs. Douglas North--Economic performance over time (learning societies) -- a consequence of institutional integration/collaboration Excessive institutional specialization/ fragmentation produces “stuck” societies

  16. Cultural Resources and Their Various Roles in Development Projects Some Typical Development Projects Components Of Culture Disease Control Improved Nutrition Increased Income Resource Management Values/Attitudes Technology Institutions Beliefs/Indigenous Knowledge Natural Resources Household Reproduction Social Capital Human Capital Which cultural resources are most relevant to different kinds of development projects?

  17. A weakness of high modernization is its administrative penchant for standardization. An important, perhaps indispensable, resource of culture is the diversity of cultural forms and perspectives. Is development to be defined in terms of... Standardization? Or the effect of cultural diversity on productivity?

  18. The great failure of rationalism is, “not its recognition of technical knowledge, but its failure to recognize any other.” -- Pascal

  19. Rationale For Inclusion of Focus on Culture James C. Scott – Rules of thumb that could make development less prone to disaster Take Small Steps Favor Reversibility Plan On Surprises Plan On Human Inventiveness We cannot know consequences of our interventions in advance Prefer interventions that can be easily undone if they turn out to be mistakes Plans should allow the largest accommodation for the unforeseen. Assume that those who become involved will develop experience and insight to improve on the design.

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