IDENTITIES

Cultural Diversity
Cultural carnaval, cultural jungle
The term 'cultural diversity' is generally considered to describe a Good Thing, analogous
to 'biodiversity', and we can assume that IB is generally in favour of it.
However, as good critical thinkers, we might ask questions about that judgement. There are,
perhaps, two fundamental approaches contained in the meaning of the term 'cultural diversity' itself:
the 'objective' and the 'positive'. One can see 'cultural diversity' as a simple objective description of
the facts about the many different cultures among human beings - or one can say that 'cultural
diversity' is a positive asset to human life, and should be encouraged. These are not, of course,
contradictory, and may be seen as complementary.
But can 'cultural diversity' be seen as 'negative'? As already suggested, I don't see that interpretation
as evident in the term ... but might it be provocative, even productive, to consider whether cultural
diversity is dangerous and should be discouraged ? I'm playing devils advocate here, but could one
not argue that a high proportion of contemporary conflicts are precisely caused by cultural
differences ? For example, nationalist movements everywhere (consider Belgium, for starters), and
diversities within great religions (e.g. Sunni - Shia violence in Iraq). Might a homogenised global
culture be less lethal ?
This page, then, aims to consider how cultures interact, how language and culture are related, and
so, implicitly, the nature and value of culture itself. It is intended to stimulate the overall approach to
teaching about culture - interpret it all as you will, and apply it to the materials and students that you
have to hand.

Unpacking 'cultural diversity': how does

'cultural diversity' work?
As a starting point, here is a diagram analysing 'Cultural diversity', drawing on material provided in
the old Subject Guide (2013).
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This analysis suggests two significant facets of how to approach the topic :
system theories about how cultural diversity is produced, and what value it has in human life
[ Basics and How diversity happens ]
factual information about how much diversity there is, and where it can be observed
[ Cultural mapping and Transcultural case-studies ]
I suggest, then that the best way to approach the exploration of 'cultural diversity' is to concentrate
initially on these two fundamental areas, and allow the actual aspects + source material to evolve
from our views of these fundamentals. For instance, under 'Transcultural Case-studies' we don't
have to remain stuck with 'food' and 'beauty', but can easily develop similar ideas under 'codes of
politeness' and/or 'teenage social codes' ...

System theories
The two bubbles Basics and How diversity happens can be translated as What the term 'culture'
means and Causes & consequences of 'diversity' . Let us consider each of these areas in more
detail - i.e. what we should aim to teach, and how.

Basics of 'culture'
... Try these for a few leading questions :-

 What is culture ?
 How is culture created - or does it just happen ?
 Let's be clear - what's the difference between 'high culture' and 'culture-as-anthropology' ?
 Does anyone control culture ? And if so, who, and how ?
 What's the point of culture ? What use is it ?
 Are we taught culture ? Or do we just learn it ? Or both ?
 What culture is verbal, and what is non-verbal ? For example ...?
 Is some culture 'valuable', and some culture 'dangerous' ? Is so, which - and why ?
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And then there are these overlapping ideas ...
.

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... but what else would we add to that diagram ? Customs ... traditions ...
stereotypes ... models ... ideals ... expectations ...AND ..... ?

Nature of 'diversity'
... 'diversity' is simply a description of a state or condition - what is of interest to us are the processes
by which diversity is created in the modern world, and how these processes impinge on how we
understand and view what culture(s) we have.
Now, the diagram above, under the heading 'How diversity happens', seems to propose
that migration leads to intercultural assimilation along with interlinguistic influence. This may
be true enough, but seems to me to be an incomplete statement, since migration is neither the prime
source of intercultural information nor does it necessarily lead to 'assimilation'. I would propose
that ...
communication systems create perceptions of intercultural diversity, which may or may
not lead to intercultural assimilation (or conflict) and interlinguistic influence (useful or
damaging)
Clearly, migration is a very important source of direct, face-to-face communication - but the value of
such direct contact (as the evidence has repeatedly demonstrated) depends on how the
communication is approached and handled, which in turn influences profoundly what perceptions are
formed.
Accordingly, it seems to me that a fertile approach to this whole topic is to consider media
treatments of different cultures. To illustrate, here are a number of possible examples :-

 'Islam' in the media

(bearing in mind that 'Islam' is one of the most complex and richly-diverse cultures in
the world - and that what should concern us is the perception of Islam in anglophone
media)
 Tourist advertising

(considering how 'what sells to a particular target audience' is most probably not the
same as 'what is true')

 Sub-cultures in the news

(noting that the treatment of sub-cultures may tell us more about the mainstream
culture than it does about the sub-cultures themselves, in reality)

 Nationalist versus 'multicultural' news

(assessing the extent to which cultural diversity is presented as a threat or a

contribution to the community of the nation)
Note that all of these would deal with anglophone media as the sources, while they may well devote
much attention to the different cultures involved (e.g. Islam) in terms of content - and that all would
enable some comparison between anglophone culture and other cultures.
In-site links
Many pages in this site can be exploited to develop discussion of issues about cultural diversity -
and of course, you can't discuss cultural diversity without discussing the singularities of cultures and
thus culture itself. Here is a selection:-
Respecting cultural diversity? ... explores the moral issues raised by a shocking case
reported in the news
Migrant viewpoints ... a text illustrating how migrants carry cultural conflicts within their very
selves
Imagined communities ... discusses the issue of where 'cultures' come from, and how they
arise
Roast Beef, reviewed ... the basic text is aimed to develop and practice how to write a
review, but actually most valuable as a means for exploring food as an expression of
culture ...
Tourist tribes ... looks at how we define social groups ... which of course is a key element of
how we construct culture ... the various in-site links suggested in this page are helpful too ...
 English Nature ... the text is primarily exploited for the teaching of certain literary analytical
skills, but it raises a while series of issues about the idea of 'national culture', 'stereotypes',
'cultural models' and so on ...
The English are best ... a jolly song satirising the alleged singularity of the English (!)

Factual information
There are masses of facts about cultural diversity out there on the internet, but the trick must surely
be to think of such facts as useful as means, not ends - to choose bundles of facts
which either illustrate important general concepts, or provide raw material for students activities ... or
both, of course!
As a starting point, Countries and their cultures seems to set out to be encyclopedic - it appears to
have articles about every culture you could imagine. The bits that I have skimmed proved interesting
for general background, and curious snippets ... but I am not sure of the authority of the site, since
there seems to be no 'About Us' section, explaining who has written the vast range of articles and for
what purpose. The entry about the United States is typical - comprehensive, but somewhat
superficial, and possibly dated (cf reference to 'the 2000 census'). Use with caution.
If you're after hard facts, you could try the following major governmental statistics sites :

 UK National statistics ... this site is a hub from which to access UK government publications on
statistics of all kinds.

 US Bureau of Labor Statistics ... a rather specialised overview of US society, but some nice
charts, and probably worth exploring in more detail - check out 'Subject areas', and use the site
search tool.

 Australian Bureau of Statistics ... seems like a very comprehensive site, but mainly useful for
downloading documents (doesn't seem to do great graphics!), and for some useful summaries of
certain surveys.

... and try the following general-purpose statistics sites :-

 NationMaster.com ... a site which sets out to provide statistics (and especially, comparative
statistics) about nations around the world.
 Statistic Brain ... another portmanteau site, apparently providing statistics about anything (?) -
seems rather 'internet factoid', with lots of intriguing numbers, decontextualised ...

How culture affects language

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This diagram suggests three areas for investigation -
INTER : how language influences and expresses relationships: the interactions between
people
INFRA : how language embodies social values and visions: the social infrastructure of a
society
INTRA : how language helps to form personality: the internal organisation of the mind
Handout

Cultural awareness & language ... a larger version of this graphic, with a range of examples
Three quick (inter-cultural !) illustrations of each of the areas, to establish the general concepts :-
INTER : politeness ... An English person, born and bred in the UK, will assume that it is completely
courteous and correct to say "Excuse me, I hope you don't mind if I ask you if it would be possible to
close the window ..." - but to a Spaniard, such circumlocution is not only ridiculously complicated, but
quite pointless, since there's nothing wrong with a direct question "¿Cierro la ventana?" On the other
hand ... I am still grappling with the subtleties of the formally polite 'usted' form in Spanish, which
depends on a pretty careful appreciation of relative social status - is the waiter old enough?
respectable enough? conventional enough? to expect the respectful 'usted', or is he young enough?
modern enough? informal enough? well enough known? to appreciate the 'tu' form ?
INFRA : social groups ... Accent, choice of vocabulary, use of one sort of idiom or another, all of
these place every one of us in some sort of assumed social geography - but what are the criteria?
the values? the indicators? One of the (many) pleasures of living in Spain, for me, is that I have
escaped from the knee-jerk reactions and prejudices that - against my conscious values and
principles - surge up when I hear another English-speaker's voice. On the other hand, I have yet to
recognise easily the vast range of accents and language styles within the Hispanic world ... I can
recognise an Argentinian speaking (but can't necessarily understand what she's saying !), but
Madrid versus Salamanca ? ...
INTRA : grasping ideas ... This reflects the ways in which language both forms and expresses
thought - you may wish to consult the Language & Thought page of this site: there are fertile TOK
connections here. The more obvious aspect of this is the practical & technical aspect of language -
for instance, if you have a good command of linkers, you are likely to be able to organise your
arguments more coherently. There is the related hypothesis that 'the wider the range of language
 resources, the more complex the ideas that can be formed'. I describe this as a hypothesis because
I am not aware of research that shows that inarticulate people have more limited ideas than
articulate - this distinction may simply mean that the inarticulate cannot express what they think, it
doesn't necessarily mean that they can't think. If words and phrases are like camel-trains moving
across the rolling dunes of the mind, then presumably the fewer camels you have, the less you can
carry ...? [See my poem 'Words are' ]
The most fertile INTRA area to explore may be the well-reported experience of bilinguals, that they
feel that they are 'a different person' when speaking different languages. This has a strong social
aspect (one may have a different social persona, because customs of conversation are different),
but bilinguals mention being 'more/less thoughtful', 'more/less emotional' or 'more/less imaginative'
when immersed in different languages.
.

Respecting cultural diversity?


 Themes, 2018 onwards
 Identities
 Respecting cultural diversity?

The impact of culture on identity ... we would all accept that our sense of who we are is
influenced by the culture(s) in which we live - but how do we negotiate with other cultures ...
and therefore other identities?

It is obvious that the IB in general, and the Language B

Subject Guide (to 2019) in particular, both think that cultural diversity is a Good Thing. That
'Cultural Diversity' should be specified in that Subject Guide as an Option topic meant that
students should at least be informed about the vast range of different cultures, and this
presumably meant that they should accept such range as something positive. While the Language
B Subject Guide (from 2018) does not refer explicitly to 'cultural diversity', we can assume that it
still remains a Good Thing!
But, I suggest, it's not as simple as that. Does accepting the value of a rich variety of cultures
mean that we have to respect the cultures themselves? All of them? In all aspects? Unreservedly?
And if we say 'no' to any of those questions, on what basis can we justify not respecting them?
By which standards, and by which yardstick(s), can we assess what we should respect and what
we should not respect?
The text provided in this page is shocking, dealing as it does with a case (in 2015) of human
sacrifice. Accordingly, it needs to be introduced in class with care and tact. However, it must be
true that our students need to think about the immense power of culture, and how cultural norms
and values lead to real and profound effects in the real world. 'Culture' does not just mean quaint
folk-dancing traditions or elaborate fancy-dress parties - it can also involve customs and
traditions which lead directly to human misery.
I trust that we can assume that all our students will find human sacrifice primitive and
unacceptable, but they should be reminded that there are other practices resulting from deeply-
rooted cultural traditions which may also cause profound human suffering. Such as:-

 female genital ablation

 female infanticide
 classification of females as 'second-class'
 rejection of homosexuality (OR acceptance of homosexuality?)
 the authority of the family over the individual

Note that these examples are ranked from 'unacceptable' to 'at least debatable'. I cannot imagine
any reason to respect female genital ablation apart from the lousy one of 'respect for tradition' -
but I can see that the authority of the family can be argued from reasonable economic and social
grounds.
In approaching discussion of this issue, we need to explore the word 'respect'. Consider the
following terms:
admire ... agree with ... accept ... permit ... tolerate ... turn a blind eye to
The meanings of these terms overlap, certainly, but they don't exactly mean the same thing - nor
will they lead to the same practical consequences. Which do we mean when we talk about
'respecting cultural diversity'? And in which cases, or which aspects of culture?
What lies behind all of this is my belief that 'respect' is one thing, but 'mindless acceptance' is
another. We may respect the fact that cultures are different and that we should consider different
cultural norms with courtesy and empathy ... but we may also say that perhaps one cultural
tradition deals with the world more justly and effectively than another. It must be a ground rule
that no culture should impose itself on another ... and so the relationships between cultures, at
both a social and a personal level, have to be negotiated.
Handout

Respecting cultural diversity

The worksheet
Two tasks are proposed: the first, 'Elements of culture', requires delving into the text, and the
second, 'To respect or not to respect', asks the students to expand outwards from the text.
Elements of culture
This should be a relatively simple task: the answers are fairly obvious, as shown below.
However, the task aims to achieve two purposes - firstly, to alert students to the important
concept that 'culture' is a construction involving many aspects of human society and psychology;
and secondly, to provide basic but necessary practice in scanning for specific details of evidence
in a text (which is useful for the True/False + Justification question type in Paper 1).
Religion .............. holy man (l.2) ... temple (l.13) ... religious ritual
(l.14) ....................................................................
Economic status ....... poorest...people (l.21) ... the small bribe ? (ll.11-
12) .................................................................
World views ................ magical and spiritual powers (ll.8-
9) .......................................................................
Traditional customs ............ Superstitions such as... (ll.24-
27) ............................................................................
Social class ............. "untouchables"...traditional caste system (ll.21-
22) ..........................................................................
Education .................... uneducated (l.21) ....................................................................

Law ................ Police superintendant...investigation

(l.6) .......................................................................
The family ........... relatives (l.8 &
l.10) ............................................................................
The State ............ chief district officer (l.29) ... government level
(l.30) .........................................................................
To respect or not to respect?
This is an open, exploratory task, so stress to the students that no 'right' answers are expected -
but that there will be answers that are more convincing or more important than others. Accept
any views to start with, but place strong emphasis on the question 'why?'
The question is phrased in general terms, but it may be best first to consider the issue in terms of
this particular case - and then extend the argument to all cultural judgements, in other
circumstances.
It might be stimulating to point out that the father's behaviour can be seen as 'moral'. He set out
to do anything in order to save the life of his child ... and if that meant sacrificing the life of a
child not of the family, then so be it. And anyway, he was doing it on the advice of an expert in
"magical and spiritual powers". So, on the basis of what he knew, he was doing the right, best
thing.
So on what basis do we consider that this behaviour is appallingly wrong? You might guide the
discussion towards two major areas:
education ... in modern, developed cultures, we believe in our experts ... because we are
taught that their collective knowledge is science, constructed with logical arguments based
on objective evidence ... rather than the individual belief of a holy man based on
unsubstantiated anecdotes and tales
human rights ... in the 21st Century, the most widely (but not unanimously) accepted code
of morality is the UN Declaration of Human Rights ... whose moral force can be seen as
due to its acceptance on a pan-human basis, not restricted to the limited views of
individual cultural groups
But can we not see both of these powerful sources of authority as simply the products of what is
currently the Global Boss Culture? We may believe profoundly in this world-view, but why
exactly is it more 'right' than any other?

Links & extensions

A range of pages give specific stimulus material about customs and traditions, and how these
directly affect the ways that societies are formed, and are seen...
Customs & traditions aphorisms ... a series of pithy comments on customs and
traditions, which should raise discussion about how these work, and why we need them (or
not) (see also Student Access page TASKS Customs & traditions
aphorisms )... EXTENSION: ask students to discuss and report on customs and
traditions from their home cultures ... and the reporting can either be in the form of oral
presentations, or in writing (as article, or blog, or...?)
History & tradition ... in an extract from a novel, two characters talk about how a
knowledge of history and a sharing of traditions help create identity, particularly among
poor people, who may have little else to give their lives value...
Criminalising clothes ... discusses the issue of whether there should be rules, or codes of
conduct, governing what clothes people should wear - the specific case being the use of the
'burkini' ... see also the Student Access page TASKS Criminalising clothes , providing
stimulus text + comprehension exercises in online format for work outside class
Body-language Dos & Don'ts ... in discussing the TOK issue of what exactly we mean by
'language', this page covers a range of different social customs related to body movements
and gestures in everyday life - and how these can mean different things in different
cultures. EXTENSION: the page contains several suggestions for follow-up activities
and research
Language Dos & Don'ts ... a companion page to the one above, this deals directly with
the idea of appropriate language in different contexts and cultures
Bad language ... a set of texts exploring what is meant by 'bad language', or socially
unacceptable words and phrases - making the point that taboos about language change
over time, as do customs and traditions