Cultural Diversity and Mass Culture: Preserving Global Identity
The Cultural Industry and Mass Society
The defense argument posits that mass culture is not typical of capitalist forms but an inevitable consequence of industrial societies. Diffusion takes place from segments of the population who had no prior interest, awakening a desire for changing realities. The popularization of ideas has acted as a catalyst for revolution, with the distribution of works occurring faster and with greater consequences.
Horkheimer and Adorno, in the 1940s, introduced the term “cultural industry” to describe mass culture operating under capitalist economic laws. In this framework, exchange value prevails over use value, and cultural products reflect the methods of mass production and the division of labor.
The Resurgence of Cultural Diversity
This trend towards cultural uniformity in contemporary society faces a powerful counterweight in the revival of the idea of culture as the fiber that weaves basic sociality and personality of human groups. The alarm at the overwhelming homogeneity of mass culture explains the rebirth of identity and cultural differences as an ideal on the rise in today’s aspirations.
UNESCO has been working in this line for diversity, and there is a broader cultural practice movement recovering folk traditions, customs, craftsmanship, aesthetics, and gastronomy, reflecting the unique idiosyncrasies of different cultural communities.
Furthermore, there is a boom in “subcultures” – manifestations of particular social groups or strata, though not necessarily structural communities – which vary enormously. Thus, the question arises whether what is emerging is not just a situation of cultural diversity.
Two aspects seem particularly noteworthy in this new order: first, individuals and groups are no longer blind to the cultural multiplicity of the world in which they live; and second, the cultural assignment and experience of individuals no longer have to be determined by external factors like place of birth. Now, opportunities for voluntary cultural membership are greater.
This articulated vision of cultural diversity is gaining more defenders.
UNESCO’s Commitment to Cultural Heritage
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), established in 1946, represents a consistent attempt at delimitation of problems and defense of the world’s cultural diversity through intellectual cooperation activities, conventions, recommendations, and statements. Its declarations range from “understanding and respect for all peoples, cultures, civilizations, values and ways of life” to promoting “in various stages and types of education, the study of different cultures and recognition of their differences.”
- “Every culture has a dignity and value which must be respected and protected.”
- “Every people has the right and duty to develop its culture.”
In their rich variety, in their diversity and the reciprocal influences they exert on one another, all cultures form part of the common heritage of mankind.
UNESCO promotes various events aimed at reflection on the nature and effects of mass culture.
“We must recognize the equality and dignity of all cultures, and the right of every people and every cultural community to assert and preserve their cultural identity and demanding their respect.”
Protecting Collective Cultures and Identities
From the position of public authorities, the preservation of cultural identities, as Lévi-Strauss suggested, should focus not merely on the preservation of cultures themselves, but on ensuring the mechanisms that enable the existence of diversity and allow for the evolution into new forms of cultural expression.
The conflict between universalism and particularism should be drawn from the abstraction of cultural universality of departure – as the ability to learn and to symbolize the human species – and a universalism of arrival, consisting of cultural forms and values resulting from cultural contact, and a universalism of travel, involving mutual cultural relations. Spurred by tolerance and cultural dialogue, government action can make a positive contribution to the development of peaceful and fruitful coexistence among the plurality of particular cultures.