MOTION : THR the self-commercialisation of indigenous culture. (For example, Maori “village tours”, Aboriginal art fairs)
Key Clashes:
1. To what extent does cultural awareness dilute cultural integrity?
2. Are rights and freedoms only attached to economic contribution to society?
3. In which world do we better achieve long-term sustainability?
Clash 1 Gov:
? Metric for regret + retrospective analysis
? Making your culture marketable to a target market i.e. tourism industry, leads to:
● Condensing what defines your culture to what is most popular among the market
● Viewing other indigious cultures as competitors in a market rather than whole, valuable cultures in and of themselves - why? Aim to increase market share in competitive tourism industry
● Risk more powerful international actors using elements of your culture to create revenue for themselves (e.g. Disney movie Moana and the Maori indiginous culture) - why is this bad? Less control over your culture and what truly defines it
Clash 1 Opp:
? What is the exclusive importance of cultural awareness to indiginous tribes?
● Awareness is more important than integrity of the culture at the point where members of that culture are not viewed as part of society and are treated as dispensable
● Indiginous tribes have suffered disproportionate levels of oppression and seclusion from society: have struggled to have their rights recognized, land taken, limited voice in political and economic agendas that affect them, environmental degradation and climate change effects, etc. Cultural awareness = likely to garner support from international community
Clash 2 Gov:
? Counterfactual = Alternatives to achieve rights and freedoms:
● Awareness through social media, protests, appeals to IGO’s (e.g. UNESCO): why are these likely to work as well? Traction gained through these alternatives through mass appeal with the rise of social media and social justice movements - likely to gain support from international community without selling popular aspects of their culture
● Pushing for ingidinous culture education programs
Clash 2 Opp:
? The best way to gain importance is through economic contribution - Why?:
● State is one of the major oppressors of these groups, thus incentive to protect them when they contribute economically
● Even if state doesn’t buy in, still easier to fight for rights and freedoms through pressure from international community on state - likely cause they are able to buy into the culture from experience and personal attachment to it
Clash 3 Gov:
? Why opp world is not sustainable for the culture:
● Lost cultural meaning through future generations of the tribe members themselves - why? Focus on practicing and making what is marketable, less emphasis on meaning of deeper roots of culture
● Market volatility makes cultures have varying importance - e.g. COVID-19/economic recessions = no tourism, no money… will their rights still be important when they lose economic importance?
Clash 3 Opp:
? Why gov world is not sustainable for the culture:
● Alternatives are dependent on these cultures competing with other social media content or social justice issues ongoing, or prioritization of other agendas in IGO’s - may not get a spotlight
● Awareness means support from international community through personal experience and attachment means more likely to support rights and freedoms
