3.2 Problems with Cultural Perspective and Point of View
3.2 Cultural Perspective
You can see the difficulty of evaluating the actions of both the past and the present when each person has his or her cultural perspective.
In addition to the perspective that our culture provides, each person has his or her own individual point of view.
Rethinking Language
The first unit of this course discussed the power of language. Language paints pictures in our mind, but sometimes these images are misleading. Consider the terms developed world and underdeveloped or developing world. Generally speaking, the developed world includes North America, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Europe. These nations are industrialized and wealthy. They also hold most of the world's economic and political power, although they do not contain the majority of the world's population. The developing world includes nations that have lower levels of industrial development, higher levels of poverty, larger numbers of people, and less worldwide power.
What impressions do those terms create for us? The term developed suggests that a nation is fully matured or has fulfilled its potential as a nation. This term indicates that these nations are superior to other nations and are the model to which all countries should aspire in their growth. Canada is considered developed. Do you think Canada has reached its ultimate level of development, or are there still ways we could improve most aspects of our society?
On the other hand, a developing nation is defined by what it is not. The term implies that these nations or cultures are inferior and will reach developed or full status only when they become like us. It also implies that all nations are moving forward in economic and social development. In fact, some countries' living standards are becoming worse instead of better. Consider the words of the head of Nike's corporate education department discussing Nike's role in Vietnam:
Nelson Farris, Director of Corporate Education, Nike
Vietnamese culture goes back centuries. Art, architecture, and literature flourished as early as the first century in the Common Era as did technology in their agricultural production, including irrigation and metal plows. Religion, law, scholarly pursuits, and medical advances were features of Vietnamese culture when Europe was struggling through the Dark Ages. Did Mr. Farris mean Nike was helping Vietnamese culture evolve, or did he mean they were helping the Vietnamese people to make more money?
Emerging nations?
Another term to describe these nations is emerging nations or even emerging economies or emerging markets. These terms are used by the business community, notably in publications such as the magazine The Economist, to describe countries whose economic power is growing. Again, consider the bias in that term. To call a country an emerging nation implies that it is, as the dictionary defines it, coming into existence, or rising from obscurity. The term implies that these nations either did not exist earlier or they were not important because they did not have wealth. To call a nation a market or an economy shows a strong business perspective in which the nation is valued for only its financial contribution to the world economy.What do we call the poorer nations of the world?
Because we have discussed the problems with the terms people commonly use to describe these countries, we know some of the weaknesses in each of the terms. For the purposes of this course, we will be using the terms less developed, developing, or Third World interchangeably.