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by Ambika Satkunanathan, Senior Researcher, ICES.

Ambika Satkunanathan

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo (ICES) launched the 2004 Global Human Development Report: "Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World" at the Sri Lanka Institute of International Relations Auditorium recently. Following are the comments made on the report by Ambika Satkunanathan, Senior Researcher, ICES.

In my presentation today I will draw on themes discussed in the UNDP Human Development Report on Cultural Liberty and engage with them from a South Asian perspective.

I therefore will attempt to give an idea of the debates surrounding cultural liberty and diversity in South Asia. In particular, I will focus on issues related to women and the difficulties encountered when attempts are made to balance group rights within the framework of universal human rights.

Identity, what it means, how it is constituted and how it can be accommodated within a democratic framework are questions that form the central concern of the report.

In South Asia the discourse on identity is rich and has created a greater understanding of the nuances and complexities that need to be taken into account when formulating solutions to the problems we face today.

A discussion of the impact of colonialism on the construction and reconstruction of identities and social and ethnic groups is important at this juncture, as the effectiveness of campaigns and efforts to empower historically marginalized and discriminated groups depends on a clear understanding of the genesis of the various forms of intolerance, and the factors that have shaped them.

Research shows that in pre-colonial times people defined themselves based on the commonalities they shared with others rather than on the differences that distinguished them from others.

The introduction of the census by the British, led to the delineation of communities and the creation of majorities and minorities, for example, Hindus and Muslims in India, and Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The creation of separate communal electorates and the granting of political representation on an ethnic basis in various parts of South Asia further entrenched and institutionalised ethnic and religious identities.

While commonalities between communities were suppressed to create differences, as in the case of Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, paradoxically, at the same time ceratin categories and identities were conflated to create sameness, for example, linguistic commonality was highlighted in the case of Tamils who ignored religious differences.

In the post-colonial era the colonial practice of creating monolithic identities and public mobilization on an ethnic basis has been appropriated by various interested groups and put to much the same use; to strengthen divisive identity politics.

The impact of globalization on identity and cultural liberty is another issue the UNDP report focuses on. In the case of South Asia, countries are resisting the onslaught of globalization and responding to new insecurities and new forms of nationalism and fundamentalism in two ways.

One method is identical to the method chosen by certain right-wing, non-progressive groups in the first world-seeking refuge in the creation of a monolithic identity, which erases commonalities and makes "others" of minority groups.

The other approach is pandering to global forces by selling local cultures to the world as 'ethnic food' ethnic clothing' etc. Both processes have an impact on the shaping and formation of 'ethnic' and 'national' identities and emerging forms of nationalism and power struggles between groups.

Aijaz Ahmed, a South Asian scholar, asks us to be wary of 'social relations of production and possession, which turn every potential for liberation into an instrument of domination'. This is a warning that should be heeded where globalization and nationalism are concerned, since both have the power to empower and enslave.

He argues that nationalism, which during the colonial period was anti-imperialist in South Asia, has now become a nationalism that is constructed on the 'other', rather than common citizenship.

This construction of nationalism is a response to the breakdown of traditional structures, erosion of sovereignty by the intrusion of global capital and the upward social mobility of hitherto disadvantaged groups. This form of nationalism is desperate to find an alternative that will enable the maintenance of the status quo and existing social hierarchies and privileges.

As this form of nationalism seeks to reap the benefits of globalization while protecting traditional values and culture, it maintains a schizophrenic relationship with the phenomenon of globalization and global capital.

In their attempts to mobilize people in support of the 'traditional', right-wing groups create monolithic identities that erase multiplicities, which can lead to the marginalisation and discrimination of minority groups, as in the case of many minorities in South Asia.

As the creation of an 'authentic' culture with an attendant 'authentic' identity that would facilitate political mobilization of people is an integral part of the campaign to protect traditional values, identity plays a vital role in the formation of the 'new' nationalism.

The manipulation of the construction and reconstruction of identities is a commonly used strategy in conflicts and power struggles between groups in South Asian countries. As stated earlier, the categorisation of groups and communities in the colonial period through methods such as the census, reconstructed groups and created artificial ethnic and religious groups with bounded identities.

As the report reiterates, in reality it has been shown that identity is neither fixed nor bounded but is subject to change over time. Hence, different identities take precedence at different times.

As Charles Taylor argues, the identity of a group could be shaped not only by the way it views itself but also by the struggles the group has with others. Sometimes the identity of a group is created, even when the creation of such an identity is fought against by the group whose identity is being created.

Arjun Appadurai argues that this can take place when groups are pushed away from a secular idea of themselves and towards a more fundamental identity. Actual or perceived external threats to their identity could lead groups to construct such an identity, as in the case of the Muslims in the post September 11 period.

An identity so constructed is incapable of accommodating multiple identities, as it demands the sacrifice of one identity for another. Further, these identities which ignore multiplicities are "almost always caricatures" and one-dimensional.

Such identities lay claim to authenticity by privileging one aspect of any given identity over others as the norm. By doing so, nationalist processes seek to mobilize people around a homogenous identity.

The UNDP Report also gives importance to methods that could ge employed to accommodate people's demands for recognition of their language, ethnicity and religion. In South Asia the failure of states to protect and promote the rights of minorities illustrates their inability to deal with identity politics.

All past and current attempts to find solutions to conflicts between communities and power struggles between social groups have done so within the traditional construct of the nation state by employing different forms of secularism and multiculturalism.

In recent times secularism has become a site of contention and controversy in India due to the rise of Hindu fundamentalism (hindutva) and the consistent erosion of the rights of minority groups.

Secularism has many avatars, amongst them two forms which take centre place in debates on the subject in the subcontinent; one form which views it as a separation of religion and state, and the other which advocate for political neutrality where religion is concerned.

As pointed out by Partha Chatterjee, the Hindu Right is comfortable with secularism as it finds no threat in the separation of state from religion in the public sphere, since majority Hindu norms would by default become "the norm" and constitute the mainstream, which the others would be invited to join as equal citizens.

Hence, secularism as constructed by Hindu fundamentalists have no space for minority groups. The destruction of the Babri Masjid and ensuing events have led to criticism and claims that secularism is an import of Europe and hence its failure in South Asia is unsurprising.

Critics of secularism such as Ashis Nady points out that it is incapable of dealing with new and emerging 'fears and intolerance' and advocate a non-Western version of secularism, which they claim has 'space for continuous dialogue among religious traditions and between the religion and the secular'.

Proponents of secularism however find this problematic and point out that the gap in this argument is its failure to see the tolerance inherent in secularism, which has as its aim the settlement of conflicts in recognition that 'the resources of tolerance within traditional religion have exhausted their possibility'.

They also find the critique problematic for its absolute and total rejection of modernity as immoral, which they point out, ignores the shortcomings of tradition.

Multiculturalism is another means through which the state has tried to negotiate its relationship with identity groups. Multicultural policies go beyond mere cultural pluralism where different religions and ethnicities are tolerated, and instead concentrate on ensuring that groups "exist as equals in the public arena".

Even the British practised a nominal form of multiculturalism in their colonies whereby they allowed communities to govern themselves. This was done with the purpose of making the colonized believe the private sphere was untouched, while highlighting and deepening difference between local communities.

(To be continued)

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