sociocultural integration

Sociocultural integration

Diaspora: Any groups that has been dispersed outside its original homeland. Diasporas can develop through voluntary migration or forced migration.

Irish Diaspora

The Irish diaspora is one of the largest diaspora in the World. It is estimated that there are about 80 million Irish migrants and their descendents living around the world - there are over 40 million in the US alone. In the UK about 10% of the population claim Irish descent which would account for about 6 million people. These totals are compared to a current Irish population of only about 4.7 million. However, at the beginning of the new century when the Irish economy was doing well migration reduced (about 15,000 a year) and many migrants choose to return. Unfortunately with the Eurozone crisis and global recession many Irish have started to migrate again. In 2010 it was estimated about 1% of the population left (42,000).

The reasons for Irish migration are varied. One of the largest migrations was triggered after the Great Famine during the 1840's (1 million people are believed to have migrated during the 7 year famine). Other factors may have included discrimination by the British and a lack of economic opportunities. There are now significant Irish diasporas in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Chile, Mexico and Argentina.

Because there are now so many people of Irish descendent living around the World, you get a lot of people claiming that they are Irish, but in fact are not. People claiming to be Irish who or nor, or even Irish people who were born outside Ireland are often called "Plastic Paddies". Legally great grandchildren (4 generations) of migrants can claim Irish residency as long as their parents and grandparents both claimed citizenship before they were born.

Because of Irish migration, a lot of Irish culture is now known and celebrated around the world. Most major cities have at least one Irish pub, Guinness is available in nearly every country, curling and Gaelic football are played in many countries. Leprechauns and four leaf clovers are often considered to be lucky and bangers and mash is a common international dish. Irish music has also been popularised through musicians like U2 and Sinead O'Connor. Irish dancing is performed globally and many countries have St. Patrick's Day parades - New York hosts a major parade each year.

Because of the large scale migration out of Ireland, there are some now very famous people around the World that claim Irish descent, including the likes of; Che Guevara, John F Kennedy, Ronald Regan, George Clooney, Mel Gibson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Henry Ford.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_diaspora

Ireland faces new wave of emigration - BBC article

Will these Irish migrants be different from the past? - BBC article

Irish historical records emigrating online - BBC article

BENEFITS CREATED BY LARGE DIASPORA

PROBLEMS CREATED BY A LARGE DIASPORA

Improved economic links with different countries
Increased political influence around the World
Irish culture (music, food, dance, drink, etc.) has been spread around the World
It has increased tourism in Ireland, both migrants visiting their homeland and foreigners interested in Irish culture
An increase in revenue for Irish companies like Guinness
Global support for Ireland's sporting teams (rugby, football, cricket, etc.)
Possible remittances from migrants living overseas

Loss of workers ("brain drain")
Potentially large numbers (millions) of people who could claim Irish citizenship and move back to Ireland causing overcrowding
Many wrongful claims of Irish citizenship or descendency
Exploitation of Irish culture, possible dilution of Irish culture
Break up of families (with improved genealogy websites it is now only becoming possible for people to trace their routes)
Possible political and economic interference from people living outside the country
Possible dependency on outside help e.g. remittances

The Dani

The Dani are an indigenous group that live on the island of New Guinea. The island of New Guinea is divided between Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya (part of Indonesia). The Dani live on the Indonesian side. The Dani number close to 200,000. They live along river valley's at altitudes of between 1200 metres and 2100 metres. The weather is tropical (warm, wet and humid) and the vegetation is thick rainforest. About 100,000 Dani live along the "Grand Valley" of the Baliem River and further 90,000 live along smaller tributaries. The Dani were uncontacted for nearly 25,000 years so they developed very unique customs, languages, religion, etc. Aspects of their culture include:

Housing: Men and women live separately but have communal areas for cooking and ceremonies. Houses have earth floor and thatched roofs.
Clothing: They very little clothes, the men wear a phallocrypt over their penis and the women a grass skirt.
Food and farming: Sedentary farming with sweet potato being the main crop. Land was owned but poor soil meant that diets were poor. Pigs were eaten on special occasions and there was some hunting of birds and small marsupials.
Ceremonies: The pig feast held every 3 to 6 years was the most important
Social structure and marriage: Dani are split into two groups the Weya and Wonda. Marriage was between opposite groups. Polygamy was allowed with men marrying at about 20 and women 12. Women have their menopause induced at about 20. After family deaths women removed a finger and men an ear lobe.
Warfare: Each village was believed to be separate so could go to war with each other. Spears and arrows were used during fighting, which was often short lived and there were not many deaths.
Religion: They believe in spirits and ghosts and saw things around them as living e.g. rain was believed to be urine.

The Dutch colonised Irian Jaya in 1848 although did not travel deep into their interior although explorers like H.A Lorentz are believed to have met individuals. The first major contact was made by American Richard Archbold in 1938. He spotted them when he flew his plane over the area. He made numerous visits in the coming years. Missionaries from the Netherlands arrived by 1954. The arrival of the Missionaries changed the Dani in a number of ways including:

Over 80% converted to Christianity and more took biblical names
People married later and polygamy was discouraged
There was less subsistence farming and greater trade (markets) and improved diet
Healthcare and literacy rates both improved
Money was introduced and warfare discouraged

After the Dutch left (decolonised) the Indonesian government moved in to Irian Jaya (1962). They too had significant impacts on the Dani including:

More were forced to wear clothes and more Western style houses were constructed
Indonesian language was introduced and loyalty to the state was demanded
Christian missionaries left and Islam was introduced
The variety of foodstuffs was increased and people lived more as nuclear families
There was a return to some inter-tribal warfare

The Indonesian government and the Christian missionaries are not the only people that have had an impact on the Dani, tourists also started arriving in 1984. The tourism peak was in 1996 when over 6,000 visited the Dani. Again tourists changed the Dani in a number of ways including:

Created greater materialism as tourists carried cameras, sleeping bags, etc.
There was a greater dependency on outsiders as more money was introduced
More Western clothes were worn and greater desire for Western luxuries
Many aspects of culture became acted and not real

external image dani-tribe-no-fingers.jpg

Cultural Imperialism

Cultural imperialism: The practice of promoting the culture values or language of one nation in another.

Cultural dilution: Local cultures becoming less pronounced as they are influenced by outside (foreign) cultures.

In the past cultural imperialism has been associated with colonialism. When the UK colonised large parts of the world they took with them their language (English), their sports (rugby and cricket), their forms of transport (railways), their dress (suits), their legal system, police system etc. and imposed it upon their colonies. Now cultural imperialism is more associated with economic forces, although former colonial powers often have some influence over many of their former colonies e.g. The Queen is still head of state for many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Jamaica, Canada, Belize and New Zealand. The US currently has the World's largest economy and has been able to export its control and influence through the commodities of its TNCs e.g. Google, Ford, McDonald's, Walmart. America's cultural imperialism has sometimes be described as Westernisation and/or Americanisation. Cultural imperialism may also take place via global institutions like the IMF, WTO and World Bank (many of which are heavily influenced by the US and Western Europe). Five common areas that are often studied to look at the impacts of cultural imperialism are:

Language: There are currently over 6,000 languages spoken around the World, but half my disappear by 2100. Although Mandarin is spoken by the most people, English is becoming the dominant international language.
Tourism: Tourism is one of the World's largest industries and at the moment it is mainly citizens from developed countries (US, UK, Germany, Japan) that can afford to travel internationally and spread their culture (although they also experience new foreign cultures).
Global Brands: Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, McDonald's are all brands recognised and used around the World.
The Media: Disney, Time Warner, HBO, BBC , CNN, etc. all have enormous influence in terms of the television programmes made and aired as well as the music played and the news reported.
Democracy: The US as well as organisations like the World Bank and the UN have often promoted Democratic Capitalist systems over systems like Communism.

As well as controlling culture through the economy and media, it has also been suggested that some countries impose culture and ideas through their military and/or electronically. This maybe through occupation, many people claim that the US and its allies are trying to impose their ideals of Afghanistan and Iraq through occupation. China has also been accused of imposing its ideas through its military presence in Tibet and its state wide censorship of the media.

ADVANTAGES OF CULTURAL IMPERIALISM	DISADVANTAGES OF CULTURAL IMPERIALISM
There may be a greater variety of commodities available It may mean new technologies are introduced Language skills may increase Economic development may take place as trade increases between two locations	Places around the World become increasingly homogenised (the same) Local cultures are lost or diluted (language, dress, food, music, etc.) Local businesses maybe forced out of business they can't compete with large international TNCs Economic and political exploitation e.g. resources may be stripped

State multiculturalism has failed says David Cameron - BBC article

Nicholas Sarkozy Says France has too many Foreigners - BBC article

Merkel Says German Multicultural Society has Failed - BBC article