Globalization

What is
Globalization?
Global industrialism
or globalization is a

process of forging
international
political,
economic,
religious, and
socio-cultural
interconnections

7-11 Beijing

KFC Kuwait

The best definition of globalization

Princess Diana's death

An English princess with an Egyptian boyfriend

crashes in a French tunnel, driving a German car with a
Dutch engine, driven by a Belgian who was drunk on
Scottish whisky, followed closely by Italian Paparazzi, on
Japanese motorcycles; treated by an American doctor, using
Brazilian medicines.
This is sent to you by an American, using Bill Gates's
technology, and you're probably reading this on your
computer, that uses Taiwanese chips, and a Korean monitor,
assembled by Bangladeshi workers in a Singapore plant,
transported by Indian lorry-drivers, hijacked by
Indonesians, unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen, and
trucked to you by Mexican illegals..... (from the web)

What kinds of things cross international borders?

Trade goods and services.

You can buy a TV from China, car from Japan, clothes from Indonesia or Italy.
You can hire someone from India to write software or answer your telephone

Capital money, investment

You can put your savings into a bank in Zurich.
You can buy stock in SONY, a Japanese company

People immigrants, refugees, tourists

Immigrants come to Calgary from Asia, Africa, S. America, Europe
You can easily travel to Europe, Asia, S. America

Communication
You can easily call or email people around the world

Culture (art, music, cuisine)

You can hear music from Brazil, South Africa, India
Nearby restaurants: Chinese, Thai, Ethiopian, Indian

Ideas

Marginal Product Revenue Theory

Equilibrium is achieved

where supply and demand

meet in a competitive
market.
The business world does
not like equilibrium
because it limits profits.
The more unique the
offering the more the
company can charge in
excess of their costs.

Call Center India

Marginal Product Revenue Theory

The Result: business will always seek

new markets and new products to offer.

When did Globalization begin?

Obsidian Trade
in the Neolithic
(6000-3000 BC)

Economic globalization is as old as history, a reflection of the

human drive to seek new horizons.

The Silk Road: a series of trade

routes 8,000 km long connecting
China, Asia Minor and The
Mediterranean. Parts were
opened up about 5000 BC.
Connections between China and
Europe established with
Alexander the Great c. 330 BC

It was Marco Polo and

Christopher Columbuss occupation

The first era of globalization (in

the sense that it encompassed the
globe) began during the 19th century
with the rapid growth of
international trade between the
European imperial powers
Marco Polo 1271-1295

This process was severely interrupted

from World War I through the
depression of the 1930s and World War
II until it restarted again, but slowly, in
the 1950s.

The pace has picked up in recent

decades, thanks to several driving
forces:
1. improvements in information
technology
2. Trade liberalization
3. capital flows
4. Cheap travel
5. Less rigorous immigration policies
6. Marketing

Cost of a 3-Minute Telephone Call,

New York to London
(Constant 1990, U.S. $)

$0.30

The Global Village

We live in a world in which all regions
are in contact with one another through
the mass media, instantaneous
communication, intercontinental travel,
and highly integrated economic and
political networks.
And it is changing cultures

Mobile phone tower Tanzania

Is Globalization Good or Bad?

a banner the protestors carried in

front of the IMF building in
Washington April 2000 read:
"worldwide coalition against
globalization".

McDonalds has
become a symbol
of globalization

Globalizations impact has, generally, been viewed pessimistically

For large parts of

Africa, about 200
million people
live, on less than
$1 a day.
Is Globalization
the cause or the
cure?
(Photo: STR / AFP-Getty Images

Cons

Increased environmental damage

increased poverty, inequality, injustice
erosion of traditional culture
Corporations are motivated by profit
and have little concern for people
economic globalization developments
feed into ethnic, religious, and factional
tensions that lead to wars and help
breed terrorism
Terrorists now globally interconnected
and empowered with knowledge, create
a whole new category of warfare based,
in part, on the disruption of the
interconnections which are both created
by and necessary for globalization
Corporations shape political policy of
countries e.g. over fishing

Pros
increases economic
prosperity and opportunity
higher degrees of political
and economic freedom in the
form of democracy
Improved standard of living
reduction in poverty
Improved gender relations
Increased life-span

Globalization Issues
Poverty: Enhanced or Diminished?

Child Labor: Increased or Reduced?

Women: Harmed of Helped?
Democracy at Bay?
Culture Imperiled or Enriched?
Wages and Labor Standards at Stake?
Environment in Peril?
Corporations: Predatory or Beneficial?

Global Feminization of the Workforce

Globalization of the last two decades has led to increasing
participation of women in the workforce

Reasons

declining male participation

labour deregulation
need for non-skilled
temporary/part time workers
Rising divorce rates
Lower fertility rates
Infant formula
Periodic economic downturns
Rising cost of living
Globalization lower wages

Woman working in textile

Mill Slovakia

Impact on Womens Status

Growing importance of womens contribution to household
economy

Eroded male authority - have gained more negotiating power in

the household

women less dependent on mens wages leads to greater freedom

women redefine their domestic role and challenge the myth of male
breadwinner

but adds a burden to womens household roles

If they work but are still dependent on
the primary male wage earner they may
be seen as supplementary wage earners

Most women seen this way in workplace

where they are confined to poorly paid
unstable jobs

fish processing plant Morocco

Cultures in Contact

Cultural diffusion the spreading of a cultural trait from one

society to another, may not involve contact
Acculturation cultural diffusion where a subordinate culture
adopts many of the cultural traits of the more powerful culture
due to continuous contact

Cultural imperialism active promotion of ones cultural system

over another

Cultural hybridization the blending of global and local forces to

form a new culture

Cultural homogenization the obliteration of individual cultural

differences to form one uniform global culture

Cultural nationalism (ethnonationalism) the process of

protecting and defending a certain cultural system against
dilution or offensive cultural expression while at the same time
actively promoting the indigenous culture

Globalization: the paradox

creates economic conditions attractive to many peoples seeking a
better life
Dennis Okelo, left,
saved enough money to
open a village grocery
store in Uganda after
farming cotton and
selling it to Dunavant
Enterprises.

contributes to
undermining of
local cultures and
to the breakdown
of local societies

There are two main theses concerning the relation

between globalization and culture:

The cultural homogenization thesis holds that

Western domination of global mass culture threatens
to wash away distinct national cultures.

The hybridization thesis focuses on how local culture

shapes globalizaing forces to produce new versions
of the local culture to retain a cultural identity.

Global Culture: Homogenization

Technology (Internet, TV, cell phones etc.) is sweeping

away cultural boundaries creating the possibility and even
the likelihood of a global culture.
Global entertainment companies shape the perceptions,
values, and dreams of people, everywhere.

This spread of values, norms,

and culture tends to promote
Western ideals of capitalism and
consumerism.
Resulting in the disappearance
of local cultures, traditions, and
identities replaced by a single
commodity/ single identity world
the Westernization of culture

Ladies only line Saudi Arabia

Asymmetry in Power Relations and Flows

Coca-colonization: Coke, McDonalds, Levis, MTV,
Disney, computer games, American (or American style) TV
shows, look-alike shopping malls with look-alike goods
the meaning of good, appropriate, success changes

Banana Republicanization

Move from the dominant to the weaker

Big Bird does China

like to teach the world to sing

 Globalism - a euphemism for

western cultural imperialism?

Russia

Israel

Japan

India

Global Culture as a Source of Universality

Globalization is
assumed to erase
differences among
human societies and
create a universal
culture in which
particular
characteristics of
national and local
cultures are no longer
relevant.

Beijing

On the main street of

Chennai, Tamil Nadu,
Dick Waghorne

250 million Chinese have learned

English as a second language

Culture becomes more homogeneous - Not in the sense

that all cultures are incorporated equally, but biased
towards American culture and those presented in English

Global Capitalist Monoculture

Incorporation of all national cultures into

the global capitalist economic system is
creating a universal culture of capitalism.
Penetration of multinational companies
into national cultures creates not only a
uniform process of production and its
associated forms of deregulation, but
uniformity of consumer tastes, choices
and habits.

Tokyo

Standardization
The overwhelming dominance of multinational
companies in the production of cultural goods
creates a convergence effect.
From clothes to food to
music to film and
television to
architecture, we
encounter similar styles,
brands and tastes
anywhere in the world.

 Will local cultures inevitably fall victim to this

global consumer culture?

Will English eradicate all other languages?

Will consumer values overwhelm peoples sense
of community and social solidarity?

Will a common
culture lead the way
to greater shared
values and political
unity?

Or will cultures
select elements to
Korea

Shortcomings of Globalization as a Source

of Universality argument

It reduces culture to material goods and consumption

patterns
It underestimates the persistence of national and other
local cultures
It assumes the dominance of global forces
It fails to understand the complex relationship between
global and local forces.
Globalization and its associated cultural forms are
constantly reinterpreted and reproduced in the process,
finally giving way to new hybrid social, economic and
cultural forms.

 A 2005 UNESCO report showed that cultural exchange is

becoming mutual.
In 2002, China was the third largest exporter of cultural
goods, after the UK and US.
Between 1994 and 2002, both North America's and the
European Union's shares of cultural exports declined, while
Asia's cultural exports grew to surpass North America.

Jackie Chan 1993

Global Culture?
Identity has intense
emotional ties
Cultural attachment is
bound in tradition
Mass marketing & pop
culture is no threat!
No common pool of
memories
No common global way of
thinking
Blurs boundaries

Thailand

Glocalization
globalization + localization

Enaotai Island, West PNG

Hybridization
Hybridization: mix and match from different sources, old &
new, local and global - music, popular culture, restaurants,
home decoration

Hybrids help negotiate change and continuity while helping

individuals to establish identity and difference in local
structures, social hierarchies

Hybridity involves integration of the global into the practice

of local life strategies

first introduced by Methodist missionaries early 1900s the islanders have

transformed the game into an outlet for tribal rivalry, mock warfare,
community interchange, and an afternoon of entertainment

an intervillage competition involving political reputation-building among

leaders, eroticized dancing and chanting, and wild entertainment.

Trobriand

cricket players still bat, bowl, score runs, field, and make outs.

The

sides, however, are no longer 11 players plus a reserve but are made up
from all the men of the competing villages. And average 60 players or more,
the main rule being that the sides must be roughly equal
Each

team brings its own "umpire" who

overtly declares outs and keeps his own
side under control while secretly
performing war magic against the
opposition.
The

main purpose is not to win by

scoring but to put on a fine display.
Chanting and dancing are a major part of
the repertoire of each cricket
Games end with an exchange of yams and betelnut between the two sides,
climaxing the politics underlying the event.

Elements of
Hybridization
Interaction between the
local and the global
Even though global
economic and political
forces enter into every
corner of the world,
local cultures reinterpret
these forces and create
local forms of global
forces to produce
complex hybrid forms of
culture.

Food provides an good example of hybridization

Mexican food is hybridized in the U.S. to create

Mexican-American food.
Along with Italian-American, Chinese-American, and
other hybridized cuisines
These new combinations may be unrecognizable and
even unpalatable in the originating society.
But they are highly
appreciated in the
hybridizing society by
both the immigrant
groups that seek to assert
their local identity and
the dominant culture

When Mexican food goes to Spain, it becomes

Mexican-Spanish food, different from both MexicanAmerican and its Mexican parent.
Thus, although the
local may reassert itself,
it is inevitably changed
by the new contexts in
which it arises.

no beef burger in India

A Russian/Uzbek drinking Coke from a

traditional Uzbek tea cup - Coca-Colonization?

McDonaldization
the process by which a society
takes on the characteristics of a
fast-food restaurant
(1) efficiency: fast, method of
production scientifically proven
(2) predictability: a world of no
surprise standard menu, taste,
dcor, service
(3) calculability: quantity rather than
quality
(4) Control: standardized
employees, non-human technology

McDonalds /Hong Kong

(1) Standardization: food, interior design,
layout etc.
(2) Initially presented itself as uncompromising
American food
- no Chinese name at first
- transliteration later
- no Chinese food
(3) Standard of cleanliness: clean washrooms
in restaurants
(4) Customer discipline: line up for food
(5) Idea of a regular meal: (a) exotic to
ordinary; (b) snacks versus meals
[customers: middle-class, like exotic
American culture all ages, all social
classes, look for a simple meal]

Local?
(1) Resistance of McDonalds? Involve in community
activities hard to attack
(2) Local choice of food: fish burger and plain
hamburgers rather than Big Mac as favorite, other
local favorites e.g. shogan burger, chicken wings
(3) Consumer discipline: service w/ a smile, busing own
tables, hovering, napkin wars
(4) Fast food restaurant? US: customers stay no more
than 20 minutes on average; HK: study room for high
school students, gathering place for senior people

Shortcomings of Global Culture as a

source of Hybridization argument
It ignores the inherent power structures that
exist in human societies and assumes that
people happily mix and voluntarily create new
identities.
It fails to acknowledge the influence of
dominant economic and political forces.
It fails to recognize that hybridization takes
place in urban settings and many parts of the
world is excluded from this process.

Elements of Conflict
Persistence of national and ethnic identities:
Since the mid 1980s, there is a gradual increase in
nationalist movements and ethnic conflicts. As global
forces penetrate into national and local cultures,
individuals turn inward and redefine their ethnic and local
identities as a reaction to globalization.
Resistance to global economy:
As the global economy diminishes the autonomy of local
economies, groups develop strategies to counter global
economic forces. Growing resistance to economic
globalization both in industrialized and industrializing
countries proves that global capitalism is far from being a
unifying force.

Global Culture as a Source of Conflict

Jihad Versus McWorld
Global Culture would be defined
by the conflict between the
universalizing force of capitalism
and the particular force of local
cultures. (Benjamin Barber)
This argument assumes that the
gradual Westernization of the
world will create strong
reactionary movements in local
cultures.

In August 1999, Jose Bove

was arrested for ransacking a
McDonalds restaurant in
Millau, France
He was seen as a hero fighting
against the pollution of French
culture by the Big Mac
Fear of an impending
McWorld and the globalization
it represents has unleashed an
increasingly strong backlash
against the possibility of
cultural homogenization.

Ethnic Trends - Ethnonationalism

People dont think government cares
about individuals
secessionist developments
Ethnonationalism as a reaction to
global processes (Qubcois, Scots)
Arose in European-colonized areas,
in eastern Europe after the collapse
of the Soviet Union
Ethnic group is a refuge from
globalization

Indigenous rights

What does indigenous mean?

UN definition
Indigenous populations are composed of the existing
descendants of the peoples who inhabited the present
territory of a country wholly or partially at the time when
persons of a different culture or ethnic origin arrived there
from other parts of the world, overcame them, and by
conquest, settlement or other means, reduced them to a nondominant or colonial situation.
also includes isolated or marginal
populations not colonized or conquered
also the idea that they are placed under
the state structure which incorporates
mainly the national, social and cultural
characteristics of the dominant society.

Indigenous Groups and Government

who is indigenous is decided by government ministers
national governments have different criteria because
indigenous groups may be able to claim state benefits
By such means governments are able to keep control over
the character and size of their indigenous populations
In Canada the federal Indian Act. defines
an Indian as "a person who, is registered
as an Indian or is entitled to be registered as
an Indian." Persons registered under the
Indian Act are referred to as Registered
Indian Status. To be eligible to receive
benefits under the Indian Act, individuals
must be registered in the Indian Register,
which is maintained by the Department of
Indian Affairs and Northern Development
(DIAND).

In USA you have to be

registered which means you
have to be able to trace
your relationship to an
ancestor who was
registered in 1906
indigenous peoples
themselves often reject
these state definitions and
emphasize culture and self
identification and
distinctiveness

RAIN-IN-THE-FACE
Sioux
Frank Fiske c. 1900

Populations
300 million indigenous people
about half of the countries in the world have an indigenous
population who do not Have the right to self determination

indigenous peoples are generally a demographic minority

Native Americans 1.5% of
Canadian population

Australian aborigines less

than 2% of the population

USA native Americans

about .5%

Sweden less than .1%

Globalization and Bands

Fourth world societies
Violent changes
Ethnocide
Genocide

Ethnographic examples:
Ju/hoansi in Namibia and Botswana
Mbuti Pygmies
Siriono of Bolivia (500)

Globalization and Tribes

North American horticulturists
Effects of contact
Forced relocation
Manifest Destiny
Trail of Tears

South American horticulturists

Yanomam

Pastoralists
Bedouins
Qashqai pastoralists
Iran

The Yanomami, had little contact with the rest of Brazil until the arrival of the
first garimpciros (gold miners) in the 1970s. By 1987 an estimated 80,000 miners
had flocked to the area, polluting rivers and spreading malaria. Decimated by
disease, the number of Yanomamis living in Brazil (many also live in Venezuela)
fell from 20,000 to about 8,000 in just 20 years. In Aug 1993 23 Yanomami Indians
were massacred by goldminers.. The dead included men, women and children who
were decapitated with machetes
In the words of Yanomami
representative "What we do not want
are the mining companies, which
destroy the forest, and the
garimpciros, who bring so many
diseases. These whites must respect
our Yanomami land. The garimpciros
bring guns, alcohol, prostitution, and
destroy nature wherever they go. The
machines spill oil into the rivers and
kill the life existing in them and the
people and animals who depend on
them. For us, this is not progress."

Chiefdoms, Resistance, Preservation

Chiefdoms
Hawaiian Islands

Resistance
Native Americans
Melanesia and New Guinea
Hawaiian Religion

Preservation

Relation to Land

Land contains their history and sense of identity and it

ensures their economic viability as an independent people

land is often the seat of indigenous peoples spirituality and

has a sacred quality generally absent from Western thinking

Ayers Rock/ Uluru, the world's largest monolith and an Aboriginal

sacred site located in the Kata Tjuta National Park, which is owned and
run by the local Aboriginals. The Australian government handed
ownership of the land back to the Aboriginals some years ago.

land is often revered and respected and its inalienability

is reflected in indigenous philosophy

land is seen as a living entity which can neither be

claimed for oneself or subjugated

unlike Westerners who see land as something that can be

controlled, subdivided, and owned.

Buffalo Hunt under the White Wolf

Skin: An Indian Strategem on the
Level Prairies After George Catlin,
undated

Across the Continent: "Westward the

Course of Empire Takes Its Way"
Frances F. Palmer, 1868

This

spiritual rapport with the land is at odds with the

prevailing materialist notions of Western society

natural resources that are

left untouched by indigenous
peoples are often considered
wasted and are exploited

economic activities which do

not extract the greatest
commercial benefits are
judged inefficient and primitive

Terra nullius (no mans land)

As a consequence the way of life of indigenous peoples, is
threatened by this attitude of cultural superiority and
materialism.

The struggle in the last two decades has centred on land

and their culture.

Situation of Indigenous Peoples

less access to medical care since live mostly in rural areas
more likely to be unemployed than the majority
paid less than comparable workers and generally in lower
paid manual jobs

governments in most countries with an indigenous

population, have created special agencies for their welfare

more often than not these bodies serve as mechanisms of

control over indigenous minorities and thereby compound
the discrimination talking place elsewhere
1990, the Supreme Court held that Oregon
could deny unemployment compensation to
two Native Americans dismissed from their
jobs for using peyote as part of tribal religious
rituals under the states narcotics laws

receive less opportunities for schooling

basic education is often hampered by an absence of any
lingua franca --- in Brazil 120 different languages

education is usually in the dominant language

locations means that education is inaccessible, especially if
nomadic

where formal education is

available it is often
antagonistic to the traditions
of indigenous people

It does not impart

indigenous culture and few
efforts are made to
accommodate to the needs

education

is often seen as a means of gaining control of

indigenous peoples and subverting their culture

Missionaries, teachers and governments have recognized

that the way to civilise their indigenous communities was to
take hold of the children before their parents could teach
them the tribal way of life.

Indigenous cultures
often thought to be
inferior and needed to
be bred out of them

 Assimilation or partial assimilation of indigenous peoples

has led to despair at the loss of traditional social cohesion

This, coupled with disillusion over limited opportunities

offered by the wider economy has created serious problems
among indigenous communities

violent and accidental deaths and high suicide rates

alcoholism and prostitution

The Issues
1. Self-determination

tied in with all aspects of life - political, economic,

social, and cultural-how people choose to live

seeking to assert their political voice along with their

economic, cultural and social perpetuation and
development

the most problematic topic

Questions the legitimacy of
the settler regimes

the establishment of
Nunavut may be an indicator
of change

April 1 1999

2. Intellectual property rights

for medicines developed from plants and traditional

medical practices of indigenous peoples

Until recently in many cases little or no compensation has

been given to the tribe which had preserved and actually
discovered the medicine.
In late 2000, the World Intellectual
Property Organization established the
Intergovernmental Committee on
Intellectual Property and Genetic
Resources, Traditional Knowledge and
Folklore to address both policy and
practical links between the Intellectual
Property system
and the concerns of practitioners and
custodians of traditional knowledge.

3. Control over the exploitation of natural resources

located on the traditional indigenous lands.

At present these
resources are
usually claimed by
the settler society

which gets any

fees or profits from
exploitation with
little regard to the
needs or desires of
the indigenous
peoples

The coal-fired Navajo Generating Station near

Page, Arizona provides electrical power to
customers in Arizona, Necada and California.
The ownership is:
U.S.Bureau of Reclamation 24.3%
SRP 21.7%
LA Dept. of Water & Power 21.2%
Arizona Public Service Company 14.0%,
Nevada Power 11.3%
Tucson Electric Power 7.5%

4. Preservation of cultural traditions and languages

a high priority for many indigenous peoples since

Language is the most efficient means of transmitting a
culture and identity is most closely associated with language

Most majority societies have been extremely reluctant to

allow the use of indigenous languages in formal
governmental activities.

languages spoken by a
minority of people in the
nation are often held in low
esteem, causing its speakers
to avoid using it or passing it
on to their children
Trinidad Pacaya Inuma, one of the
remaining 150 fluent speakers of Iquito
(Peru).

Whale Hunting Among the Makah

Place: Neah Bay, on the Olympic

Peninsula in Washington State

May 17, 1999- 1st Gray Whale

Killed in 75 years by Indigenous
Whale Hunters

Media Coverage Explosion

Debates upon two recurrent
Themes: Indigenous Rights and
Environmental Impacts of
Whaling

Makah Whale Hunter Curtis (1915)

Makah buthcer a whale (c.

1905-10) Washington State
Historical Soc.

The Whale Debate

1.

2.

3.

What were the Makah

trying to protect by
returning to whale
hunting?
What were
environmental groups
who opposed the
Makah whale hunting
trying to protect?
Should the tradition of
whaling should be
continued?

5. Compensation for the theft of land

and property by the settler societies.

Includes return of artefacts now in

museums

also return of skeletons and the right

to bury them according to tradition
9000-yr-old Kennewick Man found near
Kennewick Washington July, 1996.
Under the Native Am. Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act, 5
Native American groups (the Nez
Perce, Umatilla, Yakama, Wannapum,
Colville) claimed the remains as theirs,
to be buried by traditional means.
Feb 2004 US Court of Appeals rejects
claims

The totem pole from Star

House, Massett village.
Queen Charlotte Islands
(Haida Gwaii), Canada.
Now at the Pitt Rivers
Museum, Oxford

local indigenous peoples want development

that address their needs,

that are inclusive of their cultural values,
that respect their collective identities, and
that provide sustainable development for their
communities.

Development with Identity.

Human development is first and foremost about
allowing people to lead the kind of life they
chooseand providing them with the tools and
opportunities to make those choices

The politicization of horticulturalists living in the rain

forests of Eastern Brazil.
culture
Mid 1970s Terrence Turner
The Kayapo
discovered 700 of 800 of one group
had died of disease. total pop:
4,000

A state organization controlled

their trade and communication
with the outside, and embezzled
their cash from the nut crop

The Kayapo felt dependent and

in a situation over which they
had no control

 Missionaries
provided
medicine in
exchange for the
Kayapo's
adopting western
clothes, building
their village along
a street, and
suppressing their
ceremonials

The anthropologist proceeds as

if what is being studied is 'a
culture'. In the process, what
people had hitherto experienced
as an embedded way of life
becomes objectified and
verbalized - invented - as 'culture'.
The Kayapo did not see it like
that: it was just the way they did
things
Kayapo chief wearing a
feather headdress
which establishes his
rank and smoking
natural tobacco in a
traditional ironwood

They did not have a concept

through which to objectify and
label their everyday life as a
'culture'.

they needed such a

A Kayapo chief wears the

traditional botoque through his
lower lip. The plate is made out
of balsa wood, and is a sign of
courage meant to frighten the
enemy.

concept to deal with

their situation: to give
them an identity and
distinguish themselves
as a 'culture' on a par
with other indigenous
people and vis--vis the
dominant national
society in an multiethnic state system.

The Kayapo realized that

what missionaries and
state administrators used
as justification for
subordination and
exploitation, another set of
Westerners valued highly.

'Culture', which had

Young Kayapo girls painted
with Jemipapo, a black paint
which is made from
Jemipapo fruit crushed and
mixed with fish oil.

seemed an impediment,
now appeared as a
resource to negotiate their
co-existence with the
dominant society

After a Disappearing
World documentary was
made, the Kayapo sought
further documentaries so
as to reach the sympathetic
elements in the west.

In 1989 the Kayap protested a government proposal to

build hydroelectric dams along the Xingu River which would
have flooded much of their territory
When they arranged to meet the Brazilian government to
oppose the dam, they choreographed themselves for the
western media in order to gain support of the western
audience and add pressure on the government.
Their appeal aroused worldwide support and the project
was shelved.

Gone were the shorts, T-shirts

and haircuts that had appeased
the missionaries; with men's bare
chests, body ornament and long
ritual dances, the Kayapo
performed their 'culture' as a
strategy in their increasingly
confident opposition to the state.

by the 1990s the Kayapo had

obtained videos, radios,
pharmacies, vehicles, drivers and
mechanics, an aeroplane to patrol
their land, and even their own
missionaries.

Kayapo had learnt to

objectify their everyday life
as 'culture' (in the old sense)
and use it as a resource in
negotiations with
government and
international agencies.

Kayapo politicians seem to

have been fully aware of the
constructedness of 'culture'

They presented themselves

as a homogeneous and
bounded group

They defined 'culture' for themselves and used it to set the

terms of their relations with the 'outside world'

In a history spanning forty

years, missionaries,
government officials, the
Kayapo, anthropologists,
international agencies and non
government agencies had all
competed for the power to
define a key concept, 'culture'.

Missionaries and government

Kayapo girls dancing
during the Jemipapo
ceremony. Note the girl at
the lower center with the
traditional Kayapo haircut.

agencies initially had used the

concept to define an entity that
could be acted upon, producing
disempowerment and
dependency among the Kayapo.

The Kayapo strategy to wrest control of this concept from

missionaries and government officials and turn it against
them was part of a struggle not just for identity but for
physical, economic and political survival.

Kayapo leaders have used ethnographic film to assert

their own definition of their 'culture' and used the
strategies others have used against them to challenge
the processes that have marginalized them