This is a paper abstract I wrote for the 'ISTR Sixth International Conference' which was held in Toronto between July 11th and 14th, 2004. This paper was selected for a poster presentation, but as I was not given a travel scholarship [they were magnanimous enough to offer conference registration scholarship] and I was not too keen on spending money from my own pocket for a trip to just show some papers, I did not participate. For that matter I did not complete this paper either for various extraneous reasons [which certainly seems to be the story of my life these days]. Anyways, thought I'd post it here to live off past glory for a few more moments...
Cultural Exclusion and Social Capital – An inclusive role for Third sector
(A case study of Tibetan refugees at Bylukuppe in the state of Karnataka)
"Nowadays, the young generation hardly takes any interest in Tibetan music. They want rap and techno. They prefer electric guitar to traditional instruments like the dranyen," - - Dorjee Rapten ( Jay Shankar, AFP, Published by the Canada Tibet Committee, Friday, July 27, 2001)
Nothing can be more despairing for the developing world, when cultural exclusion comes from within. Economic marginalization, cultural exclusion and political alienation have compounded the problems of refugee communities. The number of refugees has grown exponentially over the years, all over the world. From the malnourished African countries to developed western countries, refugees have been created because of economic, political and racial reasons. Their problems continue despite efforts by International agencies. To make matters worse, these refugees lose their identity continually vis-à-vis their counterparts from their land of refuge.
The main reason for economic exclusion is the blind implementation of western development paradigms by cash starved developing economies without any thought as to whether such a model is sustainable in the particular region it is being adopted. Sustainable and eco-friendly methods followed by the natives are considered “traditional” and hence primitive and naïve. Emphasis is on the western or euro-centric vision of modernization rather than on “traditional” models of sustainability.
Huge subsidies are offered by developed economies to their own farmers. They are also adopting protectionist measures like import restrictions on agricultural produce from the developing economies. These measures have led to the marginalisation of farmers in developing countries, resulting in the exodus of the rural poor into the cities in search of work. These people are refugees in their own land, driven away from their ancestral homes and heritage and thrown into the great unknown – the urban ghettos.
Refugees fleeing their native lands due to political and racial persecution usually choose a country which they consider better suited for their survival. But more often than not, they end up in camps set up exclusively for them, monitored and constantly policed. These camps, where people from the same political and racial affiliations are put together, are usually the breeding grounds for strong and often militant political underground, working against their erstwhile oppressors. On the positive side, they also form closely-knit societies rooted in their culture and history. The problem of the displaced is in their inability to get assimilated into the mainstream of their chosen land and the lack of opportunities for them to be self-sufficient.
More than 100,000 Tibetans live in India as refugees after their failed 1959 uprising against Chinese aggression, and their government-in-exile is in Dharmashala.
Lugsung Samdulping, situated in the town of Bylakuppe, 225 kilometers (140 miles) southwest of the Karnataka state capital Bangalore, was the first Tibetan settlement in India, formed in 1960. It now spreads over 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) and is the home to more than 36,000 Tibetan refugees living in five settlements in and around Lugsung Samdulping and has monastaries, nunneries, primary health care clinics and hospitals.
This settlement is different from the usual refugee camp models as the people here enjoy the same freedom and facilities as the native Kannadigas ( people of Karnataka ) do. The refugees here are involved in agriculture, leather industry and garment industry selling their produce in the nearby tourist attractions like Bangalore, Mysore, Coorg and Ooty. By studying this camp, this paper attempts to study the impact of cultural exclusion on the development of social capital. The paper makes an attempt to understand how a focused third sector involvement could help in developing a positive social capital.
Cultural Exclusion and Social Capital – An inclusive role for Third sector
(A case study of Tibetan refugees at Bylukuppe in the state of Karnataka)
"Nowadays, the young generation hardly takes any interest in Tibetan music. They want rap and techno. They prefer electric guitar to traditional instruments like the dranyen," - - Dorjee Rapten ( Jay Shankar, AFP, Published by the Canada Tibet Committee, Friday, July 27, 2001)
Nothing can be more despairing for the developing world, when cultural exclusion comes from within. Economic marginalization, cultural exclusion and political alienation have compounded the problems of refugee communities. The number of refugees has grown exponentially over the years, all over the world. From the malnourished African countries to developed western countries, refugees have been created because of economic, political and racial reasons. Their problems continue despite efforts by International agencies. To make matters worse, these refugees lose their identity continually vis-à-vis their counterparts from their land of refuge.
The main reason for economic exclusion is the blind implementation of western development paradigms by cash starved developing economies without any thought as to whether such a model is sustainable in the particular region it is being adopted. Sustainable and eco-friendly methods followed by the natives are considered “traditional” and hence primitive and naïve. Emphasis is on the western or euro-centric vision of modernization rather than on “traditional” models of sustainability.
Huge subsidies are offered by developed economies to their own farmers. They are also adopting protectionist measures like import restrictions on agricultural produce from the developing economies. These measures have led to the marginalisation of farmers in developing countries, resulting in the exodus of the rural poor into the cities in search of work. These people are refugees in their own land, driven away from their ancestral homes and heritage and thrown into the great unknown – the urban ghettos.
Refugees fleeing their native lands due to political and racial persecution usually choose a country which they consider better suited for their survival. But more often than not, they end up in camps set up exclusively for them, monitored and constantly policed. These camps, where people from the same political and racial affiliations are put together, are usually the breeding grounds for strong and often militant political underground, working against their erstwhile oppressors. On the positive side, they also form closely-knit societies rooted in their culture and history. The problem of the displaced is in their inability to get assimilated into the mainstream of their chosen land and the lack of opportunities for them to be self-sufficient.
More than 100,000 Tibetans live in India as refugees after their failed 1959 uprising against Chinese aggression, and their government-in-exile is in Dharmashala.
Lugsung Samdulping, situated in the town of Bylakuppe, 225 kilometers (140 miles) southwest of the Karnataka state capital Bangalore, was the first Tibetan settlement in India, formed in 1960. It now spreads over 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) and is the home to more than 36,000 Tibetan refugees living in five settlements in and around Lugsung Samdulping and has monastaries, nunneries, primary health care clinics and hospitals.
This settlement is different from the usual refugee camp models as the people here enjoy the same freedom and facilities as the native Kannadigas ( people of Karnataka ) do. The refugees here are involved in agriculture, leather industry and garment industry selling their produce in the nearby tourist attractions like Bangalore, Mysore, Coorg and Ooty. By studying this camp, this paper attempts to study the impact of cultural exclusion on the development of social capital. The paper makes an attempt to understand how a focused third sector involvement could help in developing a positive social capital.
5 comments:
cap'n am not too great at writing papers. i struggle to write them but considering that i choose to be in academics, i have no other option than to get myself to write.
am not sure if you'd like some comments on the content of the abstract. are you planning to complete this paper sometime?
i am researching on the influence of human and social capital performance of small entrepreneurial firms. maybe we should meet up and chat sometime.
I like the subject of this paper - I have been thinking on it for some time.
A good place to begin would also be to study a case of successful integration of a refugee population in the general population. The Sindhi community, for example. The sindhis have coped in an absolutely brilliant manner socially, not gone into hatred or crime - instead, becoming businessmen and traders. Cultural values play a huge role here. The spiritual leaders of the Sindhi community have also probably had a major influence.
Some minor aberrations have, of course, crept in. For example, I notice that Sindhi parents who have seen the chaos of partition firsthand have not been emotionally supportive parents to their own children - perhaps the pain has isolated them in some way.
All in all - One can study an existing case that turned out successfule - derive pointers from that, and emulate that model to apply to any refugee population.
Again - nice subject.
atra, being a minority itself is such a blessing in disguise for business communities. especially in cultures where 'face' and reputation are strong societal norms. the advantage is that these minories can 'decouple' from these norms and display business behaviour. this decoupling is especially important to recover credit.
thats a good observation, imp.
You point out that being a minority allows a group of individuals to assert their differences clearly - no matter what the differences may be (in this case, displaying business-like attributes).
One can take this to mean that a business commmunity would benefit more by remaining a minority and perhaps a non-native community.
As a corollary, then, a business-oriented community should seek primarily to remain unique and distinct from the rest of the populace, and remain migrant at all times, in some way or the other.
Interestingly, this precisely seems to be the path of the world's most successful and most dominant business community - the Judaic people, who have always insisted in maintaining a separate identity in every country that they have been, since over three thousans years.
well this concept of decoupling has been put forward by mark granovetter, who has come up with many path breaking ideas on 'strenght of the weak tie' and 'embeddedness of economic actions'. his thoughts on the latter have spear-headed the revival of the field of economic-sociology (which in the past had the likes of Weber)
Post a Comment