Cultural Development and National Identity
What culture includes
Culture is the learned, shared way of life of a group: knowledge, beliefs, values, norms, customs, language, arts, dress, food, technology and institutions. Material culture is the physical objects; non-material culture is ideas and rules. Distinguish norms (expected behaviour) from values (shared ideals), and note that sanctions enforce them.
Identity and change
National identity is the sense of belonging to a state, built through shared symbols (flag, anthem, currency, monuments), language policy, education, sport and national events; subcultures exist within it. Know: ethnocentrism (judging others by one's own standards), cultural relativism, cultural diffusion, acculturation, assimilation, multiculturalism, cultural imperialism, and heritage in tangible and intangible forms. Botho - the Setswana idea of shared humanity and good conduct - and the kgotla are often used as examples of the values and institutions underpinning national identity. The central tension is between preserving tradition and modernising.
Traps
Cultures are dynamic; treating tradition as frozen and 'pure' is a trap. Identity is not the same as nationality, ethnicity or citizenship. Diffusion is borrowing; invention is creating. Assimilation (a group loses its distinctiveness) differs from integration (it keeps it while participating).
Rule of thumb
For any cultural change - tourism, media, migration - ask three questions: what is gained, what is lost, and who decides? Development that removes a community's voice in that trade-off is not cultural development.