Material Cultural Heritage, Cultural Diversity

MaterialCulturalHeritage,CulturalDiversity,andSustainableDevelopmentYasminJalilMorenoPontificalCatholicUniversityofEcuadorWalterSantagataUniversityofTurin,ItalyandEblaCentreArifTabassumInstituteforDevelopmentStudiesandPracticesPakistanQuettaRevisedDraft03-06-2004ACEI,13thInternationalConferenceonCulturalEconomics,UniversityofIllinoisatChicagoDepartmentofEconomics,Chicago,IllinoisUSAJune3,4&52004Summary1.Introduction2.Material,Tangible,andIntangibleCulturalHeritage3.MaterialCulturalHeritage3.1Theanthropologicalview3.2Asociologicalapproach3.3Insearchforaneconomicdefinition4.paradigmaticmodelsofthevaluechainformaterialculturalheritage4.1Economicimportanceofselectedsectorsproducingmaterial-culture-based-goods:aninternationalcomparison4.2Twoleaders,twopolicyoptions4.3Newmodelsarecomingup:China’sandItaly’svaluechainscompared5.Strategicchoicesforsustainableeconomicdevelopment5.1Theindustrialandculturaldistricts/clustersformula5.1.1Culturaldistrictsformaterialculturebasedgoods:thechallengingcaseofPakistan5.1.2Culturaldistrictsformaterialculturebasedgoods:thecaseofEcuador5.2CollectivePropertyRights5.3Businessdevelopmentservices5.4Indigenouscommunities6.ConclusionsonthedignityofmaterialculturalheritageandthesafeguardoftheworldculturaldiversityReferences121.IntroductionThispaperdealswithcultureandeconomicdevelopment.Thisconnectiononlyafewdecadesagodidn’tmuchmattertotheofficialsofnationalgovernmentsandinternationalinstitutions.Materialculturewasjustasignofcivilizationandtheeconomicdevelopmentwasbroughtforthbymassiveinvestmentsinthemodernindustrialsector(Lewis,1954;Hirshman,1958;TodaroandSmith,2003).Notsurprisingly,cultureistodayacknowledgedasaneconomicasset(WorldBank,1999;Throsby,2000)andtheroadtotheeconomicdevelopmentgoesalsothroughlocalizedindustriesmadeupofmicroandsmallsizedfirmsproducinggoodsbasedonmaterialculture(Santagata,2000).Thegeographyofmaterialcultureshowsaworldwidediffusionofhandicraftproducts.Idiosyncrasyofculture-basedgoods,humancreativity,technologicalinnovation,naturalhabitatand“secondaryenvironment”arethemainsourcesofdifferencesinthelocalizedproductions.Theculturaldistrictsorclustersaretheindustrialsystemsthathostthelocalpresenceofmicroenterprises.Defendingmaterialculturemeansconsequentlydefendingculturaldiversity.Thispaperwillconsideranoldphenomenonthroughthelensoftheeconomicdiscipline:itfocusesonmaterialculture,andisdividedinthreeparts.Inthefirstone-sections2and3-theanthropological,sociologicalandeconomicdefinitionsofmaterialculturalheritagearepresented.Inthesecondpart-section4-themainissuesconcerningthevaluechainofmaterialculturalheritagewillbediscussedbycomparingtheexperienceofdevelopingcountrieswithtwoparadigmaticmodels,i.e.ItalyandChina.InthisparttwocasestudiesofPakistanandEcuadorwillalsobediscussed.Thethirdpart-section5-willbeaimedtoanalyzehowcanmaterialculturalheritagebeusedasastrategicassetforsustainableeconomicdevelopment,especiallyforlocalcommunities,withtheinitialsupportofinternationalagenciesandprogressivelybythemselves,giventhathighqualitygoodsandservicesbasedonmaterialculturecangroundaself-sustainedendogenouseconomicdevelopment.Theconclusionswillfocusuponthedignityofmaterialculturalheritageanditsroleinsafeguardingtheworldculturaldiversity.2.Material,Tangible,andIntangibleCulturalHeritageThispaperdeals,tobemoreaccurate,withmaterialcultureandendogenouseconomicdevelopment.Itaimstoshowtheeconomicvalueandthespecialeconomicorganizationofgoodsbasedonmaterialculturalheritage,i.e.thespecialareaborderingonintangible-oralandtangible-naturalculturalheritages.ThroughtheWorldHeritageConvention,since1972,andtheProclamationofMasterpiecesoftheOralandIntangibleHeritageofHumanity,since2003,UNESCOnowrecognizestheworldwidevalue3ofboth:thetangibleculturalandnaturalheritage,asthehistoriccentreofFlorence,GalapagosIslandsortheFortandShalamarGardensinLahore,andtheintangibleandoralheritage,suchasthedancesandcostumesoftheRoyalBalletofCambodia,oldastheKhmercivilization;theoralepicofthe“al-Sirahal-Hilaliyyah”survivinginEgyptfromgenerationstogenerations;thedances,songsanddrumsofthe“TumbaFrancesa”,expressionoftheAfro-HaitiancultureperformedtodayinCuba;ortheManifestationsofthe“ZáparaPeople”inEcuadorandPeru.Neverthelessmaterialculturalheritage,inwhichtheintangibleessencecannotbedisentangledfromthetangibleessence,isnotconsideredasaspecificandautonomousnotion,closetoartsandcrafts,andtotheeffortshumankindhasmadetoimproveitshabitatanditslivingconditions.Notwithstandingthegrowingattentionpaidtothespecificcomponentsofhumanculture,itwillbeclaimedinthispaperthatmaterialculture,theoldestexpressionofourcivilization,isinsomewayunderestimated.Itsautonomousandtacitacknowledgmentislimited,mainlybecauseoftheoldstereotypeaboutthelowquality/loweconomicvalueofhandicrafts,theprimaryproductsofmaterialculture.Moreoverstatisticalinformationdiffersamongcountries,andtherearenoworldwidelegaldefinitions.Asaresult,materialcultureisobjectoftoolittleconsiderationinculturalprogramsandeconomicdevelopmentstrategies.AlsointheUNESCOprogramthereisaclearo