Cultural Movement and Identity Politics Limanungsang longkumer / Deemed University, India Abstract The term culture is one of the most slippery and allusive terms in the vocabulary of social and political theory. One broad meaning of the term culture refers to the body of beliefs and practices governing the conduct of the relevant area, be it a specific activity, an aspect of human experience, an organization or human life as a whole. Cultural movement and its identity politics are composed of the attitudes, beliefs, emotions and values of society that relate to the political system and to political issues. These attitudes may not be consciously held, but may be implicit in an individual or group relationship with the political system. But nevertheless, an awareness of the basis and identifying the political culture will allow a more detailed picture of the political system. But nevertheless, an awareness of the basis and identifying the political culture will allow a more detailed picture of the political system to emerge. The term culture is one of the most slippery and allusive terms in the vocabulary of social and political theory. One broad meaning of the term culture refers to the body of beliefs and practices governing the conduct of the relevant area, be it a specific activity, an aspect of human experience, an organization or human life as a whole. Although different cultures define and relate them differently, every culture or way of life might be thought of as having the following components. It includes a body of beliefs including ideas, images, myths, maxims and proverbs pithily expressing its collective wisdom, in terms of which its members understand themselves and the world and assign meaning and significance to their lives, social relations, action and utterances. Culture tends to possess rituals, traditions of music and arts, written or unwritten literature, through which they express collective emotions, experiences and self- understanding. Two cultures might and often do share common practices, but the ways in which they justify them and the meaning and importance they assign to them could be, and are generally, quite different. Two cultures, again, might share some common beliefs, but they might define them differently and derive very different practices from them. All cultures, for example, value human life, but disagree about when it begins and ends and what obligations and rights entails. The individuality of a culture lies not only in its beliefs and practices but also in the way in which they are inter-related and from an intelligible whole. Immense intellectual and cultural stirrings characterize 19 th century India. The impact of modern western culture and consciousness of defeat by a foreign power give birth to a new 1
awakening. The different movements in the 19 th century led to the development of social and religious consciousness among Indians. The 19 th century may be, therefore call as the period of cultural reformation and awakening in Indian history. In its term, the awakening was made possible due to the spread of western education and ideas; emergences of a number of forbears who were strongly imbued with the ideas of reforms; the proliferation of newspapers and literary magazines; and the spread of Christianity. Raja Ram Mohan Roy and his Brahmo samaj pioneered the cultural reforms movement in the beginning of 19 th century. He was pained by the stagnation of contemporary Indian society, which was at that time dominated by the caste and convention. Popular religion was full of superstitions and was exploited by ignorant and corrupt priest. The upper classes were selfish and often sacrificed social interest to their own narrow interest. He believed that modern culture alone would help regenerated Indian society. In particular he wanted his country man to accept the national and scientific approach and the principle of human dignity and social equality of all man and woman. He also wanted the Introduction of modern capitalism and industry in the country. Thus, as far as Roy was concerned, there was to be no blind reliance on Indians on past or blind aping of the west. On the other hand, he put forward the idea that new India, guided by reason, should acquire and treasure all that was best in the east and the west. Thus he wanted India to learn from the west; but these learning was to be an intellectual and creative possess through which Indian culture and thought were to be renovated; it was not to be an imposition of western culture on India. Ram Mohan represented the first glimmerings of the rise of national consciousness in India. The vision of an independent and resurgent India guided his thoughts and actions. He believed that by trying to weed out corrupt, elements from Indian religions and society and by preaching the vedantic message of worship of one God, he was laying the foundations for the unity of Indian society, which was divided into divergent groups. In particular, he opposed the rigidities of the caste system which, he declared, has been source of want of unity among us He believed that the caste system was doubly evil; it created inequality and it divided people and deprived them of patriotic feeling. Thus according to him, one of the aims of religious reform was political uplift. He brought out journals in Bengali, Persian, Hindi and English to spread scientific, literary and political knowledge among the people, to educate public opinion on topics of current interest, and to represent popular demands and grievances before the government. A radical trend arose among the Bengali intellectuals during the late 1820 s and the 1830 s.this trend was known as the Young Bengal Movement, Which was inspired and led by Young Anglo Indian Henry Vivian Derozio.He inspired these students to think rationally and freely, to question all authority, to love liberty, equality and freedom, and to worship truth. Derozian 2
carried forward educating the people in social,economic,political and cultural questions through newspapers,pamplets and public associations. They carried on public agitation on public questions such as the revision of the company s charter, the freedom of the press, better treatment for Indian labour in British colonies abroad, trial by jury, protection of the ryots from oppressive Zamindars, and employment of Indians in the higher grades of government services. Surendranath Banerjee, the famous leader of the nationalist movement, described the Derozians of the nationalist movement, described the Derozains as the pioneers of the modern civilization of Bengal, the conscript father of our race whose virtues will excite veneration and whose failings will be treated with gentlest consideration. It was only after 1813 they took active steps to transform Indian society and culture. The rising industrial interest wanted to make India a big market for their goods. Science and technology also open new vistas of human progress. The 18 th and 19 th century witnessed a great ferment of new ideas in Britain and Europe, which influence the British out look towards Indian problems. The Christian missionaries and religious minded persons such as William Wilber Force and Charles Grant also encouraged the policy of modernizing Indian culture. From the very beginning it was in the main, through the Indian language press and literature that the reformers carried on their struggle. To enable Indian languages to play this role successfully, they undertook such humdrum tasks as preparation of language primers, etc. Infact, the spread of modern and reformist ideas and the movement among the mass of the people occurred primarily through Indian languages. It was their thought and activity that were to have decisive impact on the making of a new India. Electronic-Media have increasingly replace life performance and participate activities with passive consumption of cultural products created by Hollywood and American industries, now giving way to highly centralized, profit-driven transnational co-operations. Accompanied by other social changes-increasing urbanization and social mobility, for instances-this changes have disrupted cultural traditions around the world. More and more, a shallow, homogeneous market culture attracts young people away from the traditions of their parents and grandparents generations. These forces have rise concern for sometimes, but their acceleration force has finally brought them to the foreground. Cultural movement and its identity politics is composed of the attitudes, beliefs, emotions and values of society that relate to the political system and to political issues. These attitudes may not be consciously held, but may be implicit in an individual or group relationship with the political system. But nevertheless, an awareness of the basis and identifying the political culture will allow a more detailed picture of the political system. But nevertheless, an awareness of the basis and identifying the political culture will allow a more detailed picture of the political system to emerge. In Britain there is a wide spread acceptance of the belief that socially superior 3
individuals are best suited to political division making; this can be termed the differential aspect of the British political culture. The British political culture is a mixture of tradition and modernity. An aristocratic political structure has adapted itself to an urban industrialized economic and social structure without major discontinuities. Mass parties have grown, there has been some working-class entry into political participation, and the concept of an egalitarian society battle with the notion of differences, and there is thrust in the elite political leadership, producing a harmonious conservative policy. The mass of the people do not feel alienated from the existing political structure as witnessed by the high voting figures and the support for the two major political parties, but few play an active role in the political decision making process, and there is a lack of knowledge and interest in public politics generally. Thus it is a political culture of hierarchical traditional values interspersed with more recent liberal democratic and collectivist value. A civic culture contributes to the stability and effectiveness of democracy. But a democracy that literally delivers the goods engenders the supportive attitude, which while sustains the political system in the future. The experience of higher education majors an optimistic view of human nature strengthens humanitarian values and encourages a belief in the ability of politicians to solved social problems. Indeed the contract between the values of the educated elite and the least educated section of the population is a source of tension in many political cultures. A new generation of past materialists emerged young, well educated people whose concerns centre on life style issues such as ecology, nuclear disarmament and feminism; where older generations valued order, security and fixed rules in such areas as religion and sexual morality post materialists de emphasized political and religious authority, placing more emphasis on self expression and flexible rules. No discussion of identity politics is complete without an assessment of religions. As a source of cultural identity in many countries, this is because of religions power to legitimate or delegitimate secular authority; in the pre-modern world, religion directly legitimized all aspects of society, religion and government formed an integrated system; religion was, to a large extend, political culture. However, church and state later became distinct organizations, a division which ultimately enables secular rulers to achieve a more independent position as the source of their authority switched from God to the people. In a developing world, religion has become the culture of the dispossessed, and it is a major device through which those who feel distanced from society can articulate their frustration. Especially for poor people in highly unequal societies, religion is a powerful voice of political protest. Islamic fundamentalism rejects foreign domination.the slogan neither east nor west became a clarion call of the Iranian revolution and played a substantial role in the revival of Islam else where. Today strong Islamic movements in developing countries are often a form of protest 4
by people who have suffered most, but gained least, from economic growth linked to the west. It illustrates the extent to which religion, like other forms of political culture, operates internationally, responding to inequalities between, not just within nations. As globalization proceeds, interaction and friction between civilizations will intensify, producing a high potential for conflict. Global culture is a primarily a western product. American culture, in particular, has proved to be uniquely exportable. Global culture is not neutral between civilizations; it inevitably reinforces the strength of the leading power. India provides an illustrative example of colonial domination extended over a long period of time, and the gradual introduction of the Westminster model of government. There was indirect rule in the case of the princely states, but the British system of councilor local government was established in other areas. In stable liberal democracies, the boundaries of the political system are fairly firmly drawn. There is a belief in the limitation of government activity. Thus the freedom of the individual is emphasized, and at the same time, there is an expectation of benefits for the individual ensuing from government activity. This again stems from the basis of trust in political leadership, and a belief that all the participants will respect the unwritten rules of the political game. One of the most marked cultural divisions occurs between tradition and modern sub-cultures. This features is evident in many of the newer nations, where a small elite has been modernizedhas been socialized in the specific universalistic or broad, and practical directions which typify modern cultures. But as we have noted, modern politics has demonstrated the continuing widespread existence of traditional elements in modern societies. The nature of individual socialization makes the double cultural style almost inevitable. In modern societies, the family, the school, and other socialization structures explore the child and youth to new and specifically political roles, and to a style based on achievement and universal values. To a greater or lesser degree, the citizen of such a society is socialized into the secularized political culture. Sharing a culture is a matter of degree. As we have seen a culture, is articulated at various levels and has several components. One might subscribe to some parts of it but not others; for examples to its system of meaning and view of the world but not to its customs and practices, or to the later but not to some of its values. There is often a dispute, sometime fierce, as to whether and when these departures amount to a rejection of the culture itself, and each culture either resolves it in its own way or faces a split. Most cultures contain a variety of cultural practices and such sub- cultures as these might throw up, and provide ways of coping with the internal heterogeneity. Just as a society with several religions or languages is multi-religions or multi-lingual, a society containing several cultures is multi-cultural. As such the society has a right and a duty to 5
preserve it, and to assistance its minorities into it. We might think that such assimilation is likely to provoke resistance or to involve an unacceptable degree of coercion, and decide reluctantly to tolerate minority cultures in the hope that over time they will either merge into the mainstream national culture or unobtrusively survive on its margins. We could argue that all cultures deserve respect and could enjoy the freedom and the opportunity to preserve and reproduce themselves. It is a normative doctrine advancing a specific view on how and entailing significant regulatory policy recommendations. The big vision is what unites all of us who are moved to create community cultural projects. The vision that we can make a difference that we can repair the world in some small way. Off course, our own local efforts seem funny when compared to the enormous, faceless forces we are up against. Few of us ever see the faces of those who might lead us into wars that will kill untold thousands. we are just as unlikely to meet the film and TV stars whom advertisers would like us to think of us our best friends and few of us will ever meet those who grow globally concentrated agribusiness, manufacturing, or resources extraction. What ever people s personal, motivation, active participation rich through in cultural life and identifying its politics is an important goal in cultural development. And organizers of cultural projects have learn that this goal is best met by working with people where they are learning about their interests, ambitious and concerns, and creating projects around them. Out of the relationships that result, a more active, engaged, community life can grow. Equally important to encouraging active participation as a bedrock valve for a community cultural development is the promotion of cultural diversity. To live successfully in diverse communities, we must constantly struggle with our animal tendency to assert our superiority over the other. Just as democracy is a goal that can never be perfectly achieved, the struggle against racism or sexism or any xenophobic prejudice like anti- immigrant feeling or bias based on religion or cultural background-is unending. This does not mean that community cultural development must always be reduced to a struggle against these forces, though urgent circumstances often demand that we enter this battle. The beauty of what has emerged through community cultural work around the world teaches something rather different; that working toward something-toward the goal of cultural diversity can make similar ends. It must however be emphasized at this stage that such honest and philanthropic Englishmen were few and that their influence was never decisive so far as the British administration of India had to occur the broad limits imposed by the needs of matter of fact, the policy of hesitant and weak within easier and more thorough exploitation of its resources. As a modernization was gradually abandoned after 1858 as Indians proved apt pupils, shifted rapidly towards modernization of their society and assertion of their culture. And demanded to be ruled in accordance with the modern principles of liberty, equality and nationality. 6