Shepherds, Rituals, and the Sacred

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Frascaroli
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Biocultural Diversity ◽  
Sacred Places ◽  
Western Modernity ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Natural Site ◽  
Sacred Natural Sites ◽  
The World

An association between the sacred and places or natural features is known in virtually every part of the world. Some tangible implications of this link, however, have been brought to the forefront only in recent years. Ecological and anthropological studies are demonstrating that not only are sacred places frequently found near major landmarks; these revered patches of land—commonly named “sacred natural sites”—also tend to shelter significant biological and cultural diversity. Therefore, these areas represent crucial conservation hotspots. Here, I use findings from my research in Central Italy to discuss the concept of “sacred natural site” from the perspective of emerging theories of biocultural diversity. In particular, I suggest that a biocultural view of these sites defies typical dichotomizations of Western modernity. The manifestation of the sacred in the world can thus be seen as a foundational moment that embraces and supersedes both of the opposite poles of nature and culture, and is cyclically reenacted through ritual. I conclude that ritual and processual interplays between humans and non-humans are crucial for sustaining the resilience of these sites.

scholarly journals ECOTOURISM ON THE SACRED NATURAL PLACES

2019 ◽  
pp. 168-177
Author(s):  
Vitaliy Andriyovych Sych
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Sacred Places ◽  
National Monument ◽  
Sacred Natural Sites ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Sacred Forests ◽  
High Level

Goal. The purpose of this article is the theoretical justification for the possibility of developing ecotourism in the natural sacred places of the world. Methods. In this regard, the main tasks of the scientific work on the subject are: the coverage of forms and approaches to the use of associative cultural landscapes, which combine a high level of landscape diversity and cultural characteristics of indigenous peoples, for the needs of tourism. Results. The article gives examples of the development of eco-tourism within sacred natural sites, among which the New Zealand national park "Tongariro", which annually visits about a million tourists; The Kenyan Sacred Forests of Kaya, and the American National Monument, the "Devil's Towers", which has attracted climbers from all over the world for a long time. Scientific novelty. Revealed opportunities and shows the ways in which the access of ecotourists to sacred natural places is realized in the world. Practical significance. Ecotourism shows a great potential. Subject to the requirements of tourists regarding respect for the value system of indigenous and locals, ecotourism can evolve in the territories of sacred natural places.

The Role of Music and Allied Arts in Public Writings on Cultural Diversity: “People of Sri Lanka”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Gisa Jähnichen
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
The World ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Way

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.

Is There a Place for Minorities' and Indigenous Peoples' Rights within ASEAN?: Asian Values, ASEAN Values and the Protection of Southeast Asian Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byung Sook de Vries ◽  
Anna Meijknecht
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Asian Values ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
The World ◽  
The One

AbstractSoutheast Asia is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world. Nevertheless, unlike minorities and indigenous peoples in Western states, minorities and indigenous peoples in Asia have never received much attention from politicians or legal scholars. The level of minority protection varies from state to state, but can, in general, be called insufficient. At the regional level, for instance, within the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), there are no mechanisms devoted specifically to the protection of minorities and indigenous peoples. In December 2008, the ASEAN Charter entered into force. In July 2009 the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights were adopted. Both the Charter and the ToR refer to human rights and to cultural diversity, but omit to refer explicitly to minorities or indigenous peoples. In this article, the extent to which this reticence with regard to the protection of minorities and indigenous peoples is dictated by the concept of Asian values and ASEAN values is explored. Further, it is analysed how, instead, ASEAN seeks to accommodate the enormous cultural diversity of this region of the world within its system. Finally, the tenability of ASEAN's policy towards minorities and indigenous peoples in the light of, on the one hand, the requirements of international legal instruments concerning the protection of minorities and indigenous peoples and, on the other hand, the policies of the national states that are members of ASEAN is determined.

scholarly journals One World, One Sky: Outreach in a Multicultural, Multilingual Metropolis

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (H16) ◽  
pp. 656-656
Author(s):  
M. Reid
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Underserved Communities ◽  
The World ◽  
Widespread Access ◽  
The Ideal

As cities around the world grow more and more diverse, we must take this diversity into account in developing outreach activities and materials. The International Year of Astronomy in 2009 brought a lot of attention to the needs of underserved communities and developing countries, emphasizing the ideal of widespread access to astronomy outreach. Increasingly, however, we find that some of the same challenges facing underserved communities and developing countries are also present in modern metropolises. Conveniently, the linguistic and cultural diversity of our cities is more and more accurately reflected among the astronomy community. The diversity of the astronomical community itself creates opportunities for effective multicultural, multilingual outreach.

Can Animism Save the World? Reflections on Personhood and Complexity in the Ecological Crisis

Sociologus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Guido Sprenger
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
Moral Commitment ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
Human World ◽  
Communicative Processes ◽  
Politics Of Life

The term “animism” is at once a fantasy internal to modernity and a semiotic conduit enabling a serious inquiry into non-modern phenomena that radically call into question the modern distinction of nature and culture. Therefore, I suggest that the labelling of people, practices or ideas as “animist” is a strategic one. I also raise the question if animism can help to solve the modern ecological crisis that allegedly stems from the nature-culture divide. In particular, animism makes it possible to recognize personhood in non-humans, thus creating moral relationships with the non-human world. A number of scholars and activists identify animism as respect for all living beings and as intimate relationships with nature and its spirits. However, this argument still presupposes the fixity of the ontological status of beings as alive or persons. A different view of animism highlights concepts of fluid and unstable persons that emerge from ongoing communicative processes. I argue that the kind of attentiveness that drives fluid personhood may be supportive of a politics of life that sees relationships with non-humans in terms of moral commitment.

Religiosity Rejected

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-254
Author(s):  
Renee Lockwood
Keyword(s):  
Belief Systems ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Religious Organization ◽  
Western Modernity ◽  
Collective Group ◽  
Ultimate Concern ◽  
The World ◽  
Traditional Sense ◽  
Religious Nature

As the descendant of Werner Erhard's 1970s Human Potential group est (Erhard Seminars Training), Landmark Education has continuously denied being a religious organization. Despite ample discourse on the religious nature of the group within popular online and print media, a conspicuous void within academia - particularly within Religious Studies - speaks volumes. Rarely are the boundaries of what constitutes a ‘religion’ expanded in order to explore those groups that, though not understood to be ‘religious’ in a traditional sense, clearly contribute to contemporary 'spiritual' life. And yet, that Landmark Education is perceived as being somehow religious demands deeper analysis. This article highlights the problematics of 'religion' within late Western modernity as illustrated by the contention surrounding the religious status of both Scientology and Transcendental Meditation. A discussion of Landmark Education is offered in light of these issues, along with a dissection of the religio-spiritual dimensions of the organisation and its primary product, the Landmark Forum. Incorporating several eastern spiritual practices, the highly emotional nature of the Landmark Forum’s weekend training is such as to create Durkheimian notions of 'religious effervescence', altering pre-existing belief systems and producing a sense of the sacred collective. Group-specific language contributes to this, whilst simultaneously shrouding Landmark Education in mystery and esotericism. The Forum is replete with stories of miracles, healings, and salvation apposite for a modern western paradigm. Indeed, the sacred pervades the training, manifested in the form of the Self, capable of altering the very nature of the world and representing the 'ultimate concern'.

scholarly journals Cultural Diversity in the Home Ground - How Archaeology Can Make the World a Better Place

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
Mats Burström
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World

We are separated from the prehistoric past by a cultural distance. In the past, people had different cultural beliefs and ideas from us, and in this respect they lived in another world. Therefore, our home ground wherever it happens to be situated —contains a cultural diversity; to meet the past is to meet the foreign. This realization can hopefully lead away from one-sided searches for the roots of one's own group of people. lnstead it can form the basis for a greater interest in and understanding of cultural pluralism in the past as well as in the present.

scholarly journals Pengembangan Tekstil Berbasis Motif dan Nilai Filosofis Ornamen Tradisional Sumatra Utara

Panggung ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daulat Saragi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
The North ◽  
The World ◽  
Local Patterns ◽  
Fashion Designers ◽  
North Sumatra

ABSTRACTEthnicity and cultural diversity of North Sumatra is the pride of the communities who contribute to the wealth of cultural heritage. Nowadays, a textile development has been successfully explored with a variety of ornaments and its philosophical values, and it has been brought into fashion trends. The North Sumatra ornamental motifs contribute to the world of fashion today. Fashion designers pay big attention to the advance of the complexity of ethnic motifs in the development of the textile world. The study was conducted by the method of documentation, observation, and interpretation of the meaning of the motifs. Verstehen method (understanding) is used to interpret the symbols of ornamental motifs containing the ideas of community. The result is an alternative of textile motif development of  North Sumatra-based on local patterns. With the richness of textile patterns raised from local ethnic of North Sumatra, make the fashion increasingly popular and in demand, and ultimately contributes to the development of the textile and fashion industry.Keywords: ornamental motifs, philosophical values, textile industry ABSTRAKKeanekaragaman suku dan  budaya Sumatra Utara merupakan kebanggaan masyarakatnya yang berkontribusi kepada kekayaan budaya Nusantara. Perkembangan tekstil dewasa ini berhasil mengeksplorasi aneka motif dan nilai filosofis ornamen tradisi dan mengangkatnya menjadi tren mode. Motif ornamen Sumatra Utara telah berkontribusi pada dunia mode saat ini. Perancang busana  melirik adanya suatu kekuatan corak etnis yang diangkat menjadi corak secara masif dalam perkembangan dunia tekstil. Penelitian dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode dokumentasi dan observasi, interpretasi atau pemaknaan, sekaligus melakukan penafsiran  terhadap data yang terkumpul. Metode verstehen (pemaaman) dilakukan terhadap motif-motif ornamen sebagai simbol yang mengandung ide-ide masyarakatnya. Hasil penelitian menjadi alternatif pengembangan motif tekstil Sumatra Utara yang berbasis corak lokal. Dengan semakin kayanya corak tekstil yang diangkat dari etnis lokal Sumatra Utara akan menjadikan dunia fesyen semakin digemari dan diminati, dan akhirnya berkontribusi terhadap perkembangan industri tekstil dan fashion.Kata kunci:  Motif ornamen, nilai Filosofis, industri tekstil

scholarly journals On Time and Other Things: Some Cartesian Dichotomies in Antarctica

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Sarah de Barros Viana Hissa
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Human Relations ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Internal Time ◽  
Time Consciousness ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way ◽  
Global Relations

Antarctica differs from all other regions in the world, not only from its unique geography, but also in the way humans understand it and have incorporated it into global relations. Considering Antarctica's distinctive landscapes and human relations, this paper discusses aspects of how time is humanly perceived in Antarctica. Basing on elements from different human occupations, nineteenth-century sailor-hunters and current incursions, this discussion approximates different historical groups in their experiences of Antarctica, connecting their personal lives, past and present. Meanwhile, also put into issue are the dualities that separate nature and culture, physical and relative time, and past and present, as well as the related notions of time in itself, perceived time speed and internal time consciousness.

scholarly journals Educational Content of Today The Understanding of Architecture as a Collective Art

2019 ◽  
pp. 100-103
Author(s):  
Gro Lauvland
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Educational Content ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
The World ◽  
The Given ◽  
As If ◽  
At Home

Our understanding of the world is manifested in what we make and produce. Through the last 250 years there has been a change in the understanding of man´s place in the world. Our way of building is characterized by market economy and controlled production processes — as if we can control everything through our consciousness. Both the given nature and what is transferred to us through history, are regarded as resources made for us. Today our understanding of the world makes the cities more and more similar. This understanding of nature and culture challenges our human conditions. As human beings, we are embedded in the place, according to both Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In line with their understanding the Norwegian architect and theorist Christian Norberg-Schulz argued, for instance in Stedskunst (1995), that it is the qualities of the place we identify with, and which makes it possible for us to feel at home.

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