All in agreement? pt 2 no comments
Issue: How to reach a global consensus on the balance to be struck between the right to freedom of expression and content which should be illegal on the web.
Having decided upon Anthropology and Mathematics as my two disciplines, I have spent the past two weeks researching the basics of both and trying to narrow down which specific areas of the disciplines I will be applying to my issue. The subject of this post will be my current reading in relation to Anthropology …
Anthropology
This week I picked up ‘The Anthropology of Development and Globalization‘ by Marc Edelman and Angelique Haugerud from the library. Because the main crux of my issue is essentially that of assimilating the various views of nation states on where the line of freedom of expression should be drawn, I thought this book may provide an insight to how nation states have dealt with globalization through the eyes of anthropology.
Globalization has led to the increased integration of various places in the world economy and has resulted in improved transportation and communication systems (including the web) on multidirectional cultural flows.
This book is made up of a number of short essays, many of which have been interesting but one in particular has proven rather applicable. ‘Seeing Culture as a Barrier’ by Emma Crewe and Elizabeth Harrison, some points which I found particularly interesting were:
– The idea of traditions holding people back has a persistence across development industry
– Traditionalism is partly attributed to economic or ecological conditions, but is often conceived as being linked to a psychological or cultural disposition that is in some sense backward and prevents people from embracing modernity
– Characterisation of culture implies stasis unless a culture is influenced by ‘modern society’.
– Barriers to development due to ‘cultural rules’ are seen as much more immovable
In applying the discipline of Anthropology to my issue, the questions I am beginning to consider are:
– What elements influence nation states views on acceptable online content?
– What are the different approaches they take and why?
– Had nation states shown development in the content they allowed to enter circulation prior to the web?
Next post …
Mathematics!