Cultural diversity

Cultural diversity is about having many different cultures instead of just one. It means seeing different kinds of art in museums or enjoying entertainment from around the world. It also includes the many ways people live and their traditions, whether in one place or all over the planet.

Cultural diversity can change because of government rules that affect what art people can see or laws that protect artists' rights. It can also be influenced by choices about money, like allowing products to move between countries or supporting local products.

Since the middle of the 1900s, many countries have worked together through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to help keep cultural diversity alive. This work happens on big scales, like between countries, and on smaller scales, like in towns and cities. Everyone can support cultural diversity by choosing how they experience and show culture in their own lives.

Characteristics

Cultural diversity means having many different cultures instead of just one. It includes things like art, traditions, and the way people live. There are five main ways people think about cultural diversity:

• Economic: Having many different kinds of cultural products, like books, music, and movies, available to enjoy.
• Artistic: Seeing many different styles of art and music together.
• Participatory: Many different groups of people taking part in a country’s culture.
• Heritage: Keeping many traditions alive in places like museums.
• Multicultural: Having many different ethnic groups and their traditions in a country.

When countries talk about cultural diversity, they often focus on helping their own cultural products, like movies and music, succeed worldwide. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as UNESCO, helps countries work on cultural diversity around the world. They also talk about how cultures interact and share ideas with each other.

Quantification

It can be hard to measure cultural diversity. One way is to count how many different cultures exist. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs says that small groups known as indigenous peoples represent around 5,000 different cultures.

We can also look at the number of languages spoken. Sadly, many languages are being lost. Studies by David Crystal found that a language stopped being used every two weeks. James Fearon from Stanford University made a list in 2003 of countries with many different ethnicities, languages, and religions.

International legal context

Since 1945, UNESCO has helped protect cultural diversity through important agreements and laws. At first, these agreements focused on protecting things like art and buildings. Later, people realized it was also important to protect traditions, skills, and ways of living.

In 2001, UNESCO made a big statement about cultural diversity. This helped create a special day each year on May 21 to celebrate cultural diversity. In 2005, UNESCO created a special agreement to protect cultural diversity, which many countries agreed to follow. This agreement also started a special fund to help countries develop their own cultures and traditions.

Main article: UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity

Main articles: Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

Factors

Cultural diversity, like the variety of life in nature, can be threatened from many directions. These threats can come from other cultures, such as when entertainment from one country makes people less interested in their own traditions. Other factors include changes in religion and modern education systems. Things that help protect cultural diversity include migration and when a country welcomes and celebrates different cultures.

Governments, international groups, and non-governmental organizations can either support or limit cultural diversity.

Main article: Cultural imperialism

Colonialism often tried to replace the languages, religions, and traditions of colonized people with those of the colonizers. Protecting the rights of indigenous peoples to keep their languages, religions, and cultures is important and is supported by treaties like the 1965 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Artistic freedom lets artists create without government interference and lets people access many different kinds of cultural content. Governments can limit these freedoms through censorship or watching artists too closely, or they can choose to protect artists and their free expression.

Travel can be hard for artists and cultural workers, especially those from the Global South. They need to travel to perform, attend programs, or meet others. But getting a visa can be difficult.

Governments can help protect cultural diversity by supporting the rights of artists. This includes making sure artists can form groups, have safe working conditions, and have support when they aren’t earning money.

There is still a gap between men and women in the arts world. Women are often paid less and are not chosen as leaders as often as men.

Between 2015 and 2017, some trade agreements included parts that support cultural diversity. The internet has made it easier to access many cultures.

Organizations like Google Arts and Culture and Europeana try to share many different cultures.

People can help cultural diversity through their own choices. The "Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion" campaign, started in 2011 by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), encourages people to learn about and share different cultures. It helps people explore music, books, art, and traditions from places they are not familiar with and to share their own cultures with others.

National and local initiatives

In September 2002, the city of Porto Alegre in Brazil held a big meeting about culture. Mayors and culture experts from many cities around the world joined people from civil society. The cities of Porto Alegre and Barcelona wanted to create a guide to help cities make their own culture plans. This guide was like something called Agenda 21, made in 1992 for the environment. The new guide was called Culture 21 and it aimed to support different cultures locally. The guide was officially approved on May 8, 2004, during the first Universal Forum of Cultures in Barcelona.