Traditional societies and global interactions Simon Oakes Traditional
Traditional societies and global interactions Simon Oakes
Traditional societies and global interactions Definitions Indigenous people Traditional society One that has not been exposed to modernising processes, and has instead remained smallscale and pre-industrial Uncontacted tribes Tribal groups who have yet to make contact with the outside world and whose existence may only be known about through satellite imagery Ethnic groups who have enjoyed the uninterrupted occupation of a place for long periods of time (pre-dating any arrival of more recent migrants) UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007 international agreement, intended to protect the rights of tribes
Traditional societies and global interactions Introduction • Throughout the world, some ancient tribes continue to live quite separately from the rest of global society. • However, few remain entirely disconnected from globalising processes. • Many tribes no longer live entirely traditional lifestyles. Due to tourism and trade, their culture has been modified, becoming a hybrid of the ancient and the modern. • The only truly non-globalised societies that remain are a small number of uncontacted tribes. These are social groups who have yet to make contact with the outside world. • South America’s Amazon rainforest — still an enormous wilderness region, despite on-going road-building programmes — is home to the world’s largest number of uncontacted tribes.
Traditional societies and global interactions Where in the world?
Traditional societies and global interactions Case study: the Jarawa • Gill Miller’s article in Geography Review Vol. 28, No. 1 looks at the Jarawa tribe. • Their traditional culture has so far survived on Middle and South Andaman Island (total population 400, 000) but is now under threat.
Traditional societies and global interactions Changing demography • Traditional societies have a low rate of natural increase. • Out-migration reduces their numbers. • Incomers migrate into their territory in search of land. • The result is social marginalisation. • Can you see the evidence for this? Population change in the Andaman islands
Traditional societies and global interactions Issues • Interactions with the modern world have had harmful consequences for the Jarawa and other traditional societies. • The UK’s Observer newspaper launched a campaign to help the tribe.
Traditional societies and global interactions A different view • Some traditional societies have learned to coexist happily with the modern world. • They enjoy some of the benefits of modernity — such as football. • Recent news reports from Brazil showed members of the Kuikuro tribe enjoying the 2014 World Cup. • 15 Kuikuro Indians obtained tickets to watch Russia vs South Korea. They gained their tickets via an allocation for the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and attended the match in the central western city of Cuiaba. • Chief Afukaká, who is 65, is said to be a great football fan. • Find out more — despite the potential language barrier — at http: //oglobo. com/brasil/indios-fazem-turismo-em-cuiaba-em-manausbolao-12907468
Traditional societies and global interactions The uncontacted tribes • Some small-scale traditional societies have remained completely cut off — or switched-off — from the rest of the outside world, right up to the present day. • In northwest Brazil, where the vegetation cover is a lush and dense tropical rainforest canopy, small settlements have remained undetected. This region is home to the world’s largest number of uncontacted tribes. • Some have been identified by aerial flights and satellite images but have not yet been visited by government workers. • Should they be contacted?
Traditional societies and global interactions Class discussion • Should the rest of the world interact with these uncontacted tribes? Is there a moral case to do so? Do they deserve to be told about modern technology, medicine…and football? • Or should we instead try and protect them, along with their unique lifestyles, from change? • If we contact them, are there useful things we could learn from the way they still live? • The next two slides provide some additional information to help you arrive at a viewpoint.
Traditional societies and global interactions The costs and benefits of isolation Advantages Disadvantages ‘Sustainable’ ecological living ‘Left out’ of globalisation Maintaining a unique culture No access to modern medicines Maintaining a unique language Poor infant survival rate ‘Non-commercial’ lifestyle No knowledge of the world’s economic opportunities Protected from modern-day disease Left unaware of other societies’ achievements (music, art, literature)
Traditional societies and global interactions Two viewpoints These people need to have special protection. They don’t know the government exists. They don’t know Brazil exists. What are the needs of these people? A healthy environment. The absence of white man and roads. And environmental protection. And that’s it. … But our society wants to do the opposite. We want to clear large areas of the Amazon to grow soya. These things are clearly in conflict with one another. Having lived with isolated tribal populations throughout Amazonia since 1966 I take exception to the quote attributed to Sydney Possuelo: “Uncontacted Indians live in a lost paradise. ” Not exactly. It is often a brutal world of lives cut short by disease and homicide from intertribal warfare. Ask the Indians of Ecuador and Peru if they wish to go back to the days before modern medicine and the end of revenge killings. Cultural change is inevitable. To think otherwise is misguided romanticism. Sydney Possuelo (ex-FUNAI) John Walden MD (letter to National Geographic Sept 2003)
Traditional societies and global interactions Essay plan This is an useful topic to help develop A 2/IB Diploma essay-writing skills. ‘All societies enjoy the benefits of a shrinking world’. To what extent do you agree? • The ‘shrinking world’ concept involves our changing sense of proximity to other places as a result of technology. • The internet and cheap air travel are technologies that make distant places feel nearer for their users. • However, not everyone has access to these technologies to the same degree. • Think about how traditional societies fit into the bigger picture of globalisation. Are they all truly isolated?
Traditional societies and global interactions This resource is part of Geography Review, a magazine written for Alevel students by subject experts. To subscribe to the full magazine go to www. hoddereducation. co. uk/geographyreview
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