March 30, 2006
Cultural Determinism and Democracy
Via Normblog, Amartya Sen on democracy and cultural determinism, in the WSJ.com's Opinion Journal.
The belief in the allegedly "Western" nature of democracy is often linked to the early practice of voting and elections in Greece, especially in Athens. Democracy involves more than balloting, but even in the history of voting there would be a classificatory arbitrariness in defining civilizations in largely racial terms. ...[T]there is reluctance in taking note of the Greek intellectual links with other civilizations to the east or south of Greece, despite the greater interest that the Greeks themselves showed in talking to Iranians, or Indians, or Egyptians (rather than in chatting up the Ostrogoths).Since traditions of public reasoning can be found in nearly all countries, modern democracy can build on the dialogic part of the common human inheritance... [T]he history of Muslims includes a variety of traditions, not all of which are just religious or "Islamic" in any obvious sense. The work of Arab and Iranian mathematicians, from the eighth century onward reflects a largely nonreligious tradition. Depending on politics, which varied between one Muslim ruler and another, there is also quite a history of tolerance and of public discussion, on which the pursuit of a modern democracy can draw. For example, the emperor Saladin, who fought valiantly for Islam in the Crusades in the 12th century, could offer, without any contradiction, an honored place in his Egyptian royal court to Maimonides, as that distinguished Jewish philosopher fled an intolerant Europe. When, at the turn of the 16th century, the heretic Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in Campo dei Fiori in Rome, the Great Mughal emperor Akbar (who was born a Muslim and died a Muslim) had just finished, in Agra, his large project of legally codifying minority rights, including religious freedom for all, along with championing regular discussions between followers of Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and other beliefs (including atheism).
Cultural dynamics does not have to build something from absolutely nothing, nor need the future be rigidly tied to majoritarian beliefs today or the power of the contemporary orthodoxy. To see Iranian dissidents who want a fully democratic Iran not as Iranian advocates but as "ambassadors of Western values" would be to add insult to injury, aside from neglecting parts of Iranian history (including the practice of democracy in Susa or Shushan in southwest Iran 2,000 years ago). The diversity of the human past and the freedoms of the contemporary world give us much more choice than cultural determinists acknowledge.
Posted by Robin Varghese at 03:49 PM | Permalink
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Comments
Great post!Amartya Sen has hammered away at the idiotic pretension that rational thinking is a Western monopoly.However he has evaded the elephant in the room,whats held the 'east'(or "south") back?No Galileos or Giordano Brunos to raise uncomfortable questions,no Luthers or Rousseaus to shakeup the status-quo.No equal rights, instead a retreat to sanctimonious piety when threatened.
Posted by: sumant | Mar 30, 2006 5:51:54 PM
I like the "elephant in the room" metaphor, Sumant! I may use it myself sometime when you're not looking!
As for why the "South" has lagged behind the West in certain modes of cultural development, I favor the Cole Porter theory: "Its Too Darn Hot" Anyone here in the Middle East will tell you that doing any strenuous work, or brainwork, in the summer without air conditioning is very tough. Just look at how set ideas about different social groups follow temperature gradients: Residents of the northern US think of those from the hotter southern states (irrespective of race) as slow witted and dumb. Like wise northern Italians look down on southern Italians as dumb and work shy, while Jews of Polish origin look down their noses at Moroccan Jews.
Today we worry about the effect of a few milliwatts of radiation entering our brains from cell phones, but what about the kilowatts of solar radiation? Our bodies have well-known physiological adaptations to heat, like dilation of peripheral blood vessels and sweating, maybe thought processes are slowed down too, it certainly feels like it.
Maybe natural selection favors certain brain types that adapt better to heat. Has this been researched?
The cumulative effects of millions of semi cooked brains could well have a slowing effect on a society's efforts to develop and innovate. Since the invention of air conditioning, the southern US states have advanced dramatically in terms of high tech industrialization.
If the heating effect really is important, is there anything to be done about it? You cant put air conditioning into every hut in Africa, but maybe it would make a difference if every kid wore a white hat to reduce heating of the cranium?
Posted by: aguy109 | Apr 1, 2006 5:09:05 PM
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