By giving universal recognition to cultural diversity, Javier Pérez de Cuellar invalidated with all his authority a hierarchical notion of development. That revolution was of the first magnitude. Suddenly, he overturned the hitherto vertical and uneven scale of cultures to make it horizontal and egalitarian. This setback raises, however, two problems for those who are concerned with reformulating development policies in Latin America. How to attempt to mobilize the creative cultural resource found in each of the target populations of these policies, without falling back on a "Culturalism" that would give "favorable points" to some and negative to others? And how could this positive recognition of cultural diversity be reconciled with the parallel phenomenon of brutal cultural change brought about by the globalization of reference models?
Keywords:
Latin America, Cultural Diversity, Cultural Change, Development Policies, Participation
Author Biography
Guy Hermet, Fundación de Ciencia Política de París
Profesor principal de la Fundación de Ciencia Política de París; autor de numerosos libros sobre cultura y política, y es un conocedor y analista de problemas de América Latina.
Hermet, G. (2000). ¿Diversidad cultural o cambio cultural? : posibilidades y obstáculos del desarrollo participativo. Estudios Internacionales, 33(129), p. 3–17. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-3769.2000.14945
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