The issues of what roles an individual plays in making up a community have become substantial topics of debate in the modern effort to integrate cultures on an international level. This study will examine the role that the community plays in the development of the individual as well if this evolution has an impact on the community’s efforts to become part of the global neighbourhood. The ability to first examine case studies that illustrate the issues facing communities in a starkly divided community, will illustrate what influences these combined attitudes can have on international efforts.
Beginning with a base overview of the impact of the community on the individual, this study will establish a foundation upon which to build. Following this section will be an analysis of the role that the community plays in the global effort to integrate. A combination of the initial section will enable a credible demonstration as to the future of the global efforts to come together.
In the end this study will have examined base practice, modern expectations, and future potential with the stated goal of determining the impact that the individual has on the development of the world wide community.
Community and the Individual
Royce (40) defines the term provincialism as any form of social disposition, custom, and form of speech or civilization that is specific to one province or region. The unique attributes that exist in the dialects of regions around the world can be classified as provincial. Widely employed to denote differences in speech, the term provincialism can just as equally be applied to fashions, manners and individual customs held by any one region around the globe (40). This demonstrates that the term provincialism will have equal merit in the social habits in a region as well as the mental process that inspires and creates these social examples. Royce (42) continues on to argue that the need to recognize the critical nature of positive provincialism will enable a better transition to an international community.
History is full of examples of provincialism that has had detrimental influences (Royce 42). Including elements of the American Civil War, there is a real need to identify and eliminate the detrimental forms of provincialism that can create a perception of negativity that can serve to destroy any worthwhile efforts. Hawaii holds a complex history that has the capacity to illustrate the damage that can be done with no effort to address the issue of provincialism and the associated negative impacts (Royce 42).
Okamura (3) illustrates the difference in social and economic stature in the Hawaiian community has a profound impact on the expected quality of life on every level. Demonstrating that the financial gap in local society can contribute to a lack of education, the argument that there can be a defining factor that rises above culture begins to emerge in the region. Hawaii is broadly separated in the lower strata, often the natives and locals that have spent their lifetime on the islands, and the more affluent class of Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans and Whites (Okamura 3). This recognition of the base division of culture based on money is reflected in the ability for the opportunities for higher education in the area to be presented to those that have the financial depth to absorb the recent and substantial tuition increases.
There is an on-going effort to reduce the ethnic and social inequality felt to be present in the Hawaiian culture (Okamura 3). Yet, the often instinctual attitude to operate as described under the definition of provincialism holds many from taking part in the available opportunities. The term “haole” is a provincial term utilized in the Hawaiian culture to describe the white people in the area (Ohnuma 2002). This is a continuation of the desire by the local population to resist the overall impact of the colonization efforts. They very much want to remain separate from the rest of the word.
As described by the authors of the evidence presented, Hawaii has the potential to benefit from a wise form of provincialism, if this method is based on an inclusive principle. The ability to put aside the racial and ethnic differences could enable the local population to take part in many new opportunities. Each of these articles represents a notion in international and American society that must be addressed in order to progress into the very real potential of the next era.
Claudia Card
As demonstrated by the case study above, the role of identity plays a crucial part in the ability to be part of a community, both on a local and international level. Claudia Card illustrates the positive aspects of creating a community by approaching the issue of racism through the combined works of Lugones, Du Biois and Frye (Bell 141). She argues that it will be a combination of the positive outlook as outlined by Du Bois, as well as the recognition of Fryes work, alongside Lugones interpretation of active integration that serves to propel communication and integration into the next generation.
In a global context, this approach would provide an inclusive platform that would enable each member nation and community to come and participate in a culture that emphasized the lack of both racism and sexism, instead focusing on the contribution and potential (Bell 141). The combination approach espoused by Card, allows for a wide range of opportunities, while still recognizing the differences between each province and community. Yet, much like the communities in Hawaii, there must a continuous effort to put aside the negative influences and produce a system that promotes the similarities between the opposing groups.
The argument put forward by Card is that the next evolution of racism will develop interactively among each nation of the world illustrates the view that change will happen regardless of directed effort (Bell 141). In terms of the international community this approach would suggest that there is a natural approach to rise above the petty physical delineations of culture and build a society based on the more inclusive positive elements that are demonstrated universally. The prior assignation of racism to a derogatory or negative interpretation must be changed in order to enable the next generation of inclusive culture (Bell 142). Card utilizes this approach to argue that the old definitions of racism and sexism will fade away in to be replaced by positive values that reflect the morals of an entire culture.
Illustrating the history of the word race using the dictionary definition of Ratio, Card aptly illustrates the negative association with the judgment of inherent skill that was made in past generations (Bell 143). The absence of modern conquerors has provided a platform that enables an individual to assert themselves and their community without the ‘reckoning’ of prior ages. This modern evolution, will in turn, create an avenue by which the definition of the individual, province and culture will achieve a sense of positive progress as opposed to negative loss.
Card continues on to argue that the identity of the individual does not have to be bound up in the historical underpinnings given form birth (Bell 144). This is a radical change in some cultures that have long based their entire way of life on the habits and traditions of the previous eras. It will be the continuation of similar changes that enables a continued evolution that will trend toward a global community.
Lugones
Lugones (17) illustrates the complexities of modern culture employing the intertwining elements of human nature. The separations of the possibilities into worlds that are comprised of ethos and arrogance and those that love demonstrate the potential that exists in each community around the world. The interplay of one person’s experience or world is fundamentally impacted by the person that is next to them, their neighbour (Lugones 17). This is a concept that can be translated to the global scale, substituting entire nations or regions for the individual in this theory.
Lugones argues that it is essential to know another person’s world in order to be able to credibly understand the infrastructure (Lugones 17). The lack of understanding will fail to provide us with quality information as to who plays what role in the neighbouring culture. It is common for the intrinsic parts that are common knowledge the community to be misinterpreted or skewed all together by those that do not understand the society (Lugones 17). The process of proper identification is essential to the proper understanding of a loving society.
The development of a culture personality can be misinterpreted by those that are not familiar with the scenario in which the society has influence (Lugones 13). As in the case of Hawaiian culture, the propensity to label outsiders as a detrimental influence will only serve to build a negative border that will only serve to create issues in the future. This approach emphasizes that with every new person we encounter, there is a new ‘world’ to explore and in order to do so effectively there needs to be a continuous evolution of education and effort in order to make a positive environment.
In a global sense this very same approach as espoused by Lugones will enable the often volatile neighbours that have fought for eons, the potential to rise above the prior disagreements and forge a method that carry the entire society forward into the next generation of progress. It is an important to note the similarities that exist between the individuals and the nations that exist around the world. With the application of the principles illustrated by Lugones, many issues would be set aside in order to produce a better standard of living for everyone.
In conclusion
Community is an essential component of any society. On an individual, provincial, regional or national level, there is a rising drive to integrate cultures in order to find the next level of human evolution. As demonstrated by the Hawaiian case study, there is a need to remain positive in the face of controversy, thereby providing an inclusive platform that will enable a balanced and healthy form of progression.
The evidence presented in the study illustrates that the lessons that have been learned on a local level are the same as those faced by nations at the global level. It will be the attitude of acceptance and tolerance that enables a truly enlightened path forward into the next era of social and cultural evolution.
Works cited
Bell, Linda A and David Blumenfeld. Overcoming racism and sexism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995. Print.
Lugones, Maria. "Playfulness, wold travelling ad nloving perception." Hypatus, 2. 2 (1987): 3-9. Print.
Ohnuma, Kido. "The dilemma fo being white, born and raised In hawai'i." Cultural Values, 6. 3 (2013): 273-285. Print.
Okamura, Jonathan Y. Ethnicity and inequality in Hawaiʻi. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2008. Print.
Royce, Josiah, Scott L Pratt and Shannon Sullivan. Race Questions, Provincialism, and Other American Problems. Bronx: Fordham University Press, 2009. Print.
