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ICTs, youth, and globalisation: A networked information society
27 August 2004
Alberto Nardelli
From the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS and other diseases to the emerging crisis of global warming, to the threat of terrorism or the spectre of war never before have such a broad array of social, economic, environmental and political challenges been dominated by international dimensions. The national news is now almost entirely taken up with world stories. Such far-reaching problems demand global solutions, developed with cooperation, entrepreneurship and urgency. As the worlds challenges take on an increasingly global dimension, people at the local level feel increasingly powerless because traditional forms of civic engagement have less meaning and impact. The issues can seem too far away - both from citizens personal reality and from the stage in which even elected national governments can make a real difference.
A revolution in ICTs
For thousands of years, the oceans and mountain ranges formed almost insurmountable geographic barriers keeping cultures and people apart, issues isolated and the pace of change slow. However, over the last fifty years, and especially the last ten, developments in ICTs have wired the world, bringing at least those of us lucky or wealthy enough to be connected into a global village. Satellite news and entertainment networks broadcast events and (sometimes homogenous) culture from one corner of the planet to the other. People are more literate and more educated, and through the Internet are increasingly participating in the access, creation and dissemination of information. Our friends and colleagues can just be on the other side of the planet as easily as the other side of the street. And technology is facilitating the emergence of global networks that more easily build a critical mass of people sharing interests, stories, issues and action.
Young people the greatest untapped resource
Young people have too often been seen as a burden rather than an asset, a group to be taught but not to teach and to receive but not to give. Young people are, on the contrary, an ever-growing demographic force. The average age of a person in Asia is 28, meaning half the population is young. In the developing world, where 80 per cent of young people can be found, the youth makes up to 70 per cent of a nations population.
Trends that are connected
Perhaps what makes these trends even more interesting is the way in which they intersect. While young people are often nations healthiest, most educated and most driven citizens, they are also disproportionately affected by major global issues. Youth unemployment is running at almost 40 per cent, which means a billion young people without productive or sustainable livelihoods. At the same time, tens of millions of young people are child labour workers, exploited in the global economy, or victims of trafficking and the sex trade. Approximately half of new HIV infections are in youth aged 15-24 - no fewer than 6,500 young people acquire HIV each day. While there have been some improvements in literacy rates, in some parts of Africa and South Asia girls still have illiteracy rates higher than 40 per cent.
More positively, young people have been at the forefront of the information society, leading the creation and adoption of new technologies. Almost every major innovation in the IT industry from the World Wide Web to Open Source software, to peer-to-peer file sharing has been spearheaded by young people. And young people seek out access to technology more than any other group from a home PC to the local Internet cafe. A major reason for technology use is the potential to connect with others cultures, issues and viewpoints, find an outlet for expression, and tap into new information and opportunities. This curiosity and desire to connect with global peers is deeply linked with young peoples social conscious and desire to participate in and contribute to society.
Cultural Pluralism
In a planet of about two hundred recognised, and non, countries, where probably uncountable are the number of languages and dialects spoken, infinite are the diverse cultural realities. Infinite are therefore the set of distinctive, spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs." (1)
Yet we are all citizens of a global village where the flapping of a butterflies wings in Brazil may eventually cause a storm in Asia, where there is interdependence between peoples, ideas, thoughts, events and societies. Where on one hand there is the potential to connect people and create endless opportunities for all but on the other the strong risk of cultural homologation, and the imposition of consumerism as a model of life that contaminates centuries of diverse traditions. We all have the universal right to the same rights and opportunities yet each human being on earth is different: there is therefore the vital and moral yet delicate and fragile need to balance these two rights.
On 2 November 2001, less than two months after the September 11 tragedy, the UNESCO General Conference signed the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversities (http://www.cesmap.it/ifrao/unescode.htm), establishing the universal right of cultural diversity as the one of the foundations of a humanised globalisation. Can the right to cultural diversity be considered a universal value? If we are to strive for a dialogue between civilizations then the answer must be yes. The respect for a diversity of cultures, tolerance, dialogue and cooperation in a climate of mutual trust and understanding are among the best guarantees of international peace and security and furthermore fundamental components within a process of sustainable development. It is vital to understand, and facilitate a knowledge of differences, to be able to dialogue, and to foster the diverse cultural patterns of life as they together will become the foundation of justice and peace within the globe of tomorrow.
In this scope, Universal Human Rights and Freedoms need to be preserved and fostered also among and with a global framework of cultural pluralism, as each human being, and consequently his or her rights, are so strongly linked, influenced and defined by, and within, his cultural pattern. We must not though underestimate the value and the meaning of the word universal in what is to become a passage from cultural diversities to cultural pluralism, as the freedom of each man, woman, child and culture needs to be equal and balanced with the same universal, and in this case mutual, right of all other men, women, children and cultures on earth. This is the first challenge in promoting and giving life to a just environment between universal human rights and cultural differences.
This is the nature of the passage from a clash between cultural diversities to a dialogue within cultural pluralism, binding together common global opportunities and diverse local diversities. Together may mean at times conflict yet can mean agreement, together protest and celebration, forgetting and remembering, trials and errors yet learning and understanding as we are all together diverse but all have the same right to diversity, and in the name of our diversity cannot walk upon the diversity of others because above anything else plural cultures are together united with the common heritage of the tradition, present and future of humankind.
Knowledge empowers
Mutual understanding and dialogue will be vital in the passage from a clash between diversity to a dialogue within pluralism. The one thing that can make all this possible is knowledge and access to knowledge, as knowing emancipates, cancels prejudices and empowers, while a lack of knowledge is debilitating. Creativity, images and words can play a fundamental role in spreading knowledge and cultures as they have an immediate impact, a blink of the eye and a fragment of the world lies before us. Through images and words, people can express an opinion, share a thought, exchange ideas, cooperate and discover the planet and the infinite patterns of life in an immediate, constructive and exciting way.
Human creativity and imagination are probably the most evenly distributed natural resource on earth. Yet the power to produce, distribute and have access to the thoughts and the creations of the mind are far less evenly distributed due to market rules, buying power and governmental legislations. If for so many globalisation is a process of injustice, in this case the global village is at the same time a platform to potentially link imagination, creativity and ultimately cultures throughout the world. ICT will be a vital tool in transforming this into a new reality: a tool to record, preserve and distribute culture and above all provide potential accessibility to images and words and all individual diversities present in the planet.
Note:
1. Abstract from the UNESCO Constitution
About the author
Alberto is the Coordinator of the Global Gallery, TakingITGlobal's online platform of artistic expressions. Previously Alberto acted as Community Coordinator for the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities Coalition. He is an active member of the Youth Caucus for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Alberto worked for two years in Rome as Project Coordinator for the "Youth and the Digital Divide" program at the Digital Youth Consortium. Alberto also consulted for the Metro City Glocal Forum, an international foundation led by Ambassador Uri Savir. As Event Coordinator of the Glocal Peace Games, Alberto brought together soccer players from Israel, Palestine and Rwanda as well as key personalities such as Shimon Peres and Abu Ala.
Alberto has a degree in Political Sciences from LUISS University, where he also piloted the Italian version of the international relations webzine cafebabel.com. Alberto has spoken at many events including the World Summit on the Digital Divide in Montreux and the ICC World Congress in Marrakesh. He speaks in Italian, English, and French.
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