Globalization and Identity: the impact of globalization on identity claims and cultural transformations in Europe

1. Globalization and Identity: the impact of globalization on identity claims and cultural transformations in Europe Elise Féron Institut d’Etudes Politiques Lille France

2. Symbolic Opposition between Globalization & Identities • Notion of “cultural” globalization refers to a sense of interdependence, interchangeability & permeability between local cultures & identities • Impact of globalization in cultural sphere traditionally viewed in a pessimistic light • Globalization associated with destruction of cultural identities • “Deterritorializing” character of globalization: is accused of diminishing the significance of locality in cultural experience

3. Distinctiveness of local identities would no longer be the major determinant of cultural experiences • Globalization would be destroying differences between local cultures, thus between local identities • Feeling that local identities & cultures are disappearing or at least are threatened, & thus need to be preserved & defended • Vision of local identity as inheritance, providing a continuity with the past • Identity not only as allowing cultural belonging, also viewed as a treasure

4. Reconciling Globalization & Local Identities & Cultures • Local identities & cultures are not necessarily traditional & backward-looking (no tradition/ modernity opposition) • ICT can be used in defense of local cultures (e.g. defense of a local language) • Local identities & cultures are not necessarily closed & inward-looking (no open/closed opposition). Almost always the results of exchanges & interactions • Building global solidarity (e.g. transnational) is not contradictory with maintaining local ones

5. Local identities & cultures as resources within globalization processes • Need to use a different & more complex understanding of both globalization & local identities & cultures • E.g. Castells: identity seen as the main source of resistance to globalization • Globalization opposed by various identity movements taking their roots in local cultures • Cultural identities are not necessarily fragile constructs, they are often at the very basis of institutional life (e.g. national identity)

6. In fact, since a few decades, trend towards reaffirmation of local identities • Local identities & cultures have gained strategic importance in regional & local development policies • Especially true of peripheral or less developed regions or localities • Growing importance of initiatives linked to the preservation of cultural heritage, both in financial and symbolic terms

7. Culture & identities used in order to name, delimit & structure territories • Culture as a key factor of appropriation of territory, hence importance of preserving tangible & intangible local heritage • For instance, importance of tangible heritage (monuments, buildings…) for representing & embodying local history, & thus for strengthening/maintaining local identities

8. For local authorities, several important arguments in favor of preserving local cultures & identities: • Importance of culture & identity for promoting sustainable local development, increases competitiveness on market of services, ideas & goods (means to change the image of a territory, to make it more attractive) • Valorization of local identities & cultures as a means to reconcile modernity & tradition (mixing cosmopolitan living patterns & attachment to local territories)

9. Local identities & cultures can be operationalized into development resources (e.g. impact on tourism) • By the valorisation of local cultures, local self-esteem may be strengthened, active local citizenship & community feeling may be encouraged (sense of common belonging, of sharing common interests…)

10. Some difficulties however • Great diversity of perceptions of local identities & cultures. Often “holes”, effects of incompleteness or “forgetting” in institutionally built cultures & identities • Various understandings of their significance & thus of their importance & relevance in policies: heritage, “endogenous potential”, “comparative advantage”, etc. • Negligence or ignorance of some local stakeholders

11. Sometimes local identities & cultures are difficult to map & to differentiate • Local identities & cultures evolve, & there is no systematic tool for monitoring their features & changes • Rigidity of cultures & identities promoted at institutional level, which is in contradiction with their inherent fluidity & instability

12. Key Questions & Issues • How to determine what aspect(s) of local cultures & identities need specific attention? • How to transform these specific aspects into development factors? • How to measure & predict changes in identities & cultures? • Who is to be in charge of preserving local identities? Those who know it best? Community leaders? Local institutions? Business?

13. Thanks a lot for your attention!