LECTURE ONE

KEY TERMINOLOGIES AND CONCEPTS IN WORLD CROSS-CULTURAL HISTORY

Lecture 1 Outline

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Objectives
1.3 Basic Terms
1.3.1 Transnationalism
1.3.2 Globalization
1.3.3 Cosmopolitanism
1.3.4 Transculturation
1.3.5 Cultural cross-fertilization
1.3.6 Cultural Diversity
1.4 Cross-Cultural Understanding
1.5 Models of Community Interactions
1.5.1 Multicultural Communities
1.5.3 Intercultural Communities
1.5.3 Cross-cultural Communities
1.6 Modes of Cross-cultural Interactions in Word History
1.7 Summary
1.8 Terminal Questions
1.9 References

1.1 Introduction

The theme of world cross-cultural history binds together a wide range of terms and concepts. Although
by and large interrelated, these terminologies have some minute differences between them that need
clarification before proceeding. In this direction, the aim of this pioneer lecture is to explore key
terminologies and concepts applied in the study of world cross-cultural history. This is meant to not only
provide you with the necessary contextual information as to how you will apply these terminologies in
your study, but also to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings by settling on single comprehensions of the
key terms and concepts applied in the course.

In order to attain the goal set above, this lecture addresses five main questions: (1) What is the meaning
of the basic terms ‘transnationalism’, ‘globalization’, ‘cosmopolitanism’, ‘transculturation’, ‘cultural
cross-fertilization’, and ‘cultural diversity’; (2) What is cross-cultural understanding, and how can it be
attained; (3) What is the difference between ‘multicultural’, ‘intercultural and ‘cross-cultural’
communities, and finally (4) How have cross-cultural interactions happened in World History?

The next lesson (Lecture 2) will introduce you to the ancient world. We shall examine the characteristic
features of ancient world that are useful in the understanding of the World Cross-cultural History.

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1.2 Objectives By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

1 Define the basic terms: ‘transnationalism’, ‘globalization’,

‘cosmopolitanism’, ‘transculturation’, ‘cultural cross-fertilization’, and
‘cultural diversity’.
2 Explain the concept ‘cross-cultural understanding’ and how it can be
achieved.
3 Differentiate between ‘multicultural’, ‘intercultural’ and ‘cross-cultural’
communities.
4 Explain how cross-cultural interactions occurred in World History.

1.3 Basic Terms in World Cross-Cultural History

There are some five (5) basic terms that are very important to the understanding of the theme of World
Cross-cultural History. These are: ‘transnationalism’, ‘globalization’, ‘cosmopolitanism’, ‘transculturation’,
‘cultural cross-fertilization’, and ‘cultural diversity’

1.3.1 Transnationalism

Transnationalism is a social phenomenon and scholarly research agenda that has sprung from the
intensified interconnectivity between people and the decreasing economic and social significance
attached to national boundaries among nation states (the increasing weakening of national boundaries).

Transnationalism has been assuming a growing importance in the recent past within the tourism sector
because of the rise of more sophisticated communications technology and the increasing global
participation in tourism by Transnational Companies (TNCs), which places them in the best possible
position to profit from the ever more ‘globalized’ markets. TNCs such as Expedia Group, Inc. and
Priceline.com have affected international tourism by making it cheaper, simpler and more accessible to
both their suppliers and clients.

TAKE NOTE: Expedia Group Inc (Expedia Group) is an online travel company. It provides a wide range of
services which includes booking of hotel rooms, airline seats, car rentals, and destination services
through its travel suppliers. On its part, Priceline.com is an online travel agency for finding discount rates
for travel-related purchases such as airline tickets and hotel stays.

1.3.2 Globalization

Though globalization has many definitions, in this course we see it simply as the movement of goods,
ideas, values, and people around the world. The term was first used in the early 1950s to recognize the
increasing interdependence of economies and societies around the world resulting from the
intensification of economic, cultural, and political practices accelerating across the globe.

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In the context of international tourism, globalization infers the spread of people, ideas, capital, goods,
commodities, services, etc., transnationally across the globe. Just like transnationalism explained above,
globalization is fueled by such factors as advances in transport and information technology, the
liberalization of economies and societies, as well as a new world political order.

Globalization and its effects have been extensively debated since the late 1980s. As will become clear in
Lecture 5 when we address this issue in greater detail, both globalization and tourism impact each other.
On one hand, globalization impacts tourism by fueling: global mobility and ease of travel; population and
demographic trends; issues of terrorism, safety, and security; increased awareness of new destinations;
fueling poverty, especially in Third World countries.

On another hand, tourism impacts globalization in several ways: tourism as a global force that promotes
peace; tourism acts as cultural homogenizer (offering the opportunity to teach people about how to
respect other cultures); tourism acts as as a commoditizer that promotes responsible tourism and social
entrepreneurship that is ultimately geared to bringing greater benefit to local communities; and tourism
acts as a world view advocating for authentic experiences.

1.3.3 Cosmopolitanism

The word ‘Cosmopolitan’ is derived from the Ancient Greek word, Kosmospolites; “Kosmos “means The
World or Universe (which means a citizen or one of a city). In recent times the usage of the word
‘cosmopolitan’ denotes ‘citizen of the world’.

Cosmopolitan citizenship can be defined as a “moral egalitarianism and reciprocal recognition of the
equal moral respect of every person”. It is about cultivating intercultural competencies so that an
individual is able to deal with ethical frameworks different from one’s own; it is also a moral assumption
that we have an obligation and responsibilities to other people.

A cosmopolitan city is the where people from various parts of the world live, with different languages,
cultures and customs live together. A cosmopolitan city can be understood as the city which hosts
people coming from different ethnicities, beliefs and culture.

Used as a noun, ‘a cosmopolite’ or ‘cosmopolitan’ is a person who has lived and traveled in various
countries, specially, a person who does not have national prejudices. It also means a person who is
"sophisticated" or "urbane" (courteous and refined in manner - typically used of a man).

As an idea, cosmopolitanism is the notion that people are willing to engage with others (people from
other communities, countries and nationalities) and are open to divergent cultural experiences and
desire to be citizens of an equal and peaceful global community.

The significance of cosmopolitanism is that it plays an important role indeed in our mostly multicultural
world of today, in that it helps to understand and to find solutions to problems that can be caused by a
globalized condition of the world.

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Research shows that tourism can provide us with a potential area for acquiring and developing a
cosmopolitan competence. Tourism helps one to see other countries and peoples with their own eyes. At
the same time, it brings new challenges in understanding foreign cultures, what may lead to either
positive or negative results in developing certain cosmopolitan characteristics.

1.3.4 Transculturation

Often occurring as a result of globalization, and is also associated with the concepts of transnationalism
and cosmopolitanism explained above, transculturation is the cultural change induced by the
introduction of elements of a foreign culture. Transculturation can include the loss of cultural material,
the acquisition of cultural material from another culture, or even the creation of new cultural material as
a result of combining different cultural elements from different parts of the world.

A well-known example of transculturation in history is colonialism. When Europeans colonized different

parts of the world, they took along with them their various cultures and traditions that influenced the
indigenous people’s ways of life in the respective colonies. Just look at the influence of Spain, Britain,
and France in Latin America, the Commonwealth, and the French-speaking world respectively.

In the context of tourism, a good example of transculturation is the adoption in many African
destinations of Western-style cultural behavior adopted by locals, which they have observed from
visiting tourists, in various such aspects as food, clothes, and movies that were initially introduced to
make the tourists feel more comfortable in their surroundings.

1.3.5 Cultural Cross-Fertilization

The main word ‘cross-fertilization” originates from biology where technically speaking, it infers
recombining genetic material from two parents in order to maintain a greater range of variability for
natural selection to act upon. This increases a species' capacity to adapt to environmental change and its
chances of survival.

“Cultural cross-fertilization” denotes the transfer of cultural elements from one cultural group of people
to another. This may happen through the interchange or interaction (as between different cultures, ideas
or categories), especially of a broadening or productive nature. In a nutshell, we can look at cultural
cross-fertilization as involving the mutual exchange, as between unrelated cultures, concepts, or
classifications, which enhances understanding or produces something beneficial to all.

In history, a good example of cultural cross-fertilization is that of Swahili culture, which sprung from
cultural influences from diverse cultural backgrounds including Bantu (predominantly), but also Arabic,
Persian, Portuguese, English, Indian, etc.

When applied to business aspects like tourism, cultural cross-fertilization is all about importing and
mixing ideas from different places, markets or cultures to produce better products and services.
Importing a technology from another industry, or hiring people from a different company, are example
cultural cross-fertilization.

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1.3.6 Cultural Diversity

The word “diversity”, is defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating
differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race,
sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Green, et. al. 2002, p.1).

From the above description of ‘diversity’, we can deduce that cultural diversity means two things: first,
the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, (as in the global culture), and
second (more importantly), a situation whereby different cultures respect each other's cultural
differences. In this way cultural diversity is the understanding and acceptance of different people’s way
of life in respect to their sexual orientation, gender, upbringing, socio-economic, and religious
background. Due to the fact that culture encompasses so many areas of what makes a person who they
are, it is important to recognize and celebrate these differences in order to have a more harmonious
experience in the hospitality industry.

Looking at the hospitality industry, a good example of cultural diversity is that having guests and staff
from different cultural backgrounds brings diverse perspectives to your hotel. This allows for a
convergence of different ideas and a wonderful way to create connections. Differences spark curiosity
and represent a great way for both guests and staff to interact and learn new ways of doing things.

Supervisors and managers in tourism business organizations need to recognize the ways in which the
workplace is changing and evolving. Managing cultural diversity is a significant organizational challenge,
so managerial skills must adapt to accommodate a multicultural work environment.

1.4 Cross-Cultural Understanding

Cross-cultural understanding is simply the basic ability of people to recognize, interpret and correctly
react to people, incidences or situations that are open to misunderstanding due to cultural differences.
To better understand the concept, it is in order to first grasp the meaning of the term culture.

Intext Question

What is the meaning of the term culture?

People who share a history, experience and geography usually develop a culture. Culture is the total way
of life that a given group of people shares. Culture comprises all material aspects of a peoples way of life
including tools, weapons, utensils, machines, clothing, ornaments, art, buildings, and monuments on
one hand, and non-material aspects such as, the ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge, language and. We
express our culture through such things as foods, celebrations, music, art, laws, customs, rituals and
language on another hand. Culture is often not taught officially. We usually learn our culture by living it.

Our culture and knowledge gained from living is what determines how we make decisions. We decide
what is right or wrong, and respectful or disrespectful, based on what our parents and other important

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people in our life teach us. This code of behavior is passed on from generation to generation. Changes
occur very slowly. We use this code of behavior to help us decide how to think and act.

For example, in North American culture, it is acceptable to eat potato chips with fingers, use a spoon to
eat soup and eat food from one’s own individual plate. We, as human beings, generally tend to
subconsciously apply this code when coming across something new. We use it to determine whether we
think the unfamiliar is the “right” or “wrong” way to behave.

The North Americans subconsciously apply this code when they come across something new. They use it
to determine whether they think the unfamiliar is the “right” or “wrong” way to behave.

Supposing you came from a culture where you learned to eat in a different way! Perhaps you learned
that the right way to eat was not with a spoon or fork, but to use only the fingers of your right hand to
take food from a shared common plate in the center of the table and to drink your soup from the bowl. If
you saw a North American eating, no doubt you might remember about what you learned and think that
people who eat as North Americans do have very bad manners.

Culture is more than just manners. It is also the way we speak. In some cultures, people may speak in a
way that North Americans think is too loud. They may also be very emotional in the way they speak, or
they may stand very close together to talk. It is perfectly normal for the people of that culture, but we
might think they are yelling at us or crowding us. They, on the other hand, may mistakenly think that
North Americans are perhaps not very interested in talking to them.

Unfortunately, people often think their own way of doing things is the right way. Thinking that someone
else is wrong or disrespectful because they do not follow our customs and beliefs is what leads to
cross-cultural misunderstanding.

Intext Question

How can we attain cross-cultural misunderstanding?

Cross-cultural understanding is more than realizing another culture is different from ours. The sure way
to cross-cultural understanding is to learn to recognize individual differences between us and to gain an
appreciation, respect and knowledge of other cultures that are different from our own. If you put on a
pair of sunglasses with pink lenses, everything will take on a rose- colored tint. If the lenses are green,
then the world will take on a green tint. Our culture acts as a lens through which we look at the world.
We have a “tinted” view of the world so it looks more like what we already know. This acts as a filter,
straining out the other’s point of view and enhancing our own.

Cultural filters can inhibit or hinder the way of understanding people from other cultures because they
appear different. Although we cannot completely get rid of our cultural filters, we can at least be
open-minded about cultural differences. We can set aside our biases. This is more than just realizing that
another culture is different from ours. Arising from this, cross-cultural understanding means learning to
value other cultures and respect their views. This comes when people move from thinking that
“different” means “wrong,” to thinking that there might be another way, to being tolerant and accepting.

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In a historical perspective, in the past, Europeans thought that their culture was better than any other.
When they came in contact with other cultures, they tried to impose the European culture on them.
Although this attitude may still persist, in today’s g increasingly globalized world, there is an increasing
awareness of the importance of making every effort to develop an understanding of other cultures when
they interact with them.

1.5 Models of Community Interaction

There are three models of community interaction: ‘multicultural’, ‘intercultural’ and ‘cross-cultural’
communities. Although these terms are often used interchangeably, they do not mean the same thing. In
fact, they have very different meanings. While they might share one roof, they describe entirely different
rooms. The differences in the meanings concern the perspectives we take when interacting with people
from other cultures. In this section, we begin by briefly looking at what they mean, before talking about
whether this difference in meanings really matters. First, we will look at multicultural, second,
intercultural, and third, cross-cultural.

1.5.1 Multicultural Communities

Multicultural refers to a society that contains several cultural or ethnic groups; it essentially describes
the presence of diverse cultural or ethnic groups, and cultural traditions, within the same space.
'Multicultural' also infers the co-existence of diverse cultures (racial, religious, or cultural groups) as
manifested in customary behaviors, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of thinking, and
communicative styles.

'Multicultural' is a passive description that simply acknowledges the existence of many different groups
living within their own cultural frameworks without sacrificing their own cultural identities. In
multi-cultural communities, people live alongside one another, but each cultural group does not
necessarily have engaging interactions with each other. For example, in a multicultural neighborhood
people may frequent ethnic grocery stores and restaurants without really interacting with their
neighbors from other cultures.

Multiculturalism has been a feature of human societies for tens of thousands of years. For example,
consider the case of the ancestors of the Bantu people who migrated from west and central Africa to
eastern and southern Africa, or of the ancestors of the Europeans who migrated to Australia, America
and New Zealand hundreds of years ago, but who now make up the dominant ethnic identity of these
regions/countries. These groups of migrating Bantus and Europeans certainly did not sacrifice their own
cultural identities to ease assimilation into the indigenous groups of the regions/countries they
eventually colonized. Instead, they retained their own cultures and occupied their own space.

Looking at a modern-day example of multi-cultural communities groups, such as immigrant minorities,

migrant workers, persons seeking asylum, and national minorities, etc. in a given society, are usually
described as the UNDERSERVED, ones needing special attention.

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What distinguishes multi-cultural from the other two is that while multicultural can describe segregation
and even alienation, intercultural and cross-cultural at least describe collaboration and mixing to some
degree.

1.5.2 Intercultural Communities

'Intercultural', on its part, is a more ‘active’ form of interaction than the above more ‘passive’
multiculturalism. 'Intercultural' moves beyond the cultural segregation typical of multiculturalism and
instead expresses interaction, communication and relationships across cultures. Intercultural
communication here focuses on the mutual exchange of ideas and cultural norms and the development
of deep relationships. Hence, whereas multiculturalism denotes exclusivity, the inter-culturalism
denotes collaboration.

In an intercultural society, no one is left unchanged because everyone learns from one another and
grows together. We should all aim at attaining intercultural relationships in our societies. This involves
the promotion of mutual respect among cultures by strengthening intercultural understanding.

Let us use the example of intercultural training to further describe this. Intercultural training endeavors
to help learners from different cultural groups understand essential cultural frameworks so that they can
interact and communicate effectively with their colleagues – regardless of cultural membership.
Intercultural efforts usually strive to create understanding, increase trust, build relationships and drive
collaboration. For this reason, intercultural work is usually focused on teams or communities. However,
since intercultural community is an ideal (perfect situation) that it is almost impossible to achieve, such
communities hardly exist in the real world.

1.5.3 Cross-cultural Communities

‘Cross-cultural' is less about the community or group, and more about specific responses to specific
cultures. “Cross-cultural” deals with the comparison of different cultures. For example, a project that is
due to be rolled out across a number of different cultures in a society might be reviewed to ensure the
materials are suitable cross-culturally – (across all cultures).

Alternatively, an individual with responsibility for regular international tourism business assignments
may well gain cross-cultural skills to help them communicate and build business relationships regardless
of where they are in the world. As such, cross-cultural matters are more about particular responses
across different cultures – it is not necessarily about bringing cultures together.

Cross-culturalism is quite distinct from multiculturalism. Whereas in multicultural communities we

merely live alongside each other without necessarily interacting, in cross-cultural communities there is
some reaching across boundaries between the various communities. In cross-cultural communities, we
try to build bridges of relationship between our cultural communities by sharing, listening, learning, and
being open to changing. It usually requires intentionality, programs of education and
community-building.

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In cross-cultural communication, differences are understood and acknowledged, and can bring about
individual change, but not collective transformations. The thing that is not so good about cross-cultural
communities is that one culture is often considered “the norm” and all other cultures are compared or
contrasted to the dominant culture.

The significance of cross-cultural communities is that, as explained earlier, since intercultural community
is an ideal (perfect situation) that it is impossible to achieve, what most communities are usually only
able to attain is the cross-cultural status. This is why in this course use of such terms as ‘World
cross-cultural History’ or ‘cross-cultural understanding’.

Although achievable, ‘cross-cultural’ has a big disadvantage in that in cross-cultural societies there is
often a tendency for one culture to be considered “the norm” and all other cultures are compared or
contrasted to the dominant culture. This tends to disadvantage minority groups.

Intext Question

Do the differences in meaning between these three terms matter?’

Well yes, the differences between the three terms are significant enough to matter. Whereas
multicultural can describe segregation and even alienation, intercultural and cross-cultural describe
collaboration and mixing.

In World History, we see that the European migrants moving to the USA created a multicultural existence
there, same as the British people migrating to Australia. It does not really matter whether these
multicultural setups were positive or healthy.

Furthermore, while many large cities in the world today are increasingly becoming multicultural,
multiculturalism is really not always a good thing. What usually happens in multiculturalism is that
migrating groups live in ghettos below the poverty line and with little support. Hence, with
multiculturalism being an increasing feature of our increasingly global world, and a term that is being
used in many settings, we should dream for a better future. Our world should be making greater efforts
to make interculturalism the subject of our discussions. Intercultural, well-integrated teams and societies
have an abundance of opportunity and potential.

1.6 Cross-Cultural Interactions in World History

One of the main areas of interest in world History is the study of cross-cultural interactions and
encounters. The history of cross-cultural interactions is largely a matter of the processes, which can
gradually lead to the rise of a global cultural network.

The concept of cross-cultural interactions or ‘cultural encounters' – used to visualize the interaction
between individuals or groups of different cultures, nations and races across established cultural
boundaries – is often applied when trying to describe modern topics, e.g., globalization, mass migration

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or the apparently increased importance and fascination of religious groups in secularized and/or
traditional societies, such as Al Shabab or ISIS.

Cross-cultural interactions are not a modern phenomenon that arose with the maritime discoveries (that
peaked in the 15th-16th centuries), but part of human history from the very beginning. They go way
back in history. A good example is the encounter between the ancient Egyptians and the people of Punt
land (25th century BC), which was a cultural encounter regardless of the reasons of these encounters.
We can as well consider the journeys of Christopher Columbus to the Canaries and Caribbean islands in
the 15th century AD to discover the new world as a great model to the cultural encounters.

Since the year 1492, mainly as a result of the discovery of the New World, the regions of the world have
come into permanent and sustained contact with each other, and cross-cultural interactions have
profoundly influenced the experiences of all peoples on earth. The examples of cross-cultural
interactions or ‘cultural encounters' that we examine here are mainly drawn in the pre-modern era, the
period c. 400-1750 CE.

Cultural encounters in world history have often taken the form of war or conquest, submission and/or
exploitation. A good example is the case of the Crusades – a series of religious wars between Christians
and Muslims initiated primarily to secure control of holy sites deemed sacred by both groups ,
supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church between 1096 and 1291.

Other examples of cultural encounters included apparently more peaceful processes, such as, the
mission and the diffusion of religious houses, such as convents or monasteries. This also applies to
diplomacy and trade, i.e., the more or less organized exchange of ideas, politics, know-how, goods and
commodities, both on a regional and international level.

Cross-cultural interaction can be characterized along several dimensions:

(1) The occasions, or modes, of cross-cultural contact – THE HOW;

(2) The instigator(s) of and participants in the contact – THE WHO;
(3) The location of the contact – THE WHERE;
(4) The material and intellectual products (goods and ideas) moved and exchanged through the
contact – THE WHAT;
(5) The ramifications and effects of cross-cultural contact – THE EFFECT.

The usual modes of contact include migration, exploration, trade, colonization, diplomacy, military
action, and communal activity (such as religious pilgrimage). These categories obviously overlap in
multipurpose travels and interactions.

Insofar instigators are concerned the activities of a few merchants, craftsmen, and other travelers were
an important mode of cross cultural interactions in history. From history, we learn that intense
innovations cultural dimensions such as language, art, and technology were initiated indirectly in this
way – through these people.

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As for location of cross-cultural contact, according to Tartaron (2014, p. 1804), although the simplest way
to imagine cross-cultural interaction is in terms of the movement of people from one culture area to
another, the reality is much more complex. In history, evidence shows that cohabitation with foreigners
at home and especially in colonies abroad as was the case with ancient Greeks provided the greatest
ways of cultural impact.

The goods and ideas involved in cross-cultural contact varied. For example, in the case of ancient
Greece, exploration and trade relations for the purpose of gaining access to supplies of raw materials,
particularly precious metals in which Greece is poor, such as, copper, tin, and gold, began at least as early
as the Bronze Age around 3200 B.C and continued through the historical periods.

The ramifications and effects of cross-cultural contact in world History is manifested in different forms,
good examples being slavery and colonialism.

Below, let us examine in greater detail three kinds of processes, in particular, that had significant
repercussions across the boundary lines of societies and cultural regions. These are: mass migrations,
campaigns of imperial expansion, and long-distance trade.

1. Mass migrations

Mass migrations had the potential to bring about political, social, economic, and cultural transformations
in the lands they touched. Good examples of migrations including those of the ancestors of the Bantu
peoples in Africa, and those of the ancestors of the Indo-European, Germanic, Turkish, Slavic, and
Mongol peoples in Europe and Asia all had deep impacts across the boundary lines of societies and
cultural regions. These migrations touched almost every corner of the Eastern Hemisphere before
modern times.

Intext Question

What is the difference between the Eastern and Western hemisphere?

On one the hand, the Western Hemisphere lies west of 0° longitude and east of 180° longitude. It
includes North America and South America. On the other hand, The Eastern Hemisphere lies east of 0°
longitude and west of 180° longitude. It includes almost all of Europe and Africa and all of Asia and
Australia. See the diagram below to grasp the differences. See FIGURE 1.1 below.

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FIGURE 1.1: Western and Eastern Hemisphere

Meanwhile, the migrations of ancient Siberian and Austronesian peoples led to the establishment of
human societies in the Western hemisphere (e.g., The Americas) and the Pacific islands, i.e., Samoa, Fiji
and Hawaii.

Intext Question

How did campaigns of imperial expansion and long distance trade contribute
to cross-cultural interactions in the pre-modern period?

2. Campaigns of imperial expansion

According to Bentley (1996, p. 752) empire building also influenced historical development across the
boundary lines of societies and cultural regions. The establishment of large-scale empires did not
necessarily imply the extension of close, centralized supervision to all lands and peoples falling within
imperial boundaries. Even in the absence of effective central supervision, however, pre-modern empire
building deeply influenced human societies. Quite apart from the imposition of foreign rule and taxes on
conquered peoples, imperial expansion also favored the establishment of commercial and diplomatic
relations between distant peoples, as well as the spread of cultural traditions.

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Although cultural imperialism is responsible for the spread of some positive values, including democracy
and equal rights, but it also brought about the demise of many indigenous cultures and languages and
provided a justification for colonialism. During the early period of Western colonialism, cultural
imperialism was marked by efforts to forcibly spread Christianity and European economic values to
indigenous societies.

3. Long distance trade

Pre-modern trade occasionally became voluminous enough to push large regions toward economic
integration and thus to shape economic and social structures across the boundary lines of societies and
cultural regions.

The Indian Ocean basin represents perhaps the most important case in which trade encouraged the
economic integration of an especially large region in pre-modern times is. By the 7th century C.E., large
numbers of Persian merchants, soon followed by Arabs, ventured throughout the Indian Ocean basin
from East Africa to India and beyond to Southeast Asia and China. By the 10th century, trade generated
enormous revenues in port cities throughout the basin. More important, this trade in the Indian Ocean
was by no means limited to luxury goods, but also involved heavy and bulky commodities. Cargoes of
dates, sugar, building supplies, coral, timber, and steel crossed the ocean in large quantities

When pre-modern societies engaged in long-distance trade on a regular and systematic basis, trade
routes not only facilitated the transportation and exchange of commodities, but they also served as
avenues of technological and biological diffusions. In some cases, these diffusions profoundly influenced
the development of societies engaged in trade, which suggests a reason for the significance of
long-distance trade in pre-modern times. Technologies involving transportation, metallurgy, weaponry,
animal energy, and natural sources of power all diffused throughout most of Eurasia and Africa, largely
along trade routes.

Meanwhile, long-distance trade and campaigns of imperial expansion sometimes combined to

encourage biological diffusions in pre-modern times.

1.8 Summary As a recap, this lecture addressed the following five questions:

1. What is the meaning of the basic terms in world cross-cultural history:

‘transnationalism’, ‘globalization’, ‘cosmopolitanism’, ‘transculturation’,
‘cultural cross-fertilization’, and ‘cultural diversity’?
2. What is cross-cultural understanding, and how can it be attained?
3. How can we explain the interplay between globalization and
cross-cultural understanding?
4. What is the difference between ‘multicultural’, ‘intercultural and
‘cross-cultural’ communities?

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 5. How did cross-cultural interactions in world history?

FIRSTLY, there are some Six (6) basic terms essential to this course: CTO 3204:
World-Cross-Cultural History. These are transnationalism, globalization,
cosmopolitanism, transculturation, cultural cross-fertilization, and cultural
diversity. Though related, these terms have some subtle differences. Firstly;
Transnationalism is a social phenomenon and scholarly research agenda that
has sprung from the intensified interconnectivity between people and the
decreasing economic and social significance attached to boundaries among
nation states. Transnationalism has been assuming a growing importance
within the tourism industry in the recent past due to the development of more
sophisticated communications technology and the increasing global
participation in tourism puts the transnational corporations, in the best
position to profit from the ever more ‘globalized’ markets. Secondly;
Globalization denotes the intensification of economic, cultural, and political
practices accelerating across the globe in the early 21st century. In the context
of tourism, globalization is the spread of people, ideas, capital, goods,
commodities, services, and so on, transnationally across the globe.
Globalization, just like transnationalism, is fueled by advances in transport and
information technology, the liberalization of economies and societies, as well
as a new world political order, globalization and its effects have been
extensively debated since the late 1980s. Thirdly; Cosmopolitanism is the idea
that people are willing to engage with the Others (people from other
communities, countries and nationalities) and are open to divergent cultural
experiences and desire to be citizens of an equal and peaceful global
community. Cosmopolitanism plays an important role in our multicultural
world, as it helps to understand and to find solutions to problems that can be
caused by a globalized condition of the world. Research shows that tourism
can give us a potential area for acquiring and developing a cosmopolitan
competence. Tourism helps one to see other countries and peoples with their
own eyes. At the same time, it brings new challenges in understanding foreign
cultures, what may lead to either positive or negative results in developing
certain cosmopolitan characteristics. Fourthly: Transculturation refers to
cultural change induced by the introduction of elements of a foreign culture. In
the context of transnationalism, and cosmopolitanism describe above,
transculturation can include the loss of cultural material, the acquisition of
cultural material from another culture, or even the creation of new cultural
material as a result of combining different cultural elements from different
parts of the world. A well-known example of transculturation in history is
colonialism. When Europeans colonized Africa and other regions, they took
with them their cultures and traditions and influenced the indigenous people’s
ways of life in the colonies. A good example of transculturation in the context

14
 of tourism is the adoption in African tourist destinations of Western style and
behavior that they have observed in visiting tourists such as food, clothes, and
movies initially introduced to make the tourist feel more comfortable in their
surroundings. Fifthly: Cultural Cross-Fertilization is the transfer of cultural
elements from one cultural group of people to another. This may happen
through the interchange or interaction (as between different cultures, ideas or
categories) especially of a broadening or productive nature. Cultural
cross-fertilization is best exemplified by Swahili culture that resulted from
several cultural influences. Finally: Cultural Diversity means two things: firstly,
the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, (or the
global culture), and secondly, a situation whereby different cultures respect
each other's cultural differences. Cultural diversity is especially very important
in the travel and tourism industry, more so at the workplace, because it not
only facilitates easy understanding of different cultural, social and economic
perspectives among staff and customers, but also enhances the delivery of
satisfactory services through more effective communication and observation.

SECONDLY, cross-cultural understanding is the basic ability of people to

recognize, interpret and correctly react to people, incidences or situations that
are open to misunderstanding due to cultural differences. It derives from the
core term ‘culture’. People who share a history, experience and geography
usually develop a culture, the total way of life that a group of people shares,
which comprises all material and non-material aspects, and all people's other
ways of life. Culture is expressed via such channels as foods, celebrations,
music, art, laws, customs, rituals and language. Culture also involves manners
and the way we the way we speak. Culture is usually learned by living it. The
importance of culture is that one’s specific culture and knowledge gained from
living is what determines how one makes their decisions. We decide what is
right or wrong, and respectful or disrespectful, based on what our parents and
other important people in our life teach us. This code of behavior is passed on
from generation to generation. Changes occur very slowly. We use this code of
behavior to help us decide how to think and act. Unfortunately, people often
think their own way of doing things is the right way. People who have only
experienced one culture personally usually do not realize that they live in a
culture. They just think what they think is how anyone would think. Thinking
that someone else is wrong or disrespectful because they do not follow our
customs and beliefs is what leads to cross-cultural misunderstanding.
Cross-cultural understanding is more than realizing another culture is different
from ours. The way to cross-cultural understanding is to learn to recognize
individual differences between us and to gain an appreciation, respect and
knowledge of other cultures that are different from our own.

15
 THIRDLY: There are three models of community interaction; ‘multicultural’,
‘intercultural’ and ‘cross-cultural’ communities. Although these terms are often
used interchangeably, they do not mean the same thing. In fact, they have very
different meanings. While the terms ‘multicultural’, ‘intercultural’ and
‘cross-cultural’ might all fall under the same roof, they do in fact, describe
entirely different rooms. The differences in the meanings relate to the
perspectives we take when interacting with people from other cultures.
‘Multicultural’ refers to a society that contains several cultural or ethnic
groups. People live alongside one another, but each cultural group does not
necessarily have engaging interactions with each other. For example, in a
multicultural neighborhood people may frequent ethnic grocery stores and
restaurants without really interacting with their neighbors from other cultures.
In contrast to ‘multicultural’ communities, ‘intercultural ‘describes
communities in which there is a deep understanding and respect for all
cultures. The focus on intercultural communication is on the mutual exchange
of ideas and cultural norms and the development of deep relationships. In an
intercultural society, no one is left unchanged because everyone learns from
one another and grows together. This is why intercultural communities are
what we should all strive to attain. Since intercultural communities are rather
ideal, they are practically impossible to achieve; hence the need for
‘cross-cultural’ societies. ‘Cross-cultural’ deals with the comparison of different
cultures. In cross-cultural communication, differences are understood and
acknowledged, and can bring about individual change, but not collective
transformations. In cross-cultural societies, unfortunately, there is often a
tendency for one culture to be considered “the norm” and all other cultures
are compared or contrasted to the dominant culture. Our world should be
making greater efforts to make interculturalism the subject of our discussions.
Intercultural, well-integrated teams and societies have an abundance of
opportunity and potential.

FINALLY, Cross-cultural interactions have occurred in world history in many

different ways. One such way was through cohabitation (the state or fact of
living or existing at the same time or in the same place) with foreigners at
home, as was the case in ancient Greece, where Greek people hosted people
from across Europe, Africa and Asia. Another way was through the influence of
the activities of a few merchants, craftsmen, and other travelers who directly
and indirectly spread objects and ideas, e.g., through innovations in language,
art, and technology. Cross-cultural interactions in world history can be
characterized along several dimensions, which include: the occasions, or
modes (channels) of cross-cultural contact, i.e., migration, exploration, trade,
colonization, diplomacy, military action, and communal activity (such as
religious pilgrimage) ; the instigator(s) of and participants in the contact (The

16
 Who); the location of the ontact (Where); the material and intellectual
products (goods and ideas) moved and exchanged through the contact; and
the ramifications and effects of cross-cultural contact (Consequences).

1.9 Terminal Question 1

Questions
Using examples drawn worldwide define and distinguish between the terms
globalization, transnationalism, cosmopolitanism, transculturation, cultural
cross-fertilization, and cultural diversity.

Question 2

(a) What is culture, and why and how does it tend to lead to cross-cultural
misunderstanding?
(b) What is the path to cross-cultural understanding?
(c) Distinguish between multicultural, cross-cultural, and intercultural
communities. Use clear examples to support your answer.

Question 3

(a) Discuss the interplay between globalization and cross-cultural

understanding.
(b) How did cross-cultural interactions in the ancient world happen? Give
clear examples.

1.10 References Croucher, S.L. (2004) Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity in a
Changing World. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.

Dierks, R.G. (2001) Introduction to Globalization: Political and Economic

Perspectives for the New Century. Chicago: Burnham.

Kegley Jr., C.W. and Blanton, S.N. (2008) World Politics: Trend and
Transformation. 12th edn. Boston, MA: Wadsworth.

Kuhn, J., 1962/1970 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University

of Chicago Press. 2nd edn. (with postscript).

17
 Movius, L. (2012) “Cultural Globalization and Challenges to Traditional
Communication Theories”, PLATFORM: Journal of Media and Communication,
2(1), (January), pp. 6-18.

Muyale-Manenji, F. (1998) “The effects of globalization on culture in Africa in

the eyes of an African woman”, Echoes, pp. 1-4.

Nagle, J. (2009.) Multiculturalism's Double-Bind: Creating Inclusivity

Cosmopolitanism and Difference. Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

Obioha, U.P. (2010) “Globalization and the Future of African culture”,

Philosophical Papers and Reviews, 2 (1), pp.1-8.

Patton, M. Q. (1990) Qualitative evaluation and research methods, 2nd edn.

Newbury Park, Ca: Sage.

Penas, B. (2006) Interculturalism: between identity and diversity. Bern: Peter

Lang AG.

Rodney, W. (1989) How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Nairobi, Kampala, Dar

es Salaam: East African Educational Publishers.

Tartaron, T. F. (2014) “Cross-cultural Interaction in the Greek World: Culture

Contact Issues and Theories”, in Smith C. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Global
Archaeology. New York, NY, Springer, pp. 1804-1821.

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 LECTURE TWO

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

Lecture 2 Outline

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Objectives
2.3 The Ancient World
2.4 Rise of civilization
2.4.1 Definition of civilization
2.4.2 Characteristics of a civilization
2.5 Agriculture as the basis of civilization
2.6 Early ancient civilizations
2.6.1 ‘Early’, ‘pristine’ and ‘cradle’ vs secondary civilizations
2.6.2 The six cradles of civilization
2.6.3 Influence of the early civilizations on secondary civilizations
2.8 Summary
2.9 Terminal Questions
2.10 References

2.1 Introduction

The period between the rise of modern humans and the Greco-Roman period, referred to as ‘the
ancient world’ is very important in terms of cultural interactions. Various forms of social, cultural and
political interactions starting during the time resulted in the admixture of cultural forms and identities
often exchanged in diverse settings. The interactions of different groups of people and individuals in
different contexts helped to highlight, merge or even contrast their distinctive cultural backgrounds.
Societies of the ancient world not only influenced later societies. They, in fact, ultimately played a crucial
role in shaping the modern world as we know it today. The aim of this second lecture is to identify
characteristic features of the ancient world useful in understanding world cross-cultural history.

By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

2.2 Objectives
1 Explain the meaning and relevance of “the ancient world.”
2 Describe the meaning ‘civilization’ and its core characteristics.
3 Discuss how the rise of agriculture set the stage for the rise of civilization.
4 Analyze three main characteristics of early ancient civilizations.

2.3 The ancient world

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The Collins English Dictionary the defines “ancient” as ‘belonging to the distant past, especially before
the end of the Roman Empire’ and the “world” as ‘the planet that we live on.’ As used in history and
archaeology, the “ancient world” is the time period ranging from rise of modern humans some 300,000
to 200,000 years ago running through the rise of the earliest known civilizations between 4000 BC and
3000 BC to the era of Classical Antiquity – this being the time when ancient Greece and Rome dominated
the Mediterranean region, and indeed the world – a period of 900 years between 500 BC and 400 AD.

The ancient world was a teapot – one characterized by instability and strong emotions – of migration
movements deriving from military campaigns, slavery, and forced deportations. Just like would later on
become evident, and even as can be observed today, such migration movements also stemmed from
well calculated colonization, the search for better economic opportunities, for superior education, and
even for richer artistic environments.

Despite the cultures of the ancient world having often been separated from each other by great
distance, and in spite of the means of travel having been rather archaic as compared to those of today,
cultural cross-fertilization of ideas and information was widespread during that time.

The ancient world is very important insofar as cultural interactions are concerned. Social, economic,
cultural and political interactions beginning at the time resulted in the hybridization (admixture) of
different cultural forms and identities. These interactions of various groups of people and individuals in
the diverse contexts helped to highlight, merge or even contrast their distinctive cultural backgrounds.

Societies of the ancient world not only influenced the societies that succeeded them; ultimately they
played a very significant role in shaping the modern world as we know it today. This is why it is argued in
this lesson that today’s societies owe a great deal to the powerful states, complex societies or
civilizations of the ancient world, which came in the form of empires, kingdoms and mighty cities. Their
cultural achievements, inventions, techniques and concepts opened the gateway for the advancement of
humanity in different dimensions and laid the basis for life in the modern world as we know it today.

2.4 The advent of civilization

One of the major milestones in human development in the ancient world was the rise of large-scale,
populous, politically centralized, and socially stratified polities governed by powerful rulers invariably
called state societies, complex societies, or simply, civilizations. Although these terms are used
interchangeably in this course, I will elaborate “civilization” since it is a key term that you will encounter
a lot in the various sources addressing the ancient world. The question we address here is this: what is a
'civilization, how is it defined, and what its core characteristics? That is what we will address in this
section.

2.4.1 Definition of civilization

The word ‘civilization’ comes from the Latin root civilis, meaning civil. Although the earliest civilizations
are traced to the ancient world, the word 'civilization' first started to appear during the Enlightenment –
the philosophical and intellectual movement that dominated Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries
– that promoted civilizing humankind by using reason, education, and science to bring people up to a
high state of human functioning.

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Although there is no single definition of the ‘civilization’s to date acceptable to all, a civilization is
generally defined as an advanced state of human society containing highly developed forms of
government, culture, industry, and common social norms. Of course, not all scholars agree with this
definition. In fact, there is much debate over what constitutes a civilization and what does not.
Furthermore, who determines what is 'advanced' and what is not?

There, in fact, seems to be a bit of subjectivity involved in defining ‘civilization.’ Early in the development
of the term, anthropologists and others used “civilization” and “civilized society” to differentiate
between societies they found culturally superior (which they were often a part of), and those they found
culturally inferior (which they referred to as “savage” or “barbaric” cultures). The term “civilization” was
often applied in an ethnocentric way, with “civilizations” being considered morally good and culturally
advanced, and other societies being morally wrong and “backward.” This complicated history is what
makes defining a civilization troublesome for scholars, and why today’s modern definition is still in flux.

So yes, on the one hand, this is a bit of a tricky issue. On the other, the general consensus defines
civilization in almost the same way as described above. The definition provided above is typically along
the lines of what you would see in a dictionary or textbook. Therefore, even if it is an oversimplification,
it is the commonly understood definition, and for the purposes of this course, it is sufficient.

2.4.2 Characteristics of a civilization

Archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and other scholars have identified several key characteristics
of civilization. Some of the most commonly suggested characteristics include urban centers, agricultural
manipulation and storage, irrigation, written language, standards of measurements, craftsmanship
technology, social stratification, state government, a common religion and/or ideological outlook, and a
shared culture. These can be summed up into the following six core characteristics:

- Large population centers

- Monumental architecture and unique art styles
- Shared communication strategies
- Systems for administering territories
- A complex division of labor
- The division of people into social and economic classes

Let us quickly go through the above concepts just to make sure we understand how they contribute to
civilization. Keep it in mind as a behind-the-scenes to organize list of characteristics to think about for
each civilization we address, noticing both similarities and differences. This will become especially
important in the two final sections of this lecture when we compare and contrast ancient civilizations.

1. Large population centers, or urban areas

These allow civilizations to develop, although people who live outside these urban centers are still part
of that region’s civilization. Rural residents of civilizations may include farmers, fishers, and traders, who
regularly sell their goods and services to urban residents.

2. Monuments

All civilizations work to preserve their legacy by building large monuments and structures. This is as true
today as it was thousands of years ago. Buildings are not the only monuments that define civilizations.

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Distinct artistic styles also count, for instance, that of Great Zimbabwe included representations of native
animals carved in soapstone.

3. Shared Communication

Shared communication is another element that all civilizations share. Shared communication may
include spoken language; written language, i.e., alphabets; numeric systems; signs, ideas, and symbols;
and illustration and representation. The significance of shared communication it that it allows the
infrastructure necessary for technology, trade, cultural exchange, and government to be developed and
shared throughout the civilization. Written language in particular allows civilizations to record their own
history and everyday events – crucial for understanding ancient cultures.

4. Infrastructure and Administration

All civilizations rely on government administration – bureaucracy. The best example of such a civilization
is perhaps that of ancient Rome.

The word “civilization” itself comes from the Latin word civic, meaning "citizen." Latin was the language
of ancient Rome, whose territory stretched from the Mediterranean basin all the way to parts of Great
Britain in the north and the Black Sea to the east. To rule an area that large, the Romans, based in what is
now central Italy, needed an effective system of government administration and infrastructure.

Romans used a variety of methods to administer their republic and, later, empire. Engineering, for
instance, was a key part of Roman administration. Romans built a network of roads so that
communication between far-away territories was as efficient as possible. Roads also made travel by the
Roman military much easier. Romans built structures of their civilization everywhere they went:
aqueducts supplied freshwater to towns for improved sanitation and hygiene, for example.

5. Division of Labor

Civilizations are marked by complex divisions of labor, a concept referred to as specialization. This means
that different people perform specialized tasks. In a purely agricultural society, members of the
community are largely self-sufficient, and can provide food, shelter, and clothing for themselves. In a
complex civilization, however, farmers may cultivate one type of crop and depend on other people for
other foods, clothing, shelter, and information. Civilizations that depend on trade are specially marked
by divisions of labor.

6. Class Structure

The last element that is key to the development of civilizations is the division of people into classes. This
is a complex idea that can be broken down into two parts: income and type of work performed.
Changing classes has traditionally been difficult and happens over generations. Classes can on the one
hand mean groups of people divided by their income. This division is sometimes characterized as
“economic class.” A good example of this is modern Western Civilization that often divides economic
classes into wealthy, middle-class, and poor. On the other hand, can also to the type of work people
perform. There are many divisions of social class. Social class is often associated with economic class, but
not strictly defined by it.

4
In the ancient civilization of China, there were four major types of social classes. Scholars and political
leaders (known as shi) were the most powerful social class. Farmers and agricultural workers (nong) were
the next most-powerful group. Artists (gong), who made everything from horseshoes to silk robes, were
the next order of social class. At the bottom of the social classes were the merchants and traders, who
bought and sold goods and services. Known as shang, these merchants were often much wealthier than
the other classes but had a lower social status.

2.5 Agriculture as the basis of civilization

The first revolution that would transform humanity’s lifestyles occurred in the Middle East around 6500
BC when the hunters and gatherers of the time shifted from a predominantly nomadic lifestyle based on
foraging – collecting or gathering wild plants – and pursuing or hunting wild animals to a settled lifestyle
based on a farming way of life. A major turning point in human history, the invention of farming and the
tremendous changes it brought about have been called the Neolithic (agricultural) Revolution.

Most scholars concur that agriculture was the single, decisive factor that made it possible for humankind
to settle in permanent communities. Thus, with the development of agriculture, people living in tribes or
family units no longer needed to be nomadic anymore, wandering the surface of earth continually in
search of food or to herd their livestock. Once people managed to control the production of food and
once they became assured of a reliable annual supply of it, their lives changed completely.

People started to establish permanent communities in fertile river valleys. They settled around rivers for
various reasons. For instance, rivers were not only an important source of fresh water for drinking, they
could be used for transportation as well. Furthermore, settlers (especially in areas with unreliable
rainfall) also learned to use the water obtained from rivers to irrigate the land for farming. This is why it
is argued that sedentary settlement (being settled in one place) made it possible to domesticate animals
in order to provide other sources of food and clothing.

Farming the world over has always relied upon a dependable water supply. For the earliest societies this
meant rivers and streams or regular rainfall. The first great civilizations grew up along rivers. Later
communities were able to develop by taking advantage of the rainy seasons.

Farming was indeed a revolutionary discovery. Not only did faming make settlements possible – and
ultimately the building of cities – but it also made available a reliable food supply. With more food
available, more people could be fed. This resulted in population increase. The implication of this is that
the growing number of people available for more kinds of work led to the development of more complex
social structures. With a food surplus, a community now became capable of supporting a variety of
workers who were not farmers. The agricultural revolution thus resulted in a division of labor, a
phenomenon known as specialization, whereby some people devoted to farming, while others worked at
various crafts, such as making pottery, cloth, or tools. Craftspeople traded the goods they made to
farmers for food.

All the ancient civilizations probably developed in much the same way, in spite of regional and climatic
differences. As villages grew, the accumulation of more numerous and substantial goods became
possible. Heavier pottery replaced animal-skin gourds as containers for food and liquids. Cloth could be
woven from wool and flax. Permanent structures made of wood, brick, and stone could be built.

5
The science of mathematics was an early outgrowth of agriculture. People studied the movements of the
Moon, Sun, and planets to calculate seasons. In so doing they created the first calendars. With a calendar
it was possible to calculate the arrival of each growing season. Measurement of land areas was
necessary if property was to be divided accurately. Measurements of amounts – for example, of seeds or
grains – was also a factor in farming and housekeeping. Later came measures of value as commodity and
money exchange became common.

The use of various ways of measuring led naturally to record keeping, and for this some form of writing
became necessary. The earliest civilizations all seem to have used picture-writing – pictures representing
both sounds and objects to the reader. The best known of the ancient writing systems is probably
Egyptian hieroglyphics, a term meaning “sacred carvings,” since many of the earliest writings were
inscribed on stone.

2.6 Early ancient civilizations

In order for you to properly understand the concept of early ancient civilization, in this section we are
going to analyze three significant features of early ancient civilizations, these being:

- Use of the synonymous terms ‘early’, ‘pristine’ and ‘cradle’

- Identity the six cradles of civilization
- Influence on secondary civilizations

2.6.1 Early’, ‘pristine’ and ‘cradle’

When discussing the ancient world, archaeologists and historians often distinguish between primary (or
pristine) civilizations and secondary civilizations (Stein 2001, p.353). Whereas primary (pristine, or
cradle) civilizations evolved independently through largely internal developmental processes, secondary
civilizations came about through the influence of any other preexisting state as did secondary
civilizations.

The concept of “cradle” of civilization is often applied when addressing the rise and spread of
civilizations. The traditional explanation for the rise and spread of civilization is that it began in the
Middle and Near East and spread out from there by influence. Today, however, many scholars now
generally believe that civilizations arose independently at several locations in both hemispheres. They
have observed that sociocultural developments occurred along different timeframes. "Sedentary" and
"nomadic" communities continued to interact considerably; they were not strictly divided among widely
different cultural groups. The concept of a cradle of civilization has a focus where the inhabitants came
to build cities, to create writing systems, to experiment in techniques for making pottery and using
metals, to domesticate animals, and to develop complex social structures involving class systems (Mann
2005).

2.6.2 The six cradles of civilization

The earliest known primary states or pristine states (cradles of civilizations) appeared in the following six
places:

(1) Sumer (Mesopotamia) around 3700 B.C.

(2) The Norte Chico (Andes Mountains) of north-central coastal Peru about 3500 B.C.
(3) Ancient Egypt around 3300 B.C.

6
 (4) Indus Valley (Ancient India) around 2500 B.C.
(5) Ancient China around 1400 B.C.
(6) Olmec (precursor of Ancient Mesoamerica) in the early first millennium BC.

Thus, civilization arose independently in Sumer (Mesopotamia), Peru and Egypt at about the same time,
and later rose independently again in the Indus valley, China, and Mexico.

Below, let us briefly look at each of the primary/ pristine civilizations that cropped up in the six cradles of
civilization:

Sumer

Sumer – the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now southern
Iraq – sprung up between the 6th and 5th millennium BC in what are called the Chalcolithic and early
Bronze Ages. Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Sumerian farmers grew numerous
crops including wheat and barley, which provided the surplus from that would enable them to form
urban settlements.

By 3600 BC Sumerian civilization had been firmly established in southern Mesopotamia. At that time, the
Sumerians had already invented the wheel, writing, the sail boat, agricultural processes such as
irrigation, and the concept of the city. It is generally accepted in scholarly circles that the first cities in the
world indeed emerged in Sumer. The most important Sumerian cities were Eridu, Uruk, Ur, Larsa, Isin,
Adab, Kullah, Lagash, Nippur, and Kish.

In terms of the culture history of Mesopotamia, after Sumer came the empires of Akkadia, Babylonian,
and Assyrian empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the Iron Age, the Neo-Assyrian
and Neo-Babylonian empires were the ones that controlled Mesopotamia.

Norte Chico

Also called the Caral-Supe civilization (or Caral Civilization), Norte Chico civilization is a complex
pre-Columbian-era society that included as many as thirty major population centers in what is now the
Caral region of north-central coastal Peru in the Andes Mountains. The civilization flourished between
the 4th and 2nd millennia BC, with the formation of the first city generally dated to around 3500 BC, at
Huaricanga, in the Fortaleza area.

It is from 3100 BC onward that large-scale human settlement and communal construction become
clearly apparent, which lasted until a period of decline around 1800 BC. Since the early twenty-first
century, Norte Chico civilization has been established as the oldest-known civilization in the Americas,
and one of the oldest and most sophisticated in the world.

The significance of the Norte Chico civilization is that it reminds us that no one part of the world can
claim to have led the whole world and the whole human race in developing technology, culture, society,
political organization or ideas of the divine; that the whole world was in way or another involved in all
these development.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt, a civilization of ancient North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile
River, situated in the place that is now the country of Egypt. The ancient Egyptian civilization sprung from

7
prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3100 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
under Menes (often identified with Narmer). The history of ancient Egypt occurred as a series of stable
kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as Intermediate Periods: the Old Kingdom of
the Early Bronze Age, the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age and the New Kingdom of the Late
Bronze Age.

The Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan Civilization or simply ancient India), was a Bronze Age civilization
in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form
from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early
civilizations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an
area stretching from today’s northeast Afghanistan, through much of Pakistan, and into western and
northwestern India. It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, which flows through the length of
Pakistan, and India.

Ancient China

Ancient China’s civilization refers to the period of Chinese history which began in the early 2nd
millennium BC, when a literate, city-based culture first emerged, to the end of the Han dynasty, in AD
220. The civilization of ancient China first developed in the Yellow River region of northern China, in the
3rd and 2nd millennia BC. This is a very fertile region; however the land needs irrigation to make the
crops grow, and well-built river embankments to prevent catastrophic flooding. Ancient China is
responsible for a rich culture, still evident in modern China. This region is regarded as the Cradle of
China’s Civilization. It was here that the earliest Chinese dynasties were based. From small farming
communities rose dynasties such as the Zhou (1046-256 B.C.E), Qin (221-206 B.C.E), and Ming
(1368-1644 C.E.). Each had its own contribution to the region.

The Olmec

The Olmec were the first major civilization in Mexico, and the second in the Americas (after Norte Chico).
The Olmec lived in the tropical lowlands on the Gulf of Mexico in the present-day Mexican states of
Veracruz and Tabasco. The name Olmec is a Nahuatl—the Aztec language—word; it means the rubber
people. The Olmec might have been the first people to figure out how to convert latex of the rubber tree
into something that could be shaped, cured, and hardened. Because the Olmec did not have much
writing beyond a handful of carved glyphs – symbols – that survived, we do not know what name the
Olmec people gave themselves.

2.6.2 Influence on Secondary civilizations

As explained earlier, archaeologists and historians often distinguish between primary (or pristine)
civilizations and secondary civilizations (Stein 2001, p.353). And as we have seen, primary states evolved
independently through largely internal developmental processes rather than through the influence of
any other preexisting state. Accordingly, as they interacted with their less developed neighbors through
trade, warfare, migration, and more generalized ideological influences, the primary states directly or
indirectly fostered the emergence of secondary states in surrounding areas.

8
Examples of this cultural influence is that of Ancient Mesopotamia, which had profound influence to
later civilizations including the Hittites in Anatolia, and the Minoan and Mycenaean states of the Aegean
Sea area. These states in turn greatly influenced developments in Ancient Greece, which also influenced
Ancient Rome. The Achaemenid Empire (or simply Ancient Persia) – an ancient Iranian empire that was
based in Western Asia and founded by Cyrus the Great – was also was deeply influenced by Ancient
Mesopotamian civilization. It reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I, who conquered most of
northern and central ancient Greece, including the city of Athens, in 480 BC.

Ancient Egypt's impact on later cultures was immense. It greatly influenced the cultural developments of
the Nubian kingdoms in the Sudan, such as, Meroe, Kush and Mukuria. Furthermore, one can say that
ancient Egypt provided the building blocks for Greek and Roman culture, and, through them, influenced
all of the Western tradition.

On their part, the Olmecs created long-distance trade routes to obtain America. Olmec traders swapped
finely made Olmec celts, masks and other small pieces of art with other cultures such as the Mokaya and
Tlatilco, getting jadeite, serpentine, obsidian, salt, cacao, pretty feathers and more in return. These
extensive trade networks spread Olmec culture far and wide, spreading Olmec influence throughout
Mesoamerica. The Olmecs also influenced the civilizations they came into contact with across
Mesoamerica, particularly in sculpture in ceramic and jade and objects featuring Olmec imagery have
been found at Teopantecuanitlan, 650 km distant from the Olmec heartland. Furthermore, many deities
featured in Olmec art and religion such as the sky-dragon (a sort of caiman creature with flaming
eyebrows) and the feathered-snake god, would reappear in similar form in later religions of
Mesoamerica. In this way the Olmecs had deep cultural influences on secondary Mesoamerican
civilizations, i.e., the Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, Mixtec, and Mexica (or Aztec).

2.7 Summary
To sum up the foregoing lecture, here is a recap of the four main points we have
addressed:

● Meaning & relevance of the ancient world

● Meaning of ‘Civilization’ concept & its characteristics
● Agriculture as the basis of Civilization
● The 6 Early Ancient (Cradles of) civilization(s)

First, the ancient world is the time period ranging from rise of anatomically
modern humans some 300,000 years ago running through the rise of the
earliest known civilizations between 4000 BC and 3000 BC to the era of Classical
Antiquity between 500 BC and 400 AD dominated by the ancient \Greeks and
Romans. The timespan was characterized by migration movements mainly
arising from military campaigns, slavery, forced deportations, well calculated
colonization, and the search for better economic opportunities and for superior
education, besides even searching for richer artistic environments. The ancient
world is very important insofar as cultural interactions are concerned. Cultural
cross-fertilization of ideas and information was widespread despite the
numerous challenges that the societies of the time faced. The various
interactions beginning at the time resulted in the hybridization of different

9
 cultural forms and identities, which helped to highlight, merge or even contrast
their distinctive cultural backgrounds. Societies of the ancient world not only
influenced the societies that succeeded them; they ultimately played a very
significant role in shaping the modern world as we know it today. This is why we
have argued in the lecture that societies of the present owe a great deal to the
ancient world.

Second, one of the major milestones in the human history that that can be
traced to the ancient world was the rise of large-scale, populous, politically
centralized, and socially stratified polities governed by powerful rulers invariably
called state societies, complex societies, or simply, civilizations. The word
‘civilization’ derives from the Latin root civilis, meaning civil. Despite the lack of
a single definition of the ‘civilization’s to date acceptable to all, a civilization is
generally defined as an advanced state of human society containing highly
developed forms of government, culture, industry, and common social norms.
Historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and scholars of other various
disciplines have identified several characteristics of civilization that can be
summed up under six core features, these being: large population centers,
monumental architecture and unique art styles, shared communication
strategies, systems for administering territories, a complex division of labor, and
the division of people into social and economic classes.

Third, the Neolithic Revolution, or the Agricultural Revolution, set the stage for
the rise of civilization. The Neolithic was a wide-scale transition of many human
cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to
one of agriculture and settlement, making an increasingly large population
possible. Hunting and gathering is difficult. It takes a long time to find the food
and materials needed to feed a village. Around some 10,000 years ago, through
the Neolithic, humans learned how to domesticate plants and animals. Farming
enabled people to grow all the food they needed in one place, with a much
smaller group of people. This led to massive population growth, creating cities
and trade. Since not everyone in a community was needed to run a farm, this
freed up some people to specialize in other things, like government, armies and
the arts. In this way, civilizations were born. Wherever agriculture flourished,
humans came together in larger populations, stockpiled resources, and
developed complex infrastructures. Farming radically transformed almost every
aspect of human society.

Lastly, early ancient civilizations share three major characteristic features. First,
the synonymous terms ‘primary’, ‘pristine’ and ‘cradle’ are used to distinguish
between the early ancient civilizations (primary states) and ‘secondary’ ancient
civilizations (states). Whereas the ‘primary’ ancient states evolved
independently through largely internal developmental processes, the secondary
states arose through the influence of preexisting states. According to Morton
Fried, pristine states ‘emerged from stratified societies and experienced the

10
 slow, autochthonous growth of specialized formal instruments of social control
out of their own needs for these institutions’ (1967, p. 231). Secondly, there are
to date six identified primary/pristine/cradles in the following six places: Sumer
(Mesopotamia) between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers around 3700 BC; Norte
Chico in the Andes mountains of south-central coastal Peru (c.3500 BC); Ancient
Egypt in the Nile River Valley (c.3300 BC; Ancient India in the Indus Valley
(c.2500 BC); Ancient China in the Yellow River Region (c.1400 BC); and Olmec
(precursor of Ancient Mesoamerica) in the early first millennium BC. These are
the regions where the very first cities were built, the expanses where harvesting
of crops and raising of livestock first took place, the areas where the first
innovations in technology were made, and the places where language was
developed and complex social orders came into being. Thirdly, the early
civilizations Influenced secondary civilizations. Hence, as they interacted with
their less developed neighbors through trade, warfare, migration, and more
generalized ideological influences, the primary states directly or indirectly
fostered the emergence of secondary states in surrounding areas.

Question 1
2.8 Terminal
Questions Identify and discuss the distinguishing features of the ancient world
essential in the study of world cross-cultural history. Cite clear examples
where necessary in support of your answer.

Question 2

(a) What is the ancient world, and how important is it in world

cross-cultural history?
(b) What is your understanding of the term ‘civilization’, and what are
its distinguishing characteristics

Question 3

(a) How valid is the argument that the Neolithic Revolution set the
stage for the rise of civilization.
(b) Analyze three essential features of early ancient civilizations.

2.7 References Bocquet-Appel, J. (2011) "When the World's Population Took Off: The
Springboard of the Neolithic Demographic Transition", Science, 333 (6042), pp.
560–561.

Claessen, H.J.M. (2016) "The emergence of pristine states", Social Evolution and
History, 15 (1), pp. 3-57.

Fried, M. H. (1967). The Evolution of Political Society: in An essay political

anthropology.​New York, NY: Random House.

11
 Mann, C.C. (2005) 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus.
New York, NY: Knopf Publishing Group, pp. 199-212.

Pollard, E., Rosenberg, C., Tignor, R. and Karras, A. (2015) Worlds Together,
Worlds Apart: A History of the World: From the Beginnings of Humankind to the
Present. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company.

Stein, G. J. (2001) “Understanding ancient state societies in the Old World”, in

Feinman, G.M. and Price, T.D. (eds.) Archaeology at the millennium: a
sourcebook. New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, pp. 353-380.

Wright, H. T. (1989) "Rise of Civilizations: Mesopotamia to Mesoamerica",

Archaeology, 42 (1), pp. 46-100.

12
COMPARISON OF THE EARLY ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF NORTE CHICO AND OLMEC FROM
THE AMERICAS
Introduction

An idea that often captivates historians is that one of comparing and contrasting early ancient
civilizations and asking how similar they are on the one hand, and how dissimilar they are on the other
hand. The benefit of such analyses is that they enhance our grasp of these ancient societies by
highlighting their key ingredients. In doing so, they make unproven ideas more explicit. This helps to
reduce the otherwise unavoidable confusion between related concepts. You will, however, note that in
most cases, such discourses concentrate on the four Old World early ancient civilizations of
Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. This happens at the expense of parallel civilizations in the New
World, which are rarely addressed seriously. The trouble with such approaches is that they create a false
impression – that only certain parts of the ancient world mattered – while others did not.

The aim this discussion is to compare and contrast between the two early ancient civilizations of Norte
Chico and Olmec from the Americas. Norte Chico is found in North-central coastal Peru in South America
while Olmec is found in the Gulf of Mexico, to the southern part of the North American continent. The
significance of these two civilizations from the Americas in the New World is that they are amongst the
six so far known early (invariably called ‘founding’, ‘pristine’ of ‘cradle’) civilizations of the ancient world;
of course the rest being Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China from the Old World. The discourse rests of
the thesis that though both Norte Chico and Olmec civilizations share many commonalities in that they
were both founded on the dual economies of agriculture and fishing, both built urban centers, and
molded relatively complex social structures with class systems, due to having developed in strikingly
contrasting physical environments, they are quite distinctive from each other, or unique.

Complex society in Norte Chico emerged around 3500 BCE, a millennium after Sumer in Mesopotamia
that is deemed to be the oldest in the world, flourished at the same time with ancient Egypt, and is the
oldest civilization not only in South America where it is located, and where it is thought to be the
precursor of subsequent civilizations in the Andean region, but also in the whole of the Americas. Norte
Chico civilization predates the Mesoamerican Olmec civilization by nearly two millennia since the latter
arose about 1500 BCE. Despite not being the amongst the oldest civilizations in the Americas, Olmec is
the first known complex society to develop in Mesoamerica (the historical region in North America
extending from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras,
Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica).

In order to clearly bring out the similarities and differences between these two civilizations, this
discussion is organized in a point by point format, which allows a breakdown of the discourse by each
point of similarity and difference as per the following seven areas: environmental setting, socio-political
organization, technology, writing, religion, arts, and accomplishments.

I. Environmental setting

The Olmec and Norte Chico civilizations shared similar geographical locations. Both societies were
centrally located. While Olmec people lived in the coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico in the present-day
Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco in Southern Mexico, the people of Norte Chico lived on the
north central coast of Peru. Both of these central locations along the sea would have favored the

1
development of the two civilizations since they made the two civilizations quite accessible. This would
have no doubt favored social, cultural and economic interactions with other societies of the time.

Insofar as the climate is concerned, in contrast to the wet tropical lowlands of South-Central Mexico that
would have supported good farmland for the people of ancient Olmec, Norte Chico people inhabited a
rather cold desert local environment on the North central Pacific Coast regions of Peru. With annual
temperatures of less than 20 °C (68 °F) and with temperatures falling to or near 10 °C (50 °F) during the
Southern Hemisphere's winter, this was indeed a hostile environment! In fact, it is a paradox
(contradiction) that this apparently quite hostile region - perhaps one of the most extreme desert
regions on earth, and one prone to severe cycles of natural disasters like earthquakes, El Niño flooding,
beach ridge formation, and sand dune incursion - ended up producing one of the earliest civilizations in
the world, and indeed, the earliest in the Americas.

A fundamental key to the development of the Peruvian desert coast was the maritime wealth of the Cold
Peruvian Coastal Current, which generated a productive near-shore fishery replete with fish and other
marine resources (Marcus et al. 1999, p. 6564). Adapted to a coastal desert broken by lush river valleys
and fronted by a productive near-shore fishery, the north central coast of Peru was very different from
other centers of ancient development - different from Mesopotamia, different from ancient Egypt, India,
and China - and indeed different from the environment of the Olmec civilization.

Both the Olmec and Norte Chico civilizations were River Valley civilizations akin to their counterparts in
the Old World. Whereas the Olmecs developed in the fertile basins of the Coatzacoalcos, Papaloapan
and Tonala rivers, Norte Chico developed in the adjacent valleys of four coastal rivers, namely, the
Huaura, Supe, Pativilca, and Fortaleza, all which traversed the flat north central coast of Peru. The latter
three rivers that share a common coastal plain host the cluster of the so far known sites of this
civilization. Similar to Olmec and the other four River Valley civilizations, the rivers traversing the Norte
Chico landscape not only provided drinking water, but also supplied them with food. The rivers enabled
the irrigation of land for crops while the associated floodplains contained fertile soil for the cultivation of
crops. In a nutshell, thanks to the rivers, Norte Chico and Olmec civilizations, same as the four early
ancient civilizations of the Old World, were able to develop agriculture and a strong farming tradition,
which formed the backbones of their respective economies.

II. Economy

Just like rest of the early ancient civilizations, both Norte Chico and Olmec civilizations were based on
robust farming traditions that not only supplied food and medicine but also raw materials for craft
industries. Indeed, Norte Chico is credited for having developed the earliest farming traditions in the
Americas. By irrigating the landscape using water flowing from the Andes Mts. by the four rivers running
across the land, the people of Norte Chico focused their farming on the production of cotton as raw
material for the fishing and textile industries in their production of fishnets and clothes. For food, the
Norte Chico people cultivated crops now popular worldwide including the fruit trees of avocado and
guava, arrow root, beans, sweet potato and groundnut.

The Olmec people also had a very rich farming tradition, just like, if not better than that of the Norte
Chico people, and indeed those of all the other River Valley civilizations. Practicing basic agriculture using
the "slash-and-burn" technique, the Olmecs cultivated such food crops as maize, sunflower, beans,
squash, cassava, manioc, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes, in addition to the trees of avocado, cacao and

2
rubber. Rubber was used to make balls for the legendary Mesoamerican ball game. Indeed, the Olmecs
are credited for domesticating these crops that are now found worldwide.

An important peculiarity about Norte Chico is that unlike the Olmecs and the other five early ancient
civilizations, fishing, rather than agriculture, formed their main source of subsistence. Archaeological
evidence shows that most of the food resources of the Norte Chico people came not from the farm, but
from the sea with the small sea fish species of anchovies and sardines forming a substantial part of their
diet. Marine resources from the Peruvian coastal hinterland formed the basis of trade and other
exchange networks with inland societies.

Although among the Olmecs agriculture remained the backbone of their subsistence and economy in
general, they were to an extent similar to the people of Norte Chico in that maritime food resources
featured prominently in their diet. These include fish, shellfish, turtles and other marine animals, in
addition to seaweed, which were sourced in the hot, humid temperature of the Mexican Gulf coast.
Thus, exploitation of marine resources was quite important in both of these American civilizations.

What distinguishes Norte Chico and Olmec civilizations on the one hand with their counterparts from the
Old World on the other hand is the role of agriculture in their rise. Unlike the latter societies whose rise
heavily relied on a single based economy of agriculture, both Norte Chico and Olmec civilizations were
characterized by dual based economy founded on a combination of agriculture and fishing.

The generation of food surpluses is necessary for the development of social and political hierarchies.
Accordingly, high agricultural productivity, combined with the natural abundance of aquatic foods in the
Gulf lowlands supported their growth (Pool 2007, pp. 26-27. Thus, a strong mixed economy in both
Norte Chico and Olmec civilizations is likely to have resulted in surpluses both in farm and maritime
produce. This would have led to specialization, opening up production in areas beyond subsistence such
as craft production that would have in turn facilitated trade. The location of Norte Chico on the central
coast and Olmec near the Gulf of Mexico allowed for trade with other civilizations

III. Socio-political organization

The rise of the Olmec civilization can be attributed to a strong and centralized monarchy. It is thought
that the colossal heads, which constitute a typical feature of Olmec society - each one depicting a
particular individual - are likely portraits of the Olmec kings who ruled from ornate palaces at San
Lorenzo and La Venta. The site of Tres Zapotes has provided the earliest evidence for Olmec kingship.
However, evidence suggests that at its height, this city adopted a very different form of government, one
in which power was shared among multiple factions.

Akin to Olmec, Norte Chico was organized through central authority. According to Christopher Mann it
was governed through theocratic chiefdoms (Mann, 2005). Construction areas show possible evidence of
feasting, which would have included music and likely alcohol, suggesting elite able to both mobilize and
reward the population. Further evidence of centralized authority in Norte Chico includes: the
architectural construction patterns suggestive of an elite population who wielded immense power; the
remains of large stone warehouses found at Upaca, on the banks of River Pativilca as symbolic of
authorities able to control vital resources such as cotton (Haas, et. al. 2005). This evidence suggests that
Norte Chico invented a unique form of human government in peculiar circumstances, just like that of
Sumer, in Mesopotamia.

3
Another major point of socio-political comparison between the two societies is that like Old World early
ancient civilizations characterized by major urban centers, both of these societies were based on certain
major cities. Whereas Norte Chico was centered on the Sacred City of Caral, Huaricanga, and Aspero,
Olmec was mainly based on the cities of San Lorenzo, La Venta and Tres Zapotes.

Social stratification was evident both in Olmec and Norte Chico societies. The highly productive
environment in the Coatzacoalcos river basin of Mexico encouraged a densely concentrated population,
which in turn triggered the rise of an elite class (Beck, et. al. 1999). The elite class in turn created the
demand for the production of the symbolic and sophisticated luxury artifacts that define Olmec culture
(Pool 2007, pp. 26-27). As for Norte Chico, some scholars have proposed that Nthis was a state level
society, characterized by complex social organization and large centers dominated by stone-faced temple
mounds.

IV. Technology

The Olmecs developed complex art and cultural practices that show an advanced civilization. They
created beautiful luxury goods and enormous stone statues. The Olmecs were adept at pottery
production. Millions of potsherds have been discovered in and around Olmec sites indicating that
ceramic pots and other vessels were very common in this civilization. The Olmecs used pottery vessels
and plates to store and cook food. A unique aspect of Olmec civilization was their rubber production
technology; they used latex from rubber trees to create rubber.

Although the Norte Chico, unlike the Olmecs completely lacked ceramic technology, according to
archaeological evidence, they used textiles and had a strong grasp on textile manufacture. They used the
cotton that they grew through irrigation to manufacture fishing nets (that in turn provided maritime
resources) as well as clothes.

V. Record keeping

Olmecs were the first civilization in the Western Hemisphere to develop a writing system. Like ancient
Egyptians, the Olmecs apparently used hieroglyphics because the symbols they used are basically in the
form of pictures. Many of the glyphs are paintings which seem to be helpful in writing and keeping
records. They also used a number system, which is the bar-and-dot notation.

As far as writing systems are concerned, Norte Chico civilization is peculiar in that unlike the Olmecs and
most of the other founding early ancient civilizations, it did not have a clear writing system.
Nevertheless, the quipu (or khipu), a string-based device in the form of a knotted textile piece found at
the Caral site, may have been used for record-keeping purposes, which suggests a writing, or
proto-writing, system in Norte Chico.

VI. Religion

Both and Olmec and Norte Chico civilizations had religious practices that had profound influences on the
subsequent respective Mesoamerican and Andes Mts ancient societies. The Olmec people had a
well-developed religion. There are five aspects of Olmec religion, including a well-defined cosmos, a
shaman class, sacred places and sites, identifiable gods and specific rituals and ceremonies. The Olmecs
also worshipped many gods. Common Olmecs who worked the fields and caught fish in the rivers

4
probably only participated in religious practices as observers, because there was an active priest class
and the rulers and ruling family most likely had specific and important religious duties. Many of the
Olmec gods, such as the Rain God and Feathered Serpent, would go on to form part of the pantheon of
later Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Aztec and Maya. The Olmec also played the ritualistic
Mesoamerican ball game.

Similar to the Olmecs, Norte Chico people are associated with the worship of common deity symbols,
both of which recur in pre-Columbian Andean cultures. The best example is perhaps worship of the Staff
God. The oldest known depiction of the Staff God was found in 2003 on some broken gourd fragments in
a burial site in the Pativilca River valley and the gourd was carbon dated to 2250 BCE.

VII. Arts

Most of what is known today about the Olmecs is due to surviving examples of Olmec art. This is best
exemplified in the most recognizable feature of Olmec culture - the massive colossal heads - some of
which are nearly ten feet tall. Other forms of Olmec art that have survived include statues, figurines,
celts (prehistoric stone or metal implements with beveled cutting edges, probably used as tools or
weapons), thrones, wooden busts and cave paintings. That art had a special place in Olmec culture is
demonstrated by the fact that the Olmec cities of San Lorenzo and La Venta most likely had an artisan
class who worked on these sculptures. It is likely that ordinary Olmec people produced only useful "art"
such as pottery vessels. They would, however, have played an important role in the sourcing of the
stones used to mold the ‘colossal’ heads. Other Olmec art expresses fantastic human-form creatures
that were often highly stylized, using motifs reflecting religious meanings. Apart from producing human
and human-like subjects, Olmec artisans were skillful in animal portrayals.

The Norte Chico civilization apparently had almost no visual art when compared to the to the rich Olmec
civilization. Whereas visual arts appear absent in Norte Chico, the people may have played instrumental
music: thirty-two flutes, crafted from pelican bone, have been discovered (Mann 2005).

In spite of the modest Norte Chico art in comparison with the Olmecs, the people of Norte Chico
constructed some very impressive cultural features in their landscape. These include monumental
architecture manifested in the large earthwork platform mounds, sunken circular plazas and adobe
houses. Noteworthy is the fact that Norte Chico people, similar to the ancient Egyptians, built
monumental stone pyramids, some of which predate those of the Egyptians.

VIII. Accomplishments

Both Norte Chico and Olmec civilizations made tremendous achievements that shaped not only
subsequent societies in their respective regions, but also in the whole fron the ancient times to the
present-day. Found in an agriculturally hostile environment, with little art, no pottery, and no known
writing, the people of Norte Chico can celebrated for their accomplishments. Although they relied
heavily on maritime resources, they developed one of the earliest agriculture traditions in the Americas,
domesticating some of the most popular crops in the world today including maize, squash, beans, and
avocados, and cotton, among others. The legacy of Norte Chico is also manifested in the monumental
architecture having built splendid stone pyramids, and many unique features of the society they created
including sunken plazas and adobe houses on centralized plans. In addition, their textile weaving
techniques were superb!

5
The Olmecs also accomplished a lot! Aside from their influence with contemporaneous Mesoamerican
cultures, as the first civilization in Mesoamerica, the Olmecs are credited with many "firsts", including
writing, and the invention of popcorn, zero and the Mesoamerican calendar, and the Mesoamerican
ballgame, as well as perhaps the compass. The Olmecs may also have created the precursors of many of
the later Mesoamerican deities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, although the early ancient civilizations of Norte Chico and Olmec share many
commonalities in that they were founded the dual economies of fishing and agriculture, constructed
urban centers and molded relatively complex social structures with class systems, they differ
fundamentally due to their having developed in strikingly contrasting environmental settings. Despite
the two civilizations sharing many similarities, their differences clearly stand out. One of the main
characteristics of culture is that humans use it to adapt to particular environments. While Norte Chico
culture evolved in extremely cold coastal desert conditions, Olmec developed in wet tropical lowlands.
Obviously then, the two civilizations would have developed the distinctive behavior patterns, strategies,
and techniques manifested in the foregoing socio-political organization, technology, writing, arts, and
accomplishments we have discussed. In a nutshell, the fundamental differences identified between
Norte Chico and Olmec civilizations can be attributed to their respective divergent environmental
settings.

References

Beck, R. B., Black, L., Krieger, L., Naylor, L. and Shabaka, D. (1999) World history: Patterns of interaction.
Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell.

Coe, M. D. and Koontz, R. (2002) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. New York: Thames and Hudson.

Diehl, R.A. (2004) The Olmecs: America's First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson.

Haas, J., Winifred, C. and Ruiz, A. (2005) "Power and the Emergence of Complex Polities in the Peruvian
Preceramic", Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 14 (1), pp. 37–52.

Mann, C. C. (2005) 1491: New revelations of the Americas before Columbus. New York: Knopf.

Marcus, J., Sommer, J.D. and Glew, C.P. (1999) “Fish and mammals in the economy of an ancient Peruvian
kingdom”, PNAS, 96 (11), PP. 6564-6570.

Piscitelli, M. (2017) “Pathways to Social Complexity in the Norte Chico Region of Peru”, in Chacon R.J. and
Mendoza, R.G. (eds.), Feast, Famine or Fighting? Multiple Pathways to Social Complexity. Cham,
Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp 393-415.

Pool, C.A. (2007) Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge
and New York: Cambridge University Press.

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Sandweiss, D.H, Solís R.S., Moseley, M.E., Keeferd, D.K., Ortloffe, C.R. (2009) “Environmental change and
economic development in coastal Peru between 5,800 and 3,600 years ago”, PNAS, 106 (5),
pp.1359–1363.

Sandweiss, D.H., and Quilter, J. (2012) “Collation, correlatoin, and causation in the prehistory of coastal
Peru”, in Cooper, J, and Sheets, P. (eds.), Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Answers from
Archaeology. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pp. 117-139.

Sandweiss, D.H., Solís, R.M.S., Moseley, M.E., Keefer, D.K. and Ortloff, C.R. (2009) “Environmental change
and economic development in coastal Peru between 5,800 and 3,600 years ago”, Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 106 (5), pp. 1359-1363.

Smith, M.E. (2006) “How do Archaeologists Compare Early States?”, Reviews in Anthropology, 35, pp.
5-35.

7
 LECTURE FOUR

GLOBAL MOVEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL IDEAS DURING THE 1450-1789 AD PERIOD

Lecture 4 Outline

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Objectives
4.3 Changes in Europe before 1450
4.4 The Renaissance Humanism Movement
4.5 The Reformation
4.5.1 Causes
4.5.2 Results
4.5.3 The Importance of the Printing Press
4.6 The Scientific Revolution
4.7 Exploration
4.7.1 Reasons for Exploration
4.7.2 Impacts of Exploration
4.8 The Early Enlightenment
4.9 Summary
4.10 Terminal Questions
4.11 References

4.1 Introduction

Having addressed some of the civilizations of the Ancient world in the previous two lectures our
attention here turns to the global movement of intellectual ideas. An intellectual movement is a period
of time when thinkers and philosophers engage in new ideas and concepts that challenge traditional
beliefs. Such a movement is characterized by questioning old systems and seeking new knowledge. The
intellectual movements under discussion in the lecture sprung up predominantly from events that
occurred in Europe during the 1450 to 1789 era.

The lecture specifically aims to discuss how cultural and intellectual changes which occurred in Europe
between 1450 and 1789 influenced the global movement of intellectual ideas. Alluding to Europe at the
time, Robert Bireley, a leading Jesuit historian states that combining a rediscovered past and a
productive present set off significant changes in how Europeans viewed the world and themselves.
These new perspectives in Europe resulted in four massive cultural and intellectual movements: the
Renaissance Humanism movement, the Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the early
Enlightenment (Bireley 2015). The relevance of these revolutions in expression and thought in Europe in
our discussion is that they changed the world and shaped it in the way it looks today.

1
As you are going to learn in this lesson, in just a few hundred years, Europe went from being a backward,
isolated, self-involved outpost on the perimeter of the major civilizations to the east, including the
Byzantine (or Ottoman) Empire (centered in modern-day Turkey), Persia, India and China to become the
dominant civilization in the world. With all these changes, the world by and large became subject to
European influence in 1450-1789 period, and European society and culture became globalized in various
ways (Crăciun & Fulton, 2011). With the waves of changes and European civilization sweeping across the
world, the continent of Europe became lit with the fire of great religious awakening in the protestant
reformation, scientific discoveries, philosophical arguments, industrial needs and advancement, and the
need for raw materials hence the movements into new territories in the name of colonization of other
continents like Africa, America, and Asia. In all these new territories, Europe spread its influence in all
sectors.

By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

4.2 Objectives
1 Analyze medieval factors that set the stage for the Renaissance and
subsequent cultural and intellectual movements.
2 Explain the influence of Renaissance Humanism on cultural and intellectual
movements of the 1450-1789 era.
3 Explain the causes and results of the Reformation religious movement, and
the importance of the printing press in the process.
4 Distinguish between the key figures of the Scientific Revolution and their
respective contributions.
5 Analyze the characteristic features of the European Exploration.
6 Summarize the main features and contributions of the Early Enlightenment
in Europe and the US.

4.3 Changes in Europe before 1450

A study of the transformation of Europe in the 1450-1789 era would be incomplete without considering
the influence of the extensive cultural and intellectual changes that began in the Italian city-states, prior
to 1450. These include: the decline of feudalism; diminishing influence of the Church; impact of the
crusades; the wealth, prosperity and role of elites; contribution of original thinkers of the Middle Ages;
The capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453; new trade routes; and the Black Death.

First, on the decline of feudalism – the basis of life during the medieval period – greatly contributed to
the rise of Renaissance. Feudalism, which had started to decline by the close of the 13th century in
France and Italy, virtually disappeared from Western European countries by the 1500 A.D. The peace and
freedom among ordinary Europeans that prevailed after the decline of feudalism favored the growth of
New Learning. It led to the new developments in the spheres of art, literature, philosophy, and science
and contributed to the rise of the 1450-1789 intellectual movements.

Second, regarding the diminishing Influence of the Church it can be said that the Church, which
dominated the medieval society, suffered a setback in the 13th and 14th centuries. The temporal

2
(worldly) power of the Church was challenged by a number of strong monarchs. In 1296 A.D., for
instance, King Philip IV of France, had Pope Boniface VIII arrested and made prisoner. This dealt a major
body blow to the power and prestige of the Pope. Even the common people lost faith in Church due to
rise of numerous rituals. They preferred to pay greater attention to the present life rather than the life
after death. No wonder they did not find the medieval ideals of other worldliness and asceticism
satisfactory.

Third, concerns the impact of the crusades. The Crusades – the wars between the Christians and
Muslims fought in the Middle Ages between 11th and 14th century AD and which ultimately resulted in
the victory of the Muslims – also provided an impetus to Renaissance. While crusading, Europeans
(mainly Christian), came across Middle Eastern civilizations that had made strides in many cultural fields.
Moreover, Islamic countries had kept many classical Greek and Roman texts that had been lost in
Europe, and they were reintroduced in Europe through returning crusaders. As a matter of fact, lots of
Western scholars went to the universities of Cairo in Egypt, Kufa in Iraq, and Cardona in Islamic Spain,
etc., thereby learning many new ideas, which they subsequently spread in Europe.

Fourth, on wealth, prosperity and role of elites: Trade stimulated by the Crusades had made several of
the Italian city-states wealthy, such as Venice, Genoa, and Florence. Wealthy families, such as the Medici
in Florence, became patrons of the arts, encouraging and supporting such geniuses as Leonardo da Vinci
and Michelangelo. Some of the biggest supporters of Renaissance art and sculpture were the Catholic
Popes, who commissioned work for the Vatican and St. Peter's cathedral in Rome.

Fifth, is the contribution of original thinkers of the Middle Ages: In the medieval times, the Church
dominated most human activities and perceptions. Its authority could not be questioned. However,
original medieval thinkers like French scholastic philosopher Peter Abelard (1079—1142), English
philosopher and theologian Roger Bacon (1214–1292), and influential Italian philosopher and theologian
Thomas Aquinas (1224 – 1274), placed emphasis on the spirit of enquiry, freethinking, reasoning, and
scientific investigation. This significantly boosted the Renaissance and the associated subsequent cultural
and intellectual movements of the 1450-1789 period.

Sixth concerns the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453: Constantinople, the capital of the
Eastern Roman (Ottoman/Byzantine) Empire, which served as a center of Greek and Roman cultures
during the Middle Ages, provided an indirect impetus to the Renaissance and subsequent events.
Following the fall of Constantinople, a large number of Greek and Roman scholars who were until then
working and living in the libraries at Constantinople, out of fear fled to different parts of Europe with
valuable literature, particularly to the different Italian cities including Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, and
Naples. There, they began to teach various subjects including mathematics, history, geography,
philosophy, astronomy, medicine, etc. This would play an important role in giving birth to the
Renaissance.

Seventh, is the issue of new trade routes: After the capture of Constantinople in 1453, the trade routes
existing between the East and the West were closed. This contributed greatly in pushing the European
traders and navigators to the Age of Exploration, a period from approximately the 15th century to the
17th century, during which seafarers from a number of European countries including navigators like
Bartholomew Diaz, Vasco-da-Gama, and Columbus discovered new routes and brought people from
Western Europe into contact with the people of Asia, which widened their outlook culminating in
colonized, and conquered regions across the globe.

3
Eighth and finally, concerns the Black Death: The Black Death arguably helped set the stage for the
1450-1789 intellectual movements. This was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in North Africa,
Europe and Asia – from 1346 to 1353. The associated deaths of many prominent officials caused social
and political upheaval in Florence, where the Renaissance is considered to have begun. Some historians
argue that the Black Death caused people to question the church's emphasis on the belief in life after
death and instead focusing more on the present moment, a key element of the Renaissance's humanist
philosophy.

4.4 The Renaissance Humanism Movement

Before we address the meaning of Humanism and how it influenced the Renaissance, it is perhaps in
order to first look at the meaning of the Main concept “Renaissance”. In European history, the
Renaissance, or "rebirth”, is a period immediately following the Middle Ages and conventionally held to
have been characterized by an attempt to revive the values of the classical civilizations of
the Mediterranean, Greece and Rome. Although most of the major Renaissance figures did not actively
defy the church, they put emphasis on other aspects of life than the religious.

Although historians debate the precise origins of the Renaissance, most agree that it – or one version of
it – began in Italy sometime in the late 1300s, with the decline in influence of Roman Catholic Christian
doctrine and the reawakening of interest in ancient Greek and Latin texts by philosophers such as
Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca, historians including Plutarch and poets such as Ovid and Virgil.

● What is Humanism, and how did it influence the Renaissance?

An important philosophical influence that sprung in the Italian city-states, which was restored from
ancient civilizations and which fueled the Renaissance was Humanism. This ideology focused on the
accomplishments, characteristics, and capabilities of humans, not of God, as had always been taught by
the Catholic Church.

Humanism held education in high esteem; this made education to become a driving force of the
Renaissance. Accordingly, education was encouraged by the increase in the number of universities and
schools. With this development, the concept of a ‘humanistic’ curriculum gradually began to solidify
characterized by three features:

Firstly, focus was removed from Christian theological texts characteristic of learning in the middle ages,
and instead placed on classical ‘humanities’ that included subjects like history, philosophy, drama and
poetry. This is why to-date these disciplines are termed as “Humanities”.

Secondly, students were drilled in Latin and Greek, meaning that texts from the ancient world could now
be studied in their original languages.

Thirdly, printed textbooks and manuals (now readily available after Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the
printing press around 1440) enabled students to memorize written pieces from quotable authors,
sharpen their use of argumentative rhetoric and develop an elegant writing style.

Humanism is reflected in Renaissance art, with newly skilled artists showing individual differences in
faces and beautiful examples of human physiques.

4
The Renaissance spread from Italy northwards, and by the 16th century had inspired new art styles in
the Netherlands and Germany, as well as such literary geniuses as William Shakespeare in England.

In Britain, the philosophy of Humanism was spread by a rapid increase in the number of ‘Grammar’
schools. As their name suggests, language was their primary focus, with students often required to speak
in Latin during school hours.

● What was the impact of grammar schools in Britain?

As a result of the availability of grammar schools, there was a jump in the number of children exposed to
the best classical learning. As a matter of fact, almost every major British Renaissance intellectual you
may think of – Marlowe, Spenser, Jonson, and Bacon besides Shakespeare, to name just a few – all
received a humanist education. Shakespeare’s plays and poems are steeped in writers he encountered at
school.

● Was the importance of the Renaissance limited to art and literature?

The importance of the European Renaissance by far goes far beyond art and literature in that it
encouraged people to think in different ways than they had before, a quality that Europeans would need
as they ventured in science, technology, and eventually across the Atlantic to the Americas.

4.4 The Renaissance Humanism Movement

Before we address the meaning of Humanism and how it influenced the Renaissance, it is perhaps in
order to first look at the meaning of the key concept “Renaissance”. In European history, the
Renaissance, or "rebirth”, is a period immediately following the Middle Ages and conventionally held to
have been characterized by an attempt to revive the values of the classical civilizations of
the Mediterranean, Greece and Rome. Although most of the major Renaissance figures did not actively
defy the church, they put emphasis on other aspects of life than the religious.

Although historians debate the precise origins of the Renaissance, most agree that it – or one version of
it – began in Italy sometime in the late 1300s, with the decline in influence of Roman Catholic Christian
doctrine and the reawakening of interest in ancient Greek and Latin texts by philosophers such as
Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca, historians including Plutarch and poets such as Ovid and Virgil.

What is Humanism, and how did it influence the Renaissance?

An important philosophical influence that sprung in the Italian city-states, which was restored from
ancient civilizations and which fueled the Renaissance was Humanism. This ideology focused on the
accomplishments, characteristics, and capabilities of humans, not of God, as had always been taught by
the Catholic Church.

Humanism held education in high esteem; this made education to become a driving force of the
Renaissance. Accordingly, education was encouraged by the increase in the number of universities and
schools. With this development, the concept of a ‘humanistic’ curriculum gradually began to solidify
characterized by three features:

5
Firstly, focus was removed from Christian theological texts characteristic of learning in the middle ages,
and instead placed on classical ‘humanities’ that included subjects like history, philosophy, drama and
poetry. This is why to-date these disciplines are termed as “Humanities”.

Secondly, students were drilled in Latin and Greek, meaning that texts from the ancient world could now
be studied in their original languages.

Thirdly, printed textbooks and manuals (now readily available after Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the
printing press around 1440) enabled students to memorize written pieces from quotable authors,
sharpen their use of argumentative rhetoric and develop an elegant writing style.

Humanism is reflected in Renaissance art, with newly skilled artists showing individual differences in
faces and beautiful examples of human physiques.

The Renaissance spread from Italy northwards, and by the 16th century had inspired new art styles in
the Netherlands and Germany, as well as such literary geniuses as William Shakespeare in England.

In Britain, the philosophy of Humanism was spread by a rapid increase in the number of ‘Grammar’
schools. As their name suggests, language was their primary focus, with students often required to speak
in Latin during school hours.

What was the impact of grammar schools in Britain?

As a result of the availability of grammar schools, there was a jump in the number of children exposed to
the best classical learning. As a matter of fact, almost every major British Renaissance intellectual you
may think of – Marlowe, Spenser, Jonson, and Bacon besides Shakespeare, to name just a few – all
received a humanist education. Shakespeare’s plays and poems are steeped in writers he encountered at
school.

Was the importance of the Renaissance limited to art and literature?

The importance of the European Renaissance by far goes far beyond art and literature in that it
encouraged people to think in different ways than they had before, a quality that Europeans would need
as they ventured in science, technology, and eventually across the Atlantic to the Americas.

4.5 The Reformation

The Reformation is regarded as having been the greatest religious movement for Christians since the
early church. It constituted a revival of Biblical and New Testament theology. The Reformation officially
began in 1517 when Martin Luther challenged the Roman Church on the matter of Indulgences. While
Luther had no idea of the impact this would make on the German society and the world, this event
would end up changing the course of world history.

According to Church historian Phillip Schaff in his book entitled History of the Christian Church: “The
Reformation of the 16th century is, next to the introduction of Christianity, the greatest event in history.
It marks the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times. Starting from religion, it gave,

6
directly or indirectly, a mighty impulse to every forward move-ment, and made Protestantism the chief
propelling force in the history of modern civilization” (Schaff 2011).

4.5.1 Causes of the Reformation

Causes for the reformation are in the nature of religion/existence or abuses, intellectual nature; political;
economic; and sale of indulgences. First, regarding religious causes/ existence or abuses. Reformation
began with the rebellion against the abuses of the Church. The Popes, who claimed to be representatives
of God, neglected their religious duties. The Church was ready to sacrifice moral and spiritual values for
the sake of money. The clergy became corrupt and idle and naturally, the Church lost its early purity. The
principles like simplicity and forgiveness preached by Jesus were completely forgotten. The anger against
such evils was one of the chief causes for the Reformation.

Second, on intellectual causes: The spirit of enquiry and criticism generated by the Renaissance
intellectuals like John Wycliffe and others resulted in protests against the abuses by the Church and
corrupt practices of the Clergy. They demanded the purification of the Church organization. They
challenged the supremacy of the Pope and declared that the Pope was not the representative of God
and every Christian should be guided by the Bible.

Third, on political causes: The Roman Catholic Church claimed the spiritual and temporal power over the
States of Europe. Kings and people opposed the political power enjoyed by the Church. The growth of
nationalism led to the establishment of National Churches with Kings as their heads. They felt that the
Church should take interest only in the religious, spiritual and moral domains. They wanted to restrict
the power of the Church and these political circumstances prompted reformation.

Fourth, on economic causes: The Roman Church-owned vast lands, money and property. Church
property was exempted from all taxes, but the common people were burdened with various taxes, fees,
and fines. The Church claimed that the wealth of the Church was the wealth of God and Kings had no
rights to tax on church property.

And finally, on sale of indulgences: The straw that broke the camel’s back causing the reformation was
the sale of indulgences by Pope Leo-X, who was badly in need of money for the rebuilding of the St.
Peters Church at Rome. Despite all the criticism leveled against it the Church continued to collect money
in various ways. Pope Leo X sent his agent, John Tetzel to Germany to sell indulgences. Indulgences were
certificates issued by the Pope for money, exempting the people from receiving punishment for their
sins. Brokers and Bankers were appointed to sell them and were paid commissions. Martin Luther
opposed this sale in his famous 95 points and nailed them to the Church door at Wittenberg. He began
to question the Pope and the doctrines.

4.5.2 Results of the Reformation

Reformation produced far-reaching results. The following ones are noteworthy.

● Reformation destroyed the unity of the Christian Church by the establishment of the Protestant
Church.

7
 ● The medieval religious tradition and superstitious beliefs were rejected. The leaders of this
movement also rejected the supreme authority of the church accepted the authorities of the
true Bible.
● Reformation freed the Kings of Europe from the control of pope. It gave birth to secular states.
● Reformation led to reforms in the Catholic Church and also a much clearer statement of Christian
doctrines.
● It had a great economic effect. The properties of the Church were confiscated by the Protestant
Nobles and Princes, making them powerful. This wealth was utilised for the economic
development and as a result, money lenders, bankers, and financiers earned a high status.
● It had a great effect on the development of national literature. The translation of the Bible into
the vernacular languages spread the knowledge of scriptures among the common people.
● The religious clashes between the Catholics and the Protestants caused much bloodshed, death,
and destruction. It finally gave birth to secular States as the only way for national integration.
European Kings adopted religious tolerance.
● It had further stimulus to the growth of the spirit of nationalism.

4.5.3 The Importance of the Printing Press

Johannes Gutenberg, a printer from Mainz Germany, contributed greatly to the rapid spread of
Protestantism. Although he died in 1468, many years before the Reformation began, without his
construction of a workable printing press around 1450, Luther's word would almost certainly never have
gotten out. In 1454 he printed his famous Gutenberg Bible with moveable type, and the book inspired
early Renaissance writers, such as Erasmus, to use the technology to print their own works.

By 1550 at least 10 million printed works were circulating around Europe from presses in hundreds of
towns. Guttenberg did not invent moveable type or the printing press. Both the Chinese and Koreans
had used them in earlier years, and they too had spread literacy in Asia by printing books and making
them accessible to more people. In Europe the device appeared as a critical invention at a critical time in
European history. Without it the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Protestant Reformation, and
ultimately the Maritime Revolution would not have been possible.

4.6 The Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution was a period of drastic change in scientific thought that occurred during the
16th and 17th centuries in Europe. Its significance lies in the fact that it marked the rise of modern
science and the development of mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy,
and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature.

Science developed a lot, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries. Accomplishments made in the areas
of astrology, medicine and other branches of Science made the era to be remarkable. Some of the
leading lights in Renaissance science included Francis Bacon, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler,
Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton and William Harvey, among others.

8
Francis Bacon (1561- 1626), an English statesman and philosopher best known for his promotion of the
scientific method, argued that the establishment of scientific truth ought to be based on experiment
rather than unfounded belief. This idea has over time prompted some historians to consider him as the
‘Father of Modern Science’.

Empiricism – the theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses – began to
control scientific thought. The implication of this is that scientists started to be guided by experience and
experiment and set about investigating the natural world through observation. This was the first
indication of a divergence between science and religion.

Science and religion started to be increasingly recognized as two separate fields, creating conflict
between the scientists and the church and causing scientists to be persecuted. According to American
historian Thomas P. Abernethy: “scientists found their work was suppressed or they were demonized as
charlatans and accused of dabbling in witchcraft, and sometimes being imprisoned."

In the sphere of scientific discoveries, the name of Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus
Copernicus (1473-1543) of Poland clearly stands out. In his book entitled – On the Revolution of the
Celestial Bodies – Copernicus published his theory of a heliocentric solar system. This theory, which
places the sun at the center of the system contradicted the medieval belief espoused by the Church that
Planet Earth was the center of the universe. Although Christian priests of the time strongly criticized
Copernicus’s views, he remained steadfast in his conviction and despite the banning of his book by the
Catholic Church, his reasoning constituted a major breakthrough in the history of science.

Take Note

Copernicus' heliocentric model of the solar system changed the way people
saw the universe, and created conflict between scientists and the Catholic
Church.

Copernicus’s thinking later on came to be supported by the famous German Scientist Johannes Kepler
(1571- 1630), who slightly modified Copernicus’s assertion by articulating that the Earth and other
planets revolved around the Sun in an ‘elliptical’ rather than ‘circular Path’ as had been suggested by
Copernicus. This aroused much controversy in the field of thinking.

Another great Renaissance scientist was Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer Galileo Galilei (1564 –
1642) who had joined science as a lecturer of mathematics in the University of Pisa and where he had
become a professor. Galileo is famed for his invention of the Telescope, an instrument through which he
proved the validity of Copernicus’ theory of a heliocentric solar system. Furthermore, Galileo went on to
suggest and prove that the ‘Milky Way’ consists of stars. In addition, Galileo’s “Pendulum Theory’ is
credited for later on helping to invent the clock.

In general, Galileo's radical views and discoveries were met with opposition within the Catholic Church.
In 1616 an inquisition formed against his ideas declared heliocentrism to be "formally heretical" (holding

9
an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted). In consequence, heliocentric books were banned
and Galileo was ordered to abstain from holding, teaching or defending heliocentric ideas. Galileo was
compelled to withdraw his view out of fear. Ultimately, however, his views came to be accepted as true
and thereby raising him to world fame. From the University of Pisa Galileo would go on to prove that
heavy and fall light objects to the ground at the same speed.

Another great Renaissance Scientist of repute was Englishman Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), best
known for inventing the calculus in the mid to late 1660s and also for formulating the theory of universal
gravity in his book Principia Published in 1687. Isaac Newton is also credited with the discovery of the
‘Causes of tides’. In 1687, he explained that ocean tides result from the gravitational attraction of the sun
and moon on the oceans of the earth.

During the Renaissance, progressed was also made in the field of Chemistry. Advances in the field not
only led to the rise of gunpowder but the invention of ether (diethyl ether), first prepared in 1540 by a
German botanist Valerio’s Cordus (1515-1544). Another notable contribution in Chemistry was that of
Belgian Jan van Helmont credited for discovering ‘Carbon Dioxide’ gas around 1630, a gas that came to
be used in the extinguishing fire and preparation of cake and cold drinks.

In the case of human anatomy, Renaissance Science brought revolutionary change. Belgian Andreas
Vesalius, a 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human
anatomy, described the various parts of human body such as the skeleton, cartilage, and muscles as well
as the veins, arteries, digestive and reproductive systems, lungs, and the brain. This development was
compounded by the work of Englishman William Harvey (1578 – 1657) who discovered the ‘Process of
blood Circulation’. He pointed out that blood circulates from heart to the arteries and then to veins and
back to heart. His contribution was undoubtedly a boon to the modem medical science.

In the field of mathematics, a new model stimulated new financial trading systems and made it easier
than ever to navigate across the world.

4.7 Exploration

While many artists and thinkers in Europe used their talents to express new ideas, some other Europeans
took to the seas to learn more about the world around them. At the start of the 15th century, Europeans
knew little more than Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. The existence
of India, China and Japan was of course shown by Marco Polo’s journeys and the trade routes that
brought silk and spices to Europe. The rest of the world was a total mystery. Europeans had not explored
the African and Asian interior, and they knew nothing about the existence of America and Oceania. This
led to several important explorations being made in a phase called the Age of Exploration, otherwise
called the Age of Discovery. The period is characterized as a time when Europeans began to explore the
world by sea in search of new trading routes, wealth, and knowledge. The impact of the Age of
Exploration would permanently alter the world and transform geography into the modern science it is
today.

4.7.1 Reasons for Exploration

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There were two main reasons for the explorations. Firstly, Europeans needed to find new trade routes to
the East. As you may recall, in 1453 the Turks conquered Constantinople. This interrupted the trade
routes between Europe and the Far East.

Secondly, Europe had witnessed technical advances in the form of new maps called portolan charts
(nautical charts) noted for their high cartographic accuracy. The maps clearly depicted the coastline and
any obstacles at seas. Meanwhile, not only were navigational instruments like the compass, the
astrolabe and the quadrant developed. Ships, such as caravels, were improved.

4.7.2 Impacts of Exploration

Some people call the Age of Exploration the Commercial revolution because it ushered the trade
between Asia, America, and Europe. The main impacts of the exploration include: the Columbian
Exchange; changing International trade patterns; the spread of culture; geographic knowledge, and
long-term impact. The points are elaborated below.

The Columbian Exchange – The Columbian exchange was the widespread transfer of plants, animals,
precious metals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, the
western hemisphere, and the Old World, the eastern hemisphere, in the late 15th and following
centuries. It is named after Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four
voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and
colonization of the Americas. The Columbian exchange is also related to European colonization and trade
following Columbus’s 1492 voyage. Whilst some of the exchanges were purposeful; some were
accidental or unintended.

Exchange began after Columbusʼ voyages to Americas – with Europeans shipping maize, potatoes, and
pineapples from America – while exporting to America domestic animals (horses) and diseases (e.g.,
smallpox, measles), which devastated Native Americans who had no natural resistance to these
diseases.

Changing International trade patterns – The Columbian Exchange changed world trade patterns. Much
world trade fueled by Spainʼs silver mining in South America – silver moved from Americas to Europe,
then to China – Chinese goods (silk, porcelain), Indian spices returned to Europe. We also see the rise of
the Triangular trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas, involving the exchanged goods, slaves -
enslaved Africans worked in West Indies; with sugar cane sent to Europe. Slavery of black people lasted
for 300 years and had an enormous impact on Africa.

The spread of culture – Along with the commercial goods ideas, and culture were exchanged between
continents. Spain and Portugal spread Christianity. Explorers converted natives. Sometimes, converted
Christians blended new religion with traditional beliefs. Europeans blended cultural practices imported
from other lands. For example, Arabian coffee with American sugar became a popular drink.

11
Long-term Impact – The impact of the Age of Exploration persists to this day, with many of the world's
former colonies still considered the "developing" world, while colonizers are the First World countries,
holding a majority of the world's wealth and annual income.

As seen above, the Age of Exploration served as a stepping stone for geographic knowledge. It allowed
more people to see and study various areas around the world, which increased geographic study, giving
us the basis for much of the knowledge we have today.

4.8 The Early European Enlightenment

During the 17th century, the Scientific Revolution discussed earlier on began to be applied to social and
political areas of life, a movement known as the Enlightenment. Enlightenment philosophers believed
that human reason that discovered laws of science could also discover the laws that governed social and
political behavior. This intellectual movement was also inspired by the Reformation, which had
challenged and revised accepted religious thought, and by contact with political and social philosophies
from other parts of the world.

In England the English Civil War shaped political thought. The English Civil Wars consisted of three wars,
which were fought between King Charles I and Parliament between 1642 and 1651. The wars constituted
part of a wider conflict involving Wales, Scotland and Ireland, known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
The human cost of the wars was devastating.

As a consequence of the war the king was decapitated, and political authority fell to Parliament, causing
English political philosopher John Locke to reconsider the nature of government. In his famous Second
Treatise of Civil Government, he argued that rulers get their right to rule not from the heavens, but from
the consent of the governed. His philosophy laid the basis for rule of law, not by the whim of the
monarch, an idea that was not new. However, Locke added that if monarchs overstepped the law,
citizens not only had the right, but the duty to rebel. His philosophy would influence thinkers in the late
1700s, who in turn inspired democratic revolutions in many places, including North America and France.

Besides Locke, some of the major figures of the Enlightenment included Denis Diderot, Immanuel Kant,
Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Hugo Grotius, and Voltaire.

The ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in
1789 and emphasized the rights of common men as opposed to the exclusive rights of the elites. That
the Enlightenment shaped America cannot be gainsaid. Enlightenment ideals of rationalism and
intellectual and religious freedom pervaded the American colonial religious landscape, and these values
were instrumental in the American Revolution and the creation of a nation without an established
religion. In a nutshell, ideas of the Enlightenment laid the foundation for modern, rational, democratic
societies not only in Europe, but in different parts of the world as well.

12
10.9 Summary To summarize this lecture, here again, are the main points that we have
addressed. First, Several cultural and intellectual changes in Europe, which
began in the Italian city-states prior to 1450 played a very important role in
triggering the massive cultural movements in Europe during the 1450-1789
era. These include: the decline of feudalism; diminishing influence of the
Church; impact of the crusades; the wealth, prosperity and role of elites;
contribution of original thinkers of the Middle Ages; The capture of
Constantinople by the Turks in 1453; new trade routes; and the Black Death.

Second, Humanism was an important philosophical influence that sprung up in

the Italian city-states, which was restored from ancient civilizations, and which
fueled the Renaissance, or “rebirth” – a passionate period of European
cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” – that cut across the Middle
Ages and modern history. As an ideology, Humanism focused on the
accomplishments, characteristics, and capabilities of human beings, not of
God, as had always been taught by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.
The significance of Humanism lies in the fact that it drew inspiration from
ancient Greco-Roman civilizations in reforming society and had a tremendous
impact on all aspects of life in Renaissance Italy – and Europe more broadly –
from government to the arts. Much of the artistic output of the Renaissance
was the product of a fruitful dialogue between artists and humanists.

Third, the Reformation was a religious reform movement, which swept through
Europe in the 1500s. It was caused by existence of abuses in the Catholic
Church, as well as the inherent political, and the economic rot that prevailed in
the Church and European society as a whole, including corruption arising from
the sale of indulgences. The Reformation resulted in the creation of a branch of
Christianity called Protestantism, a name used collectively to refer to the many
religious groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church due to
differences in doctrine. The movable-type printing press invented by Johannes
Gutenberg in 1440 was important in to the Reformation in that it helped to
accelerate the movement in the form of the production of more copies of
religious writings that were critical of the Catholic Church than would
otherwise have been possible before the invention.

Fourth, the Scientific Revolution was a period of drastic change in scientific

thought, which occurred in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Its
significance lies in two angles, one, the fact that it marked the rise of modern
science as we know it today, and two, the fact that developments in
mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy), and
chemistry transformed the views of society about nature. The

13
 accomplishments made in the areas of astrology, medicine and the other
branches of science as well made the era to be very remarkable! Some of the
leading lights in the Scientific Revolution included such eminent scientists in
the history of science as Francis Bacon, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler,
Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton and William Harvey, among others.

Fifth, the Age of Exploration, or Age of Discovery was a time period when
Europeans explorers started to traverse the world by sea in search of new
trading routes, wealth, and knowledge. There were the three main reasons for
European exploration and colonization in the Age of Discovery between the
1400s and the early 1600s. These were: first, commercial – to acquire gold and
other wealth; second, nationalism – for the sake of national pride and glory –
to increase the explorers’ colonizers' homeland's legacy and religious reasons,
and third, religious, – to convert the various indigenous peoples in the
“discovered” lands to Christianity. Exploration had tremendous impacts, which
include: 1: explorers learned more about spheres, such as, the continents of
Africa and the Americas and brought that knowledge back to Europe. 2:
massive wealth that was accrued to European colonizers as a result of global
trade in goods, spices, and precious metals made the European powers
involved including Portugal, Spain, France, England and the Netherlands
wealthy, a factor which ultimately opened the way for colonization.

Finally, the Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement of the 17th

and 18th centuries in which ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and
humanity were synthesized into a worldview, which gained wide acceptance in
the West and which instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy,
and politics. The Enlightenment began when more individuals in Europe
started to seek ways in which to understand the world through science and
reason. Influential enlightenment thinkers who published their works are often
attributed with sparking the Enlightenment. Some of the major figures of the
Enlightenment included John Locke, Denis Diderot, Immanuel Kant,
Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Hugo Grotius, and
Voltaire. The ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the
French Revolution, which began in 1789 and emphasized the rights of common
men as opposed to the exclusive rights of the elites. The Enlightenment shaped
America. Enlightenment ideals of rationalism and intellectual and religious
freedom pervaded the American colonial religious landscape, and these values
were instrumental in the American Revolution and the creation of a nation
without an established religion. In a nutshell, ideas of the Enlightenment laid
the foundation for modern, rational, democratic societies not only in Europe,
but in different parts of the world as well.

14
4.10 Terminal Question 1
questions
Discuss how cultural and intellectual changes which occurred in Europe
between 1450 and 1789 influenced the global movement of intellectual ideas.

Question 2

a) What changes in Europe prior to 1450 set off cultural and intellectual
movements there in the 1450 to 1789 period?
b) How did Renaissance Humanism shape intellectual movements in
Europe in the 1450 to 1789 period?

Question 2

a) What were the causes and results of the Reformation religious

movement?
b) How was the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in
1440 significant to the Reformation?
c) Identify the key figures of the Scientific Revolution in the 16th and
17th centuries and their respective contributions.

Question 4

a) Describe the characteristic features of the European Exploration.

b) Discuss the features and contributions of the Early Enlightenment in
Europe and the US.

4.11 References Bartlett, K. (ed.) (2011) The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A
Sourcebook. 2nd edn. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.

Bireley, R. (2015) The Refashioning of Catholicism, 1450-1700: A Reassessment

of the Counter-Reformation. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Bouwsma, W. J. (1979) "The Renaissance and the drama of Western history",

American Historical Review, 84(1), pp. 1–15

Campbell, G. (2003) The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance. 862 pp. online
at OUP.

15
 Crăciun, M. & Fulton, E. (eds.) (2011) Communities of devotion: religious orders
and society in East Central Europe, 1450-1800. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate
Publishing, Ltd.

Davis, R.C, (2011) Renaissance People: Lives that Shaped the Modern Age. Los
Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum

Dewald, J. (2004) Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern

World. New York, NY, USA: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Monfasani, J. (2015) Renaissance Humanism, from the Middle Ages to Modern

Times. London: Routledge.

Tracy, J.D. (2006) Europe's Reformations, 1450-1650: Doctrine, Politics, and

Community. London, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Wallerstein, I. (2000). “Globalization or the age of transition? A Long-term View

of the Trajectory of the World-system”, International Sociology, 15(2), pp.
249-265.

16
 LECTURE FIVE

AFRICAN ROOTS OF NORTH AMERICAN CULTURE

Lecture 5 Outline

5.1 Introduction
5.2 Objectives
5.3 Arrival of African Slaves in North America
5.3.1 The Middle Passage
5.3.2 Slave Catchment Areas
5.4 Contribution of Enslaved African Immigrants
5.5 Creoles, the First African Americans and Creolization
5.6 Summary
5.7 References
5.8 Terminal Questions

5.1 Introduction

In the previous lecture, we explored the various elements of cultural cross-fertilization in societies across
the world during the ancient times. In this lecture, our focus turns to the “Melting Pot of world cultures”,
North America. The aim of the lecture is to identify the African roots of North American culture.
Although this culture is an amalgam of cultures of people of different origins over time, the African
contribution stands out. The significant African contribution goes beyond creation of the modern state to
a more important aspect, the development and enrichment of North American culture, which is now
spreading globally. The African contribution in American culture is reflected in the African-American
sub-culture, which is both distinct and enormously influential to American culture as a whole. The
lecture deals with three issues: the circumstances leading to the arrival of African slaves in North
America; the contribution of the African slaves in laying the foundation of African American culture; and
the role of Creoles, who were the first genuine African Americans in establishing the African roots of
North American culture. In the next lecture, we shall address the modern African cultural values and
practices.

5.2 Objectives By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

1 Trace the origins of African identity in North America.

2 Assess the contribution of enslaved African immigrants in North America in
laying the basis of North American Culture.
3 Examine the role of creoles and the creolization process in establishing the
African roots of North American Culture.

1
5.3 Arrival of African Slaves in North America

The origins of African identity in North America can be traced to the arrival of African slaves obtained
from west and central Africa. The reason why they were taken to America was to fulfill a demand for
cheap African labor to mine precious metals and to work on plantations. This was accomplished through
a process known as the Middle Passage, whereby commercial goods from Europe were shipped to Africa
for sale and traded for enslaved Africans. Africans were in turn transported across the Atlantic (Middle
Passage) to the south, central and North America. African slaves were thereafter traded for raw
materials, which were returned to Europe to complete the so called "Triangular Trade". A clearer picture
of the situation is the next two sub-sections.

5.3.1 The Middle Passage

The roots of the distinct African-American culture lie in the historical experience of the African-American
people, which largely came about through a process called the Middle Passage.

Figure 5.1: Triangular Trade

The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were
shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Figure 3.1 shows that ships departed from
Europe for west and central African markets with manufactured goods that were traded for purchased or

2
kidnapped Africans, who were then transported across the Atlantic as slaves. The slaves were then sold
to sugarcane plantations or traded for raw materials (Walker, 2004: 10), which would be transported
back to Europe to complete the voyage, known as the "Triangular Trade".

Take Note

“Triangular Trade” of the late 18th century mainly involved slaves captured
from West Africa and transported to the Caribbean, sugar from the Caribbean
to New England (in the US), and rum from New England to West Africa. The
wealth brought to New England by this commerce helped lay the basis for
19th C American capitalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangular_trade).

According to Hugh Thomas, voyages on the Middle Passage were a large financial undertaking generally
organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals (Thomas, 1999: 293).

Intext Question

How did the voyages help African slaves to bond on the journeys across the
Atlantic?

The "Middle Passage" was considered a time of bonding between slaves being traded from Africa to
America sourced from different countries, places, languages, and cultures. According to Paul E. Lovejoy
the close quarters and intentional division of pre-established African communities by the ship crew
motivated captive Africans to forge bonds of kinship which then created forced transatlantic
communities (Lovejoy, 2000). These newly established bonds greatly impacted and altered African
identity and culture within each community. It was a significant contributing aspect to the slaves' survival
of the "Middle Passage" and carried into their life in America.

Take Note

The estimates for the total number of Africans imported as slaves into the
New World range widely. However, many agree that between 11 and 15
million slaves were transported across the Atlantic to the Americas. It is
estimated that ¾ of the African slaves shipped to the Americas were sold to
“Tropical America,” the Caribbean basin while the rest were sold to North
America or to the United States.

According to Hugh Thomas, voyages on the Middle Passage were a large financial undertaking generally
organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals (Thomas, 1999: 293).

3
5.3.2 Slave Catchment Areas

Most of the exported Africans were taken from West and West-Central Africa, from a part of Africa
bounded by the river Senegal in the North and by Angola in the South. The majority, perhaps more than
40 %, came from West-Central Africa, specifically in the Congo-Angola region now known as Angola and
Congo (Republic of the Congo and DRC of Congo). It is figured that from west Africa came as much as
33%.

Since culture in Africa is most often centered on ethnic communities, it is important to understand which
specific African cultures would have contributed significantly to African American culture. As seen from
above, the area of catchment, where the slaves were taken, extended along the West African coastal line
from Senegal to Angola and perhaps as far as 800 kilometers into the interior. That area included a
variety of ethnic groups:

● About 25% came from among the Bakongo, the Tio and the Mbundu ethnic groups of the
present-day Congo-Angola region.
● About 23 % came from among the Yoruba, the Fon, the Nupe, and the Igbo ethnic groups from
an area from the Benin River to Cape Lopez, in today’s Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Gabon.
● About 16% came from among the Akan (including the Ashanti, Fante and Nzema), inhabitants of
today’s Ghana.
● 13% came from the Wolof, the Fulbe, and the Serer of today’s Senegal and Gambia.
● 6% came from Sierra Leone.
● 4% from the Bight of Benin
● Less than 2% came from Mozambique and Madagascar.

5.4 Contribution of Enslaved Immigrants

The African continent’s ethnic and cultural heterogeneity posed the main challenge faced by the first
African immigrants in America. During the mid-17th C. Africa comprised as many as 800 different
cultures, each with its own traditions, values and ways of doing things. Although Africans certainly share
many cultural elements, they have enormous variations.

The African slaves taken to North America brought with them their own cultures, their own ideas about
life, and their own cosmology (ideas about the universe). They also spoke different languages,
worshiped different gods and socialized with their children in different ways. Upon crossing the Atlantic,
the problem that they confronted was how to forge a oneness, how to create some common ground out
of this very diverse and heterogeneous background.

Intext Question

What common African cultural elements would have helped to forge a

common African identity?

4
Despite the cultural differences among the African immigrants in North America, there appear to have
been some basic cultural understandings as they shared some very broad principles including:

● Almost all Africans believed in a Supreme Being, or Supreme God, and several lesser gods.
● Many came from matriarchal societies (with the female as head of a family or tribal line).
● Many came from societies that practiced polygamy.
● Many came from societies closely attached to the natural environment – where thoughts reside
in, and could be communicated by means of, a variety of environmental locales, rivers, trees, and
so on. Among European communities in America using English, such rivers and trees would be
called symbols, but the thought patterns of these Africans could not be expressed in English but
in a unique form of language associated with African slaves.

These broad principles and symbols probably created the basis for the shaping of this common ground.
In spite of Africa being the most heterogeneous of the continents and the Black people who created the
United States coming from various backgrounds, they began the process of establishing some basis for
communicating with one another, interacting with one another, and forging a future. It was in this way
that they began the process of creating a unique African based culture.

5.5 Creoles, the First African Americans and Creolization

By the 1730s, the African population in North America that came over as slaves had begun to reproduce
itself. Before that time, this population had to be constantly replenished by the purchasing more slaves
from Africa, since most of them either died without reproducing before reaching adulthood.

Intext Question

What important change happened in the black community in the 1730s?

During the 1730s a locally-born African-American population that called Creole Black emerged and
changed the trend of slave trade. Once the Black American population began reproducing itself, over
time it sustained a sexual balance between men and women conducive to additional growth. By the
nineteenth century that balance was 51 % women, 49% men; a good ratio about what it is today for
sustaining growth.

African-Americans creoles, born after the 1730s, differed from their ancestors (or predecessors) in two
main respects:

● African American Creoles were born in America, which is contrary to their predecessors most of
whom came from Africa. Thus, the significance of the rise of the Creole Blacks is that since they
were born and raised in America, thus, they were the first genuine African Americans.

5
 ● The Creole population increased so fast that in less than 100 years’ time – by about 1820 –
almost 90 % of Black American slaves were American-born. This is contrary to the African-born
black population, which had become quite negligible by 1800.

Intext Question

What is the implication of this trend in cultural terms?

The cultural presence of native Africans became very weak because from the 18th century onwards, the
African population in North America transformed into a Creole population – a home-grown population
whose linkage and ties to Africa became less and less strong. Thus, as the American-born Creole
population became dominant after 1820, it marked the onset of the uniquely African-American culture –
associated with the Creole population.

In creating their culture, the Creole population built on what they knew of the culture of their fathers
and mothers. And out of this creolization and adaptation to a new environment would emerge and
remain very much alive certain cultural principles, i.e., religious ideas, worldviews, family structure, ways
of socializing children, ways of cooking food, and so on. In other words, although this Creole population
had become dominant, it was not an entirely Europeanized or Americanized population. It drew upon
African cultural strengths, manifested in funeral ceremonies, burial rites, the naming of children, beliefs
in amulets, charms, hags (folklore), and witches. Even the Muslim presence survived.

Take Note

The process of bridging African and American worlds is what is known as

Creolization.

The African roots of African-American culture lie, therefore, in a variety of cultural dynamic principles
that the first Black Creole population blended and reshaped into the cultural principles and precepts of
their American environment. Black dance movements, the spirituals, the blues, and eventually jazz are
probably products of creolization and adaptation to a new environment. The current Black Islamic
movement is probably a creolization of imported Muslim principles.

To end this lecture I feel that a quote by popular American preacher, Bishop T.D Jakes of the Potter’s
House – an African American who revealed how he discovered that his ancestors are from the Igbo tribe
of Nigeria – is fitting:

“One of the tragedies of the slave trade is not just that we were taken from our home, culture, people,
and food. We lost our history. African-American history is taught over here from boat landings.

6
“And we assumed a name that does not define us. Jakes is a German name that only signified who
owned my ancestors. To reach beyond the boats in chains, to touch a soil where I’m from! To understand
that my ancestors were something before they were a slave is extremely gratifying. It really confirms why
I have such fascination about the continent of Africa.”

5.6 Summary The origins of African identity in North America can be traced to the arrival of
African slaves obtained from west and central Africa to fulfill a demand for
cheap African labor to mine precious metals and to work on plantations. This
was accomplished through a process known as the Triangular Trade, whereby
commercial goods from Europe were shipped to Africa for sale and traded for
enslaved Africans. Africans were in turn transported across the Atlantic (Middle
Passage) to the south, central and North America. African slaves were
thereafter traded for raw materials, which were returned to Europe to
complete the so called "Triangular Trade".

Despite the many challenges faced by the enslaved African immigrants in North
America, they contributed significantly to what would become African
American culture. This was in the form of cultural traditions they came with
from Africa including their ideas about life, their cosmology, and values and
practices in aspects like language, religion, cuisine, art, oral tradition, music,
etc.

The Creole Blacks, the first genuine African Americans, through the process of
creolization, blended what they had learned from their African-born ancestors
with the local American environment to develop a uniquely African-American
culture. The African roots of African-American culture lie, therefore, in a
variety of cultural dynamic principles that the first Black Creole population
blended and reshaped into the cultural principles and precepts of their
American environment.

5.7 Terminal Question 1

Questions
Assess the contribution of African slaves and Creole Blacks in the rise of African
American culture.

Question 2

Identify and discuss the major aspects of the African roots of North American
culture.

Question 3

7
 (a) From which modern countries and ethnic groups were the African slaves
in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade obtained?
(b) Under what circumstances did these African slaves arrive in North
America?
(c) How did African slaves and Creole Blacks contribute to the rise of
African-American culture?

5.8 References
● Abarry, A.S. and Asante, M.K. (1996) African Intellectual Heritage: A
Book of Sources. Philadelphia: Temple University.
● Appiah, A. and Gates Jr., H.L. (eds.) (2005) Africana: The Encyclopedia of
the African and African American Experience. 2nd edn. New York:
Oxford University Press.
● Curtin, P.D. (1970) The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. Madison: The
University of Wisconsin Press.
● Diop, C.A. (1987) Pre-Colonial Black Africa. New Jersey: Africa World
Press.
● Holloway, J.E. (2005) “The Origins of African American Culture”, in
Holloway, J.E., (ed.), Africanisms in American Culture. 2nd edn.
Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp. 18-38.
● Lovejoy, P.E. (2000) Transformations in Slavery. A History of Slavery in
Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
● Palmer, C.A. (1998) Passageways: An Interpretive History of Black
America. Volume I: 1619-1865. New York: Harcourt Brace.
● Rawley, J.A. (1981) The Transatlantic Slave Trade. New York: W.W.
Norton.
● Thomas, H. (1999) The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade,
1440–1870. New York: Simon and Schuster.
● Walker, T. (2004) Mothership Connections: A Black Atlantic Synthesis of
Neoclassical Metaphysics and Black Theology. Albany: State University
of New York Press.

8
 LECTURE SIX

AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSIC AND ITS GLOBAL PREDOMINANCE IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Lecture 6 Outline

6.1 Introduction
6.2 Lecture Objectives
6.3 The Roots of African American Music
6.4 Slave Music and Instruments
6.5 Afro’s Music’s Conquest of the World in the 20th Century
6.6 Global Impact of Afro Music Today
6.7 Summary
6.8 References
6.9 Terminal Questions

6.1 Introduction

African-American music is an umbrella term, which covers a wide range of music and musical genres that
were largely developed by African Americans. Their origins lie in musical forms that sprung from the
historical condition of slavery which characterized the lives of African Americans prior to the American
Civil War that occurred in the US from 1861 to 1865. Although these music genres initially borrowed
heavily from African traditions brought to America by slaves from Africa, they were mainly inspired by
the experiences of people of African descend living in the US. The numerous interactions of African
music with other music genres, as well as other art forms, both in the Americas, and in other parts of the
world, are of interest as they contributed in the rise of African American music as we know it today.

The history of the development of African America music reflects the history of African Americans
themselves. Although the different styles of Afro music vary widely in their tone, theme and the tools
used to produce them, this music has the ability to cross all color and culture lines so much that it is
enjoyed and even aped globally today. Styles like the blues, jazz, gospel and hip hop have over time
spread their influence worldwide, thereby forming good examples of the concept of cultural
cross-fertilization discussed in lectures One and Two.

In view of this background, this lecture aims at examining the evolutionary development of
African-American music before and during the 20th century and its cultural influences around the world.
To achieve this end, the lecture is addressed in four sections: the roots of African American music; slave
music and instruments; African American music’s conquest of the world in the 20th century; and the
global impact of music today.

1
6.2 Objectives By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

1 Trace the historical roots of African American music.

2 Describe the musical instruments and genres that emerged from slavery
from the 1600s to the 1800s.
3 Explain how Afro music’s conquered the world in the 20th century.
4 Assess the global impact of Afro music in the 21st century.

6.3 The Roots of African American Music

The roots of African American music lie within the music of the African continent. The global connections
of Afro music are clear from the outset as it resulted from the Atlantic slave trade, which is the
international trade in human beings we covered previously in Lecture Three. As you may recall, the
African slaves in America were obtained from a variety of ethnic groups primarily in Central and West
Africa. During their transportation to America, many of these slaves first stopped en route in the
Caribbean Islands before proceeding for sale in the various cities of the US during the 17th, 18th and
19th centuries. In the US, unlike in the Caribbean, large groups of enslaved Africans from the same areas
did not reside together – very often, cultural groups were separated. As you may remember, this resulted
in the blending of cultural practices and values of Africans from diverse backgrounds.

At the beginning of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade during the 17th C. slaves obtained from West Africa, in
the present-day Senegal, Gambia and Guinea were numerically the most predominant. By the end of the
North American slave trade in the 19th C, however, approximately 40% of Africans in America came from
Central Africa (in the present day Cameroon, Gabon, both Congos, Central African Republic, Angola); 30%
Cameroon from the Gold Coast and Bight of Benin (present day Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin), 15% from
Senegambia, and 15% from elsewhere on the continent. In addition to this, many traces of Yoruba,
Kongo, and Mande cultural expression, religion, and visual arts can be found in North America
(Thompson 1983).

Take Note

From the very beginning – upon their arrival in America – music was noticed
as something quite exceptional about the African slaves.

Despite the best efforts of the slave owners to dehumanize these enslaved Africans by proclaiming their
inferiority in society, the effect of the music of these slaves on the very people who enslaved them
challenged such kinds of presumptions. Although chattel slavery saw slaves as personal objects on the
same property lists alongside cows, pigs, and chickens, the sounds of their voices and their instrumental
proficiencies helped to remind their captors that these slaves were, indeed human beings, like them.

2
This exceptional place of music in African American culture – as one of the few activities in which Black
people are often considered superior to non-African Americans (even by non-African Americans
themselves) – is one of many reasons for the tremendous symbolic potency of music in African American
culture. However, there has also been a downside to the praise, since the musical gifts of African
Americans were often considered to be instinctual, the product of talent and intuition, rather than the
result of imagination, intellect, practice, and discipline. The music could be loved and savored, but still
trivialized as something less than expected.

The historical context of slavery shaped the musical imagination in African American culture in three
main ways:

(1) Musical imagination among African American culture has always been linked with freedom – the
longing for and striving for personal, political, and spiritual freedom.
(2) Freedom and musical imagination have historically been closely connected to spirituality. As the
enslaved Africans converted to Christianity in the mid-17th to 19th C., they mobilized biblical
passages and Christian principles to point out the unchristian behavior of the slaveholders.
(3) African American music, both vocal and instrumental, has often been heard as a political critique
of mainstream American society, especially as regards its racism. This was a particularly
prominent theme in 20th-C. Afro music and continues to pervade this music to the present.

6.4 Slave Music and Instruments

The dance now known as the Charleston had the greatest influence on American dance culture than any
other imported African dance. The Charleston dance is a form of the jitterbug dance (a general term
used for unconventional, often formless and violent, social dances performed to syncopated music).
Native to present –day Congo region, the enslaved Africans brought this dance from the Kongo Kingdom
in Central Africa to Charleston, South Carolina, between 1735 and 1740, which then slowly evolved into
what is now known as the Charleston dance. The Charleston dance is similar to the “one-legged”
sembuka-style dancing found in northern Kongo. It comprises “patting” (otherwise known as “patting
Juba”), stamping, clapping, and slapping of arms, chest, and so forth. The name “Charleston” was given
to the Juba dance by European Americans. In Africa, however, the dance is called the Juba, or Djouba.

An important musical instrument in American music generally is the banjo. The banjo was known in
America as an African instrument until the 1840s, when minstrel shows took it as a part of their
Blackface acts. As a result, the banjo became a badge of ridicule and Blacks abandoned it, allowing
southern whites to claim it as their own invention. Yet some whites recognized African origins of the
banjo. For example, in 1781 Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“The instrument proper to them [African American] is the Banjar, brought from Africa, and which
is the [form] of the guitar, its chords being precisely the four lower chords of the guitar.”

3
 Intext Question

Which other African instruments survived the Middle Passage to enter into
American culture?

Besides the Banjo, other African instruments that survived the Middle Passage include:

(1) Thumb piano (also known as the mbira) – common in the late 19th century in New Orleans
(2) Cane fifes – found in both West and Central Africa. The making and playing of cane fifes
survived the Middle Passage. Africans and African Americans use the same technique to make
them.
(3) African drums – these were common in slave plantations until the Stono Rebellion of 1739.
Talking drums were well known on both sides of the Atlantic, especially for their use in slave
revolts. The first description of the use of drums in America comes from the official account of
the Stono slave rebellion in South Carolina where they were used by Angolans. Afterward the
colony of South Carolina in the Slave Act of 1740 passed laws prohibiting “drums, horns, or other
loud instruments.”
(4) Mouth-resonated Musical Bow – this musical instrument, which is one of the most popular
chordophones (musical instruments that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings
stretched between two points), is originally derived from the Kongo/Angolan area. It only
appeared sporadically in African American culture when compared to its diffusion from Africa to
South America and the Caribbean, where it is played by Africans, Native Americans and mixed
groups.

Take Note

From the very beginning – upon their arrival in America – music was noticed
as something quite exceptional about the African slaves.

According to Holloway (2010) musical contributions of Bantu culture in American culture include not
only banjos, drums, diddle bows, and mouth bows, but also instruments like Quilts, washtub bass, jugs,
gongs, bells, rattles, idiophones, and the lokoimni (a five-stringed harp).

6.5 Afro Music’s Conquest of World in the 20th Century.

The early part of the 20th century saw a constant rise in popularity of African-American blues and jazz.
Jazz was invented during the great migration, which was after World War I, in which many African
Americans moved up North. The unique sound brought to attention many black Artists, the most famous
being Louis Armstrong. During the 1920's jazz was a sensation and was accepted greatly by a large white
audience.

4
Yet African-American music in the early 20th C. became classified as "race music". This is exemplified by
the music label Billboard, which started to make a separate list of hit records for African-American music
in October 1942 with the "Harlem Hit Parade". This would change again in 1945 to "Race Records", and
then in 1949 to "Rhythm and Blues Records”.

During the 1950’s, jazz performers began to push jazz away from a danceable popular music towards
more intricate arrangements, improvisation, and technically challenging forms, culminating in the bebop
genre of such African American musicians, i.e., Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, the Cool sounds and
modal jazz of Miles Davis, and the free jazz of Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane.

It was also during the 1950s that black Americans combined jazz with the rhythmic tune of singers and
swing and in this way, Rock 'N' Roll was born. African American artists like Little Richard were smash hits
of Rock 'N' Roll only that with time they became overshadowed by a European American musician
known as Elvis Presley. Due to his fame, Elvis Presley switched rock into a white genre. This was largely
due to the fact that many African American Rock stars of the time hardly received any publicity from the
white dominated promoters and media. As a result, Elvis Presley became known as the “King of Rock 'N'
Roll “, and who is often associated with this genre of music. Few people take note of the fact that Rock
'N' Roll epitomizes Afro music’s conquest of world in the 20th Century.

In the 1950s and 1960s, record companies like Motown and Stax recorded numerous groups and soloists
whose work left a lasting mark on American musical taste. Rooted in the Motown sound, artists such as
Stevie Wonder (b. 1951) and Marvin Gaye (1940-1984) transformed it into a music called "soul."

During the 1960s Afro music proliferated in the form of soul music by artists like E.G. and Stevie Wonder
and Soul Jazz- by Jimmy Smith. Also during the 1960s and in the 1970s, jazz artists began to experiment
with standard chord and scale structures and the rhythms of traditional jazz. The result, often called
"free jazz," was an attempt to expand on the improvisational and experimental aspects of bebop.
Among free-jazz artists were Sun-Ra (1914-1993) and his Arkestra, the saxophonists Ornette Coleman (b.
1930), Albert Ayler (1936-1970), and John Coltrane, the bassist Charlie Mingus (1922-1979), and the bass
clarinetist and flutist Eric Dolphy (1928-1964).

By the end of the 1960s, African American people were part of the psychedelia and early heavy metal
trends, particularly by way of the ubiquitous Beatles' influence and the electric guitar innovations of Jimi
Hendrix (Gilliland 1969). Hendrix was among the first guitarists to use audio feedback, fuzz, and other
effects pedals such as the wah wah pedal to create a unique guitar solo sound.

During this time, record companies like Motown and Stax recorded numerous groups and soloists whose
work left a lasting mark on American musical taste. Rooted in the Motown sound, artists including
Stevie Wonder (b. 1951) and Marvin Gaye (1940-1984) transformed it into a music called "soul."
Psychedelic soul, a mix of psychedelic rock and soul flourished with the 1960s culture.

5
 Take Note

Even more popular among Black people, and with more crossover appeal, was
album-oriented soul in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which revolutionized
African-American music.

The 1970s was a great decade for Black bands playing melodic music. Album-oriented soul that has
begun in the 196os continued its popularity, while musicians such as Smokey Robinson helped turn it
into Quiet Storm music. Funk evolved into two strands, one a pop-soul-jazz-bass fusion pioneered by Sly
and the Family Stone, and the other a more psychedelic fusion epitomized by George Clinton and his
P-Funk ensemble. In the meantime, the sound of Disco evolved from black musicians creating Soul music
with an up-tempo melody. Isaac Hayes, Barry White, Donna Summer among others, helped to popularize
disco music. This music was integrated into popular music achieving mainstream success.

During the 1970s Black musicians achieved some mainstream success. Some African-American artists
including The Jackson 5, Roberta Flack, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, The O'Jays, Gladys Knight and
the Pips found crossover audiences.

Intext Question

How did Hip Hop come about?

In the early '70s, an urban African-American tradition of using playful rhyming ridicule known as The
Dozens, developed into street jive, which in turn inspired a new form of music by the late 1970s called
Hip-hop. Spoken-word artists such as The Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron and Melvin Van Peebles are cited as
the major innovators in early hip-hop. Beginning at block parties in The Bronx, hip-hop music arose as
one facet of a large subculture with rebellious and progressive elements. DJs spun records, most typically
funk, while MCs introduced tracks to the dancing audience. Over time, DJs, particularly Jamaican
immigrant DJ Kool Herc, for example, began to isolate and repeat the percussion breaks, producing a
constant, eminently danceable beat, which they or MCs began rapping over, through rhymes and
eventually sustained lyrics. In the South Bronx, the half-speaking, half-singing rhythmic street talk of
'rapping' grew into a cultural force known as Hip hop.[26] Hip Hop would become a multicultural
movement in young black America, led by artists such as Kurtis Blow and Run-DMC.

In the 1980s, Michael Jackson had record-breaking success with his albums Off the Wall, Bad, and
Thriller – the latter remaining the best-selling album of all time – transforming popular music and uniting
races, ages and genders, and would eventually lead to successful crossover black solo artists, including
Prince, Lionel Richie, Luther Vandross, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, and Janet Jackson. Pop and
dance-soul of this era inspired new jack swing by the end of the decade.

6
Hip-hop spread across the country and diversified into Techno, Dance, Miami bass, post-disco, Chicago
house, Los Angeles hardcore and Washington, D.C. Go-go, which developed in this period, with only
Miami bass achieving mainstream success. In a short time, however, Miami bass was relegated primarily
to the Southeastern US, while Chicago house had made strong headways on college campuses and dance
arenas. The DC go-go sound of Miami bass was essentially a regional sound that did not garner much
mass appeal. Chicago house sound had expanded into the Detroit music environment and mutated into
more electronic and industrial sounds creating Detroit techno, acid, jungle. Fusing these experimental,
usually DJ-oriented, sounds with the prevalence of the multi-ethnic New York City disco sound from the
1970s and 1980s created a brand of music that was most appreciated in the huge discothèques that are
located in cities like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Boston, etc. Eventually, European audiences
embraced this kind of electronic dance music with more enthusiasm than their North American
counterparts. These variable sounds let the listeners prioritize their exposure to new music and rhythms
while enjoying a gigantic dancing experience.

In the latter half of the 1980s, starting from about 1986, rap took off into the mainstream with
Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell, and the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill, the latter becoming the first rap album to
enter No.1 Spot on the Billboard 200 and helping break down the doors for white performers to do rap.
Both of these groups mixed rap and rock together, which appealed to rock and rap audiences. Hip-hop
took off from its roots and the golden age hip hop flourished, with artists such as Eric B. & Rakim, Public
Enemy, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Big Daddy Kane, and Salt-N-Pepa. Hip Hop became popular in America
until the late 1990s, when it went worldwide. The golden age scene would die out by the early 1990s as
gangsta rap and g-funk took over, with west-coast artists Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Ice Cube,
east-coast artists like Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, and Mobb Deep, and the sounds of urban black
male bravado, compassion, and social awareness best represented by the rapper Tupac Shakur.

Contemporary R&B, as in the post-disco version of soul music, remained popular throughout the 1980s
and 1990s. Male vocal groups in the style of soul groups, e.g., The Temptations and The O'Jays were
particularly popular, including New Edition, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Dru Hill, Blackstreet, and Jagged Edge.
Girl groups, including TLC, Destiny's Child, SWV and En Vogue, were also highly successful.

Singer-songwriters such as R. Kelly, Mariah Carey, Montell Jordan, D'Angelo, Aaliyah and Raphael Saadiq
of Tony! Toni! Toné! were also significantly popular during the 1990s, and artists including Mary J. Blige,
Faith Evans, and BLACKstreet popularized a fusion blend known as hip-hop soul.

The neo soul movement of the 1990s looked back on more classical soul influences and was popularized
in the late 1990s/early 2000s by such artists as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and Lauryn Hill, among
others.

6.6 Global Influences of African American Music Today

By the first decade of the 21st century, R&B had shifted towards an emphasis on solo artists with pop
appeal, best exemplified by Usher, Rihanna, and Beyoncé. Their music was accompanied by aesthetically
creative and unique music videos. Good examples of this are: Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love", Rihanna's "Pon
de Replay", and Usher's "Caught Up". These music videos helped R&B to become more profitable and

7
more popular than it had been during the 1990s. The line between hip-hop and R&B and pop was
significantly blurred by producers such as Timbaland and Lil Jon and artists such as Missy Elliott, T-Pain,
Nelly, Akon and OutKast.

At the present time, "Urban music" and "Urban Radio" are largely race-neutral. The terms are with hip
hop and R&B and the associated hip-hop culture that originated in New York City. The term also reflects
the fact that they are popular in urban areas, both within black population centers and among the
general population (especially younger audiences).

The hip-hop movement has become increasingly mainstream as the music industry has taken control of
it. Essentially, "from the moment 'Rapper's Delight' went platinum, hiphop the folk culture became
hiphop the American entertainment-industry sideshow."[28] In the late 2010s, trap music has become
extremely popular with African American rappers such Lil Uzi Vert, Migos, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, Gucci
Mane, Rae Sremmurd, Young Thug and Travis Scott.[31] ther Famous African Americans in Hip-Hop in the
21st century include Drake, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z.

Drill music, which was popularized by Chicago rapper Chief Keef in the 2010s has been criticized for
increasing the African American crime rate in Chicago. Other famous African American drill artists
include: Lil Durk, Lil Reese, Lil Bibby, Polo G and G Herbo.

Another popular genre performed by African Americans is gangsta rap. The most prominent African
American gangsta rappers include YG, Jay Rock and The Game.

6.7 Summary African-American music is an umbrella term covering a diverse range of music
and musical genres largely developed by African Americans. Their origins are in
musical forms that arose out of the historical condition of slavery that
characterized the lives of African Americans prior to the American Civil War.

The roots of African American music lie in the music of the African continent.
During slavery, African slaves used music as a method of coping with pain. It
was this fact that enabled African Americans to highlight their music and over
time maintain North America’s and indeed even the world's most successful
musical genres.

The Charleston dance had the greatest influence on American dance culture
than any other imported African dance. African musical contributions in
American culture include banjos, cane files, drums, mouth reasonated bows,
washtub bass, jugs, gongs, bells, rattles, idiophones, etc. The modern genres of
blues and ragtime were developed during the late 19th century by fusing West
African vocalizations, which used the natural harmonic series, and blue notes.

The 20th C was a period that saw the growth and maturity of African American
music snd its spread around the world as exemplified by the many styles that

8
 flourished at the time. Following the Civil War the 1920s, Black Americans,
through employment as musicians playing European music in military bands,
developed a new style of music called ragtime which gradually evolved into
jazz. The earliest jazz and blues recordings were made in the 1920s. In
developing jazz, African Americans contributed knowledge of the sophisticated
polyrhythmic structure of the dance and folk music of peoples across western
and sub-Saharan Africa. In the 1940s, African-American musicians developed
related styles such as Rhythm and Blues. During the 1950’s, jazz performers
began to push jazz away from a danceable popular music towards more
intricate arrangements, improvisation, and technically challenging forms,
culminating in the bebop genre. It was also during the 1950s that black
Americans combined jazz with the rhythmic tune of singers and swing and in
this way, Rock 'N' Roll was born. In the 1960s, soul performers had a major
influence on white US and UK singers. In the mid-1960s, Black musicians
developed funk and they were many of the leading figures in late 1960s and
1970s genre of jazz-rock fusion. In the 1970s and 1980s, Black artists
developed hip-hop, and in the 1980s introduced the disco-infused dance style
known as house music. These musical forms had a wide-ranging influence on
the development of music within the US and around the world during the 20th
century.

By the first decade of the 21st century, R&B had shifted towards an emphasis
on solo artists with pop appeal. Today, Hip Hop, R&B, and Rock are top sellers
not only in North America but in the whole world. The global appeal of African
American music is demonstrated in Michael Jackson’s death. He has sold many
albums globally since he died. Today has also seen the rise of "Urban music"
and "Urban Radio" are largely race-neutral. The terms are with hip hop and
R&B and the associated hip-hop culture that originated in New York City

By the first decade of the 21st century, R&B had shifted towards an emphasis
on solo artists with pop appeal. Today, Hip Hop, R&B, and Rock are top sellers
not only in North America but in the whole world. The global appeal of African
American music is demonstrated in Michael Jackson’s death. He has sold many
albums globally since he died. The present time has also seen the rise of
"Urban music" and "Urban Radio" that are largely race-neutral. Together with
hip hop and R&B, these music genres symbolize the prominence of hip-hop
culture that originated in New York City. The present day has also seen the rise
of Drill music, popularized by Chief Keef and gangasta rap, both of which have
been criticized for promoting crime in society.

9
6.8 Terminal Question 1
Questions
Discuss the evolutionary development of African-American music over time and
its cultural influences around the world.

Question 2

Assess the global impact of the various African American music genres during
the 20th century.

Question 2

(a) What are the historical circumstances that led to the rise of African
American music?
(b) Describe the genres of African American music that dominated during
the 20th century.

6.9 References
Davis, J.C. (2011) "For the Records: How African American Consumers and Music
Retailers Created Commercial Public Space in the 1960s and 1970s South,"
Southern Cultures, Winter 2011.

Ferris, W. (2009) Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues.
University of North Carolina Press.

Ferris, W. and Hinson, G. (2009) The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: 14:
Folklife, University of North Carolina Press.

Gioia, T. (2009) Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who
Revolutionized American Music. W. W. Norton & Company.

Small, C. (1987) Music of the Common Tongue: survival and celebration in

African American music. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.

Southern, E. (1997) The Music of Black Americans: A History. W. W. Norton and

Company. 3rd edn.

Sullivan, M. (2001) “African-American Music as Rebellion: From Slave song to

Hip-hop”, Discoveries, 3, pp. 21-39.

Stewart, E.L. (1998) African American Music: An Introduction.

10
 LECTURE SEVEN

AMERICAN CULTURAL IMPERIALISM AROUND THE WORLD

Lecture 7 Outline

7.1 Introduction
7.2 Lecture Objectives
7.3 How the US emerged as the Leading Cultural Power in the Western World
7.4 Concept of Cultural Imperialism
7.5 Impacts of American Cultural Imperialism on the Rest of the World
7.6 Summary
7.7 Terminal Questions
7.8 References

7.1 Introduction

Cultural Imperialism is the extension of influence or dominance of one nation’s culture over others. This
often happens through the exportation of cultural commodities, e.g., music, film, fast food chains, etc.
From the mid-20th C till recently, the US was the dominant global power. This fact especially became
glaring after the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s, which marked the end of the Cold
War, the conflict for global hegemony between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that had durable influence on
politics and society in both eastern and western Europe and beyond. A US led coalition of mostly
western European nations (NATO) formed to counter perceived Soviet aggression in that continent, won
the war. With the US as the sole global power, what resulted was a period of US cultural influence
throughout the world until recently, when we have started to see US predominance beginning to be
challenged by an emerging new force, China. Given this background, the aim of this lecture is to discuss
the factors behind American cultural imperialism and its impacts on the rest of the world.

7.2 Objectives By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

(1) Account for the rise of the US a leading power in the Western World.
(2) Explain the concept of cultural imperialism.
(3) Assess the impacts of American cultural imperialism on the rest of the
world.

7.3 How the US Emerged as the Leading Power in the Western World

The United States became a leading power in the Western World by increasing efforts towards
controlling Europe in the period between 1945 and 1990. These efforts included:

1
First, using public and cultural diplomacy to woe rivals and enemies. This was manifested in the works of
American intellectuals and artists as exemplified by the role of Hollywood movies and the novels of
Ernest Hemingway like The Torrents of Spring (1926), The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms
(1929), To Have and Have Not (1937) and Across the River and Into the Trees (1950).

Second, the application of other important cultural works in the area of Abstract Expressionism in
painting, jazz and rock music (a good example being the African American music genres that spread
worldwide in the 20th C) , and a multitude of conferences, magazines, and lecture tours organized to
promote America.

Third, the spread of mass culture from the US to European cities – this consisted of cultural products that
were both mass-produced and for mass audiences, such as, mass-media entertainments – via films,
television programs, popular books, newspapers, magazines, popular music, leisure goods, household
items, clothing, and mechanically-reproduced art.

Fourth, the inability, and later unwillingness, to open the Iron Gate on its own – instead building a team
spirit with other Western powers that would be very essential in fighting the Cold War.

Fifth, the role played by American cultural centers and exchange programs to propagate American
cultural values and economic interests is also outstanding.

And sixth, American exhibitions and events in Europe, which ensured that Europe was flooded with
images – concrete if not realistic – of the American way of life and the American model of democracy.

7.4 The Concept of Cultural Imperialism

Cultural imperialism can simply be defined as the domination of one culture over another. This can
happen through a general attitude or an active formal, and deliberate policy including (or resulting from)
military action.

Intext Question

How does American cultural imperialism come in?

Today, cultural imperialism is associated with the remaining single super power, the United States.
However, this position may soon be challenged by an emerging power, China, which is trying all kinds of
efforts to rival, if not outshine the US in terms of global economic, military, and cultural predominance.

US cultural imperialism has two major goals, one economic and the other political:

Foremost, the economic goal of US cultural imperialism is to capture markets for its cultural
commodities, such as, news media, the entertainment industry and fast-food chains spread globally, and
to establish hegemony by shaping popular consciousness in other countries. The export of

2
entertainment is especially one of the most important sources of capital accumulation and global profits
that even displace US manufacturing exports. REPHRASE

In the political sphere, American cultural imperialism plays a major role in detaching local people in
various parts of the world from their own cultural roots and traditions of solidarity, and instead replacing
them with American-media created needs that change with every publicity campaign. The political effect
of these efforts is to alienate people from traditional class and community bonds, thereby separating
individuals from each other.

Cultural imperialism emphasizes the segmentation of the working class: a situation whereby permanent
employees are encouraged to alienate themselves from temporary employees, who in turn separate
themselves from the unemployed, who are further segmented amongst themselves within the
'underground economy'.

Cultural imperialism, moreover, tends to encourage working-class people to think of themselves as part
of a hierarchy emphasizing minute differences in life style, in race and gender, with those below them
rather than the vast inequalities that separate them from those above.

7.5 Impacts of American Cultural Imperialism on Rest of the World

A major danger of American cultural imperialism is the possibility that American tastes will displace local
cultures around the globe. The fact that American cultural imperialism in the form of American tastes
indeed dislocates local cultures is manifested today in the concepts of cultural hegemony and
McDonaldization.

Cultural hegemony refers to the power of the dominant culture to overshadow and even overtake local
cultures. This can happen, for example, through use of US global media channels like CNN, MTV, ESPN,
The New York Times, FOX News Channel, Discovery Channel, TIME Magazine and ABC News to spread
the influence of American culture and politics, a typical example being selling the notion of the American
Dream! In this rags-to-riches tale, hard work and talent can allegedly lead to a successful life no matter
where one starts. Although this can indeed happen, it is not always the case.

As for the concept of McDonaldization is concerned, according to sociologist George Ritzer in his 2009
book The McDonaldization of Society, "McDonaldization" is when a society adopts the characteristics of
a fast-food restaurant characterized by efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. These four
attributes – more than any specific cultural ideas – are the primary features of globalized American
businesses.

Although the above four attributes are good, McDonaldization is also associated with numerous societal
ills ranging from their environmental impact to their role in the US obesity epidemic, a characteristic
feature of modern societies around the world who worship the American fast-food culture propagated
by the American McDonald food chain now found all over the world.

Local cultures tend to react to American cultural imperialism in many different ways. In some
circumstances, there may be a backlash against what can be seen as a hostile culture, which can lead to

3
resentment and even fuel terrorism, as exemplified by cases of Terrorism in France, the UK, China,
Kenya, etc.

In contrast, some local cultures around the world have taken to Western-style business models so greatly
that they have created their own hybrid cultures. A well-known example of this is India’s Bollywood film
industry. Combining traditional Indian music and dance with American-style filmmaking, Bollywood
studios release around 700 major films each year, three times the rate of the major Hollywood studios.

In conclusion, whereas cultural imperialism might cause resentment in many parts of the world, the idea
that local cultures are helpless under the crushing power of American cultural imposition is clearly too
simplistic to hold water. Instead, local cultures seem to adopt American-style media models, changing
their methods to fit the corporate structures rather than just the aesthetics of U.S. media. These two
economic and cultural aspects are clearly intertwined, but the idea of a foreign power unilaterally
crushing a native culture does not seem to be entirely true.

7.6 Summary The United States became a leading power in the Western World by increasing
efforts towards controlling Europe in the period between 1945 and 1990.
These efforts included: using public and cultural diplomacy to woe rivals and
enemies; use of other important cultural works in the area of Abstract
Expressionism in painting, jazz and rock music, and numerous conferences,
magazines, and lecture tours organized to promote America; the spread of
mass culture from the US to European cities; the inability, and later
unwillingness, to open the Iron Gate on its own – instead building a team spirit
with other Western powers that would be very essential in fighting the Cold
War; the role played by American cultural centers and exchange programs to
propagate American cultural values and economic interests; and American
exhibitions and events in Europe that ensured that Europe was flooded with
images – concrete if not realistic – of the American way of life and the
American model of democracy.

Cultural imperialism is the domination of one culture over another. This can
happen through a general attitude or an active formal, and deliberate policy
including (or resulting from) military action. Cultural imperialism is today
mainly associated with the remaining single super power, the United States. US
cultural imperialism has two major goals, one economic and the other political.
The economic goal of US cultural imperialism is to capture markets for its
cultural commodities while the political goal is to detach local people in various
parts of the world from their cultural roots and traditions of solidarity, and
instead replace them with American-media created needs that change with
every publicity campaign.

4
 A major danger of American cultural imperialism is for American tastes to
displace local cultures around the globe. The fact that American cultural
imperialism through American tastes indeed dislocates local cultures
manifested in the concepts of cultural hegemony and McDonaldization.
Cultural hegemony is the power of the dominant culture to overshadow and
even overtake local cultures while McDonaldization is a situation when a
society adopts the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant characterized by
efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control, four attributes that are the
primary features of globalized American businesses. Local cultures tend to
react to American cultural imperialism in many different ways. In some
circumstances, there may be a backlash against what can be seen as a hostile
culture, which can lead to resentment and even fuel terrorism. In contrast,
some local cultures around the world have taken to Western-style business
models so greatly that they have created their own hybrid cultures.

7.7 Terminal Question 1

Questions
Discuss the factors behind American cultural imperialism and assess its impacts
on the rest of the world.

Question 2

(a) How did the US rise to become the leading power in the Western
World?
(b) Define cultural imperialism, and explain how American cultural
imperialism has impacted the rest of the world.

7.8 References
Hamm, B. and Smandych, R.C. (2005) Cultural imperialism: essays on the
political economy of cultural domination. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Ritzer, G. (2009) The McDonaldization of Society. Los Angeles, USA: Pine Forge
Press.

Tomlinson, J. (2002) Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction. London:

Printer Publisher Limited.

White, L.A. (2001) "Reconsidering cultural imperialism theory", Transnational

Broadcasting Studies. The Center for Electronic Journalism at the American
University in Cairo and the Centre for Middle East Studies, St. Antony’s College,
Oxford (6).

5
 LECTURE EIGHT

RISE OF GLOBAL LEISURE AND CULTURAL INDUSTRIES

Lecture 8 Outline

8.1 Introduction
8.2 Lecture Objectives
8.3 Idea of the informational society and culture
8.4 Factors underlying the rise of global leisure cultural industries
8.4.1 Technological factors
8.4.2 Social, economic and cultural factors
8.4.3 Political factors
8.5 Organizational consequences of the rise of the global leisure and cultural industries
8.5.1 A more demand orientated market
8.5.2 The growing importance of ‘experience’ value
8.5.3 The blurring of boundaries between the different sectors
8.6 Summary
8.7 Terminal questions
8.8 References

8.1 Introduction

Globalization is nowadays a central topic of discussion in diverse forms of leisure and culture-related
studies, such as, tourism (Wahab and Cooper, 2001), media (Kheeshadeh, 2012; Jan, 2009), and culture
(Hochschild, 1998). The term ‘globalization’ is used widely to describe a variety of transformations –
economic, cultural, social, and political – that have transformed the world over the past 60 years or so
(Guttal 2010)

Globalization can be seen as time-space compression that accelerates interconnectedness and action at
a distance. In this dimension, globalization implies the expanding scale, speeding up and deepening
impact of flows and patterns of social interaction (Held and McGrew in Kim, 2005).

The internationalization of the cultural industries over the last 30 years or so has been driven by the
need to find new markets for labor and for their products. Hesmondhalagh argues that the “cultural
industries” (as he calls them) like culture, society and business are becoming more intertwined than ever
before (Hesmondhalagh 2013).

In the context of this lecture, globalization entails the integration of the different leisure/cultural sectors
into a global leisure/cultural industries. Two important questions arise: First, what underpins the rise of
the global leisure/cultural industries, and second, what are the main organizational consequences of this
phenomenon? In order to address these questions, the aim of this lecture is to discuss the main factors
underlying the rise of global leisure/cultural industries, and the associated main organizational
consequences.

1
8.2 Objectives By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

(1) Explain the notion of the informational society and culture proposed by
Manuel Castells.
(2) Explore the underlying factors to the rise of the global leisure and cultural
industries.
(3) Assess the organizational consequences of the rise of global leisure and
cultural industries.

8.3 Idea of the informational society and culture

Manuel Castells’ notion of the ‘informational’ society is applied in this lecture to explore the underlying
factors to the rise of the global leisure/cultural industries (Castells 2000). The term network society was
coined by Sociologist Jan van Dijk in his 1991 Dutch book De Netwerkmaatschappij (or The Network
Society) and by Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells in his book The Rise of the Network Society (1996),
the first part of his three works called The Information Age. In 1978 James Martin used the related term
'The Wired Society’ to suggest a society connected by mass- and telecommunication networks (Martin
1978). According to these scholars, the ‘informational’ society contains two central elements, namely:
the network society, and the culture of real virtuality.

According to Castells (2000) a new economy emerged in the last quarter of the 20th century on a
worldwide scale, which he calls ‘informational’, ‘global’, and ‘networked’. Two things clearly stand out:
first, various political, cultural, economic, and technological developments have enabled the rise of the
global leisure/cultural industries; and second, these are part of a new ‘informational’ economy.

8.4 Factors underlying the rise of global leisure cultural industries

Although business, technology and culture determine the rise of a new global economy, none of these
factors could have developed the global economy on their own (Hesmondhalagh 2013). Accordingly, it is
the combination of these factors working together that has enabled the rise of the global leisure/cultural
industries. Let us look at each of these factors in turn:

8.4.1 Technological factors

The technological drivers of globalization are manifested in the transport revolution, information and
communication revolution, social media platforms, and technological transfer (Dwye 2015, p.3). The
revolution in information technology that occurred at the end of the 20th C provided the material basis
for the development of this new economy. The huge communication power of the Internet, for example,
cannot be gainsaid. This, together with new developments in telecommunications and computing caused
a technological revolution.

2
Besides information and communications technology (ICT), developments in transportation have
accelerated the pace of globalization. This has lowered operating costs and made it more economically
feasible for an enterprise to locate in different countries.

It is technology that makes it possible to produce customized services on a large scale at cost
competitive prices (mass customization). A country benefits from the new technologies that ‘spill over’
to it from its trading partners, such as, through the knowledge embedded in imported production
equipment. These technological spill overs are particularly important for developing countries. They
provide opportunities for such countries to narrow the productivity gap with the developed economies.

8.4.2 Social, economic and cultural factors

The significance of social, economic and cultural driving forces is that it provided the contexts for change.
The social drivers include: increased consumerism (the protection or promotion of the interests of
consumers), global consumers, education and skills, ecological awareness, changing demographics, new
consumer values, increasing connectivity among peoples, growing leisure society, and increasing
migration numbers.

The economic drivers include: increasing incomes, global trade networks, the world financial market,
global competion, de-industrialization in North America and Western Europe, cost drivers (the indirect
cost of manufacturing), worldwide markets, capital mobility and the growth of TNCs (transnational
corporations) (Dwye 2015, p.3).

Cultural factors: Neuman in (Hesmondhalagh 2013) highlights the concept of ‘cultural determinism’
whereby culture is given the determining role in the rise of global cultural industries. Accordingly, culture
(as represented in film, television and music) took on ever greater social and political significance in
shaping a new global economy in the age of globalization. Through this ‘cultural determinism’, the search
for profitability and nations’ mobilization toward competitiveness created, and shaped, a global
economy.

8.4.3 Political and demographic factors

Political changes in the late 20th C gave important contexts for understanding the rise of the global
cultural industries (Hesmondhalagh 2007). Dwye (2015, p.3) identifies some of the political drivers as
including: reduced trade barriers, intellectual property rights, privatization, development of trade blocs,
technical standards, regional trading blocs like the EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, COMESA, etc., world institutions
like the World Bank and the IMF, global legal entities, and increasing liberalization and capital markets.

According to Manuel Castells, the paramount agents in the rise of a global economy are governments
(Castells, 2000). Accordingly, three interrelated Govt. policies created the basis for globalization, these
being: deregulation of domestic economic activity; liberalization of international trade and investment;
and privatization of publicly controlled companies.

3
Within a general shift towards neo-liberalism in government policy in some countries in the 1980s and
1990s, there was a specific set of policy shifts that had a big impact on the cultural industries and their
status within contemporary societies’

Demographic factors

Dwye (2015, p.3) identifies demographic factors as consisting of: population increase, changing age
structure, increased social mobility, spread of education, improved health status, and growing ethnic
diversity.

8.5 Organizational consequences of the rise of the global leisure and cultural industries

The main organizational consequences of the rise of the global leisure/cultural industries all relate to a
broader field of culture and consumption. These include three things: first, a more demand orientated
market; second, a growing importance of ‘experience’ value; and third, a blurring of boundaries between
the different sectors, as elaborated below:

8.5.1 A more demand orientated market

In the 1980’s a radical reshaping happened in the provision of leisure facilities in the UK.

- Due to commercialization, globalization and informatization, the leisure market in that country went
from a supply orientated market to a more demand or consumer orientated market (Martin and
Mason 2011).
- In this demand or consumer orientated market, businesses are all competing for the attention of the
same consumer
- According to Mommaas (2008) this common field of operation is characterized by an ‘experience
orientation’. This is a situation whereby people are in conscious search for emotions and
imaginations, the triumph of a culture of feeling and emotions.

8.5.2 The growing importance of ‘experience’ value

- Consumers desire experiences; increasing numbers of organizations are responding by explicitly

designing and promoting them (Pine and Gilmore 1998)
- According to Florida (2002) the reason why experiences are replacing goods and services is because
they enhance creative capacities.
- In this way, people prefer more active, more authentic and more participatory experiences than
prepackaged experiences advocated for by Pine and Gilmore (1998)

8.5.3 The blurring of boundaries between the different sectors

- Society is now increasingly defined on the basis of common interests (Landry and Bianchini 2005).
- According to Sarvaes and Lie (2010) globalization and localization are, in fact, one process.

4
- The same (inter)cultural domains of origin can lead to a global interpreting process or a local
interpreting process, for example, can be in the form of watching international football games,
encounters with international tourists, or business contacts within the global economy.

8.6 Summary Various political, cultural, economic, and technological developments have
enabled the rise of the global leisure/cultural industries. These are part of what
Manuel Castells calls a new ‘informational’ economy. This idea is based on four
points: First, the huge communication power of the Internet and new
developments in telecommunications and computing caused a technological
revolution. Second, economic and cultural driving forces provided contexts for
change. The search for profitability and nations’ mobilization toward
competitiveness created, and shaped, a global economy. Third, culture, as
represented in film, television and music, took on ever greater social and
political significance. And finally, political changes provided important contexts
for understanding the rise of the global leisure cultural industries.

Three interrelated policies created the foundations for globalization:

deregulation of domestic economic activity, liberalization of international trade
and investment, and privatization of publicly controlled companies (Castells,
2000).

The main organizational consequences of the rise of the global leisure/cultural

industries all relate to a broader field of culture and consumption. These
include a more demand orientated market, a growing importance of
‘experience’ value, and a blurring of boundaries between sectors.

8.7 Terminal Question 1

Questions
Identify and discuss the main factors behind the rise of global leisure/cultural
industries in the era beginning in the 1990s, and explain the associated
organizational consequences.

Question 8

(a) Identify and discuss the main factors underlying the rise of global
leisure/cultural industries.
(b) What are the associated organizational consequences?

5
8.8 References
Castells, M. (2000). The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers.

Castells, M. (2004). The Power of Identity: The Information Age: Economy,

Society and Culture, Volume II. Blackwell: Oxford.

Burch, S. (2006) The Information Society/the Knowledge Society. Vecam.org.

[Online] Available at: https://vecam.org/archives/article517.html (Accessed: 3
December 2019).

Castells, M. (2010) The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Volume
1: The Rise of the Network Society. 2nd edn. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

Davis, J.C. (2011) "For the Records: How African American Consumers and
Music Retailers Created Commercial Public Space in the 1960s and 1970s
South," Southern Cultures, 17, 4.

Dwyer, L. (2015) “Globalization of tourism: Drivers and outcomes”, Tourism

Recreation Research, pp. 1-14.

Grossman, G. and Helpman, E. (1990) “Comparative advantage and long-run

growth”, American Economic Review, 80(4), pp. 796-815.

Guttal, S. (2010) “Development in practice”, Development in Practice, 17(4-5),

pp. 523-531.

Hesmondhalagh, D. (2013) The Cultural Industries. 3rd edn. London: Sage

Publications.

Hochschild, A. (1998) “Globalisation and Culture”, Economic and Political

Weekly, pp. 33(21), pp. 1235-1238.

Jan, M. (2009) “Globalization of Media: Key issues and Dimensions”, European

Journal of Scientific Research, 29(1), pp.66-75.

Kheeshadeh, M. (2012) “Effects of globalization on TV and print media in

Pakistan”, International Journal of Asian Social Science, 2(9), pp. 1441-1456.

Kim, Y. (2005) “Experiencing globalization”, International Journal of Cultural

Studies, 8(4), pp. 1445-1463.

Landry and Bianchini (2005) The Creative City. London: Demos.

Martin, B. and Mason, S. (2011) “Current trends in leisure: the changing face of
leisure provision”, Leisure Studies, 11(1), pp. 81-86.

6
 Mommaas, H. (2008) The ‘leisure industries’ and the re-composition of the
public sphere. Tilburg. Tilburg University. Unpublished article.

Nelson, R. R. (1994) An agenda for formal growth theory. New York: Columbia
University. Unpublished paper.

Nelson, R.R. (1998) “The agenda for growth theory: a different point of view”,
Cambridge Journal of Economics, 22, pp. 497-520.

Pine, B.J. and Gilmore, J.H. (1998) “Welcome to the experience economy”,
Harvard Business Review, 76(4), pp. 97-105.

Romer, P.M. (1990) “Endogenous technological change”, Journal of Political

Economy, 98(5), pp. 71-102.

Servaes, J. and Lie, R. (2010) “Media, Globalisation and Culture: issues and
trends”, Communication: South African Journal for Communication Theory and
Research, 29 (1-2), pp. 7-23.

Short, J.R. (2008) “Globalization, cities and the Summer Olympics”, City:
Analysis of Urban Trends, Culture, Theory, Policy, Action, 12(3), pp. 321-340.

Wahab, S.E.A. and Cooper, C. (2001) Tourism in the age of globalisation.

London: Routledge.

Webster, F. (2002) Theories of the Information Society. Abingdon: Routledge.

7
 LECTURE NINE

THE CROSS-CULTURAL PARADIGM AT THE WORKPLACE

Lecture 9 Outline

9.1 Introduction
9.2 Lecture Objectives
9.3 Most Frequent Forms of Cultural Bias
9.3.1 Cross-Cultural Relationships
9.3.2 Building Relationships
9.3.3 Ethnocentrism
9.4 Cultural Bias and its Consequences
9.4.1 Meaning of Cultural Bias
8.4.2 Consequences of Culturally Biased Assumptions
9.5 Strategies for Eliminating Bias and Discrimination
9.5.1 Direct Contact with Clients and Co-workers
9.5.2 Cultural Sensitivity in Service Delivery
9.5.3 Service-Level strategies for Eliminating Bias and Discrimination
9.5.4 Organizational Strategies to Eliminate Discrimination
9.5.5 Culturally Biased Assumptions in Counseling
9.6 Summary
9.7 References
9.8 Terminal Questions

9.1 Introduction

This lecture examines the development of culturally diverse relationships at the work place. Building
relationships based on cultural diversity in such contexts requires understanding and respect for cultural
differences at both the individual and the organizational levels. Cultural bias is often learnt through
socialization, and being unaware of personal bias may lead to discrimination, misunderstandings and
conflicts that will affect work relationships and service delivery. Recognizing and respecting cultural
differences can greatly improve relationships between people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

With this background in mind, this lecture aims to discuss how specific practices in the workplace have
changed, or could change, to in order better support cultural diversity. This lecture falls under the
cross-cultural paradigm we discussed in Lecture One, which as you may recall, is a world view that
emphasizes cross-cultural dimensions in the way of doing research. These approaches in the social
sciences emerged by the 1970s as a response to the pressures of globalization, which produced a
demand for cross-cultural awareness training in various commercial sectors. You may also remember
that cross-cultural studies are concerned with issues that are associated with more than one culture and
also that cross-culturalism concerns themes involving cultural interactivity. As you will learn in the
lecture, the cross-cultural paradigm as applied at the work place, concerns three important issues: the

1
most frequently occurring forms of cultural bias, the consequences of bias in service delivery and work
relationships, and the strategies applied to eliminate bias and discrimination.

9.2 Objectives By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

1 Identify the most frequently occurring forms of cultural bias.

2 Evaluate the consequences of bias in service delivery and work
relationships.
3 Examine the strategies that can be used to eliminate bias and
discrimination in the workplace.

9.3 Most Frequent Forms of Cultural Bias

Building relationships based on cultural diversity requires understanding and respect for cultural
differences at individual and organizational levels. Cultural bias is often learnt through socialization, and
being unaware of personal bias may lead to discrimination, misunderstandings and conflicts that will
affect work relationships and service delivery.

Take Note

Recognizing and respecting cultural differences can greatly improve

relationships between people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

9.3.1 Cross-Cultural Relationships

The similarities and differences that exist between a worker, his/her co-workers and clients may impact
their work. Culture plays an important part in shaping a person’s behavior, thought patterns and
relationships with others. Cultural values, norms and beliefs provide a framework for people to make
assumptions about and respond to their circumstances. Culture also strongly influences perceptions and
expectations.

Cultural perceptions and expectations will directly impact on the way one works with each client and
co-workers; failure to recognize cultural differences may cause potentially serious problems when a
worker is dealing with others in the workplace.

Every society or culture has its own expectations of the role of service providers and clients. This
influences:

● the way a client relates to the service provider

● the way workers relate to clients and co-workers
● expected professional behavior

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 ● the way in which a service is being provided
● the people who may be involved in the process.

Intext Question

Under what circumstances could cultural expectations affect relationships

with clients and co-workers?

Areas where cultural expectations could affect relationships with clients and co-workers include:

● Family involvement: For instance, Western society focuses on individualism and, therefore, any
involvement of family members requires approval by the client. However, in cultures that
encourage interdependency, the client and/or their family may have an expectation that family
members are included in the process.
● Body language: There can be significant differences between cultures in how people interpret
facial expressions or what they consider to be an appropriate degree of personal space or eye
contact.
● Gender preferences: Some cultures may have particular rules regarding appropriate interactions
between males and females. It is therefore important to consider the issue of gender
preferences when planning service delivery.

It is very important that community services workers learn to be innovative and flexible when working
with people from other cultural and linguistic backgrounds. For example, any service delivery may need
to be developed and reviewed in collaboration with the client’s community as well as the client.

Activity

● Case Study: Client Interviews:

Van Yung is a 45-year-old Vietnamese Chinese man who migrated to Australia
three years ago. He has been referred to a supported employment service
where you are engaged as a case worker. You need to conduct an interview
with Van Yung to acquire more information about his cultural background,
work preference and skills. You need to prepare a list of questions you will ask
during the interview that could help you better understand his cultural
background and provide a more culturally appropriate service.
● What questions might you ask Van Yung?

9.3.2 Building Relationships

Cross-cultural interaction and communication is a major factor in the quality of working relationships.
Establishing effective working relationships tends to bridge cultural gaps and contribute to successful
cross-cultural relationships.

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Other important factors include:

● Understanding different cultural expectations regarding the roles of clients and co-workers, e.g.
expecting workers to give direct instructions rather than allowing self-direction.
● Recognition of different expectations regarding involvement of family members in the provision
of client services. In some cultures, family members are expected to be involved in the process.
● Understanding differences in help-seeking behavior among various cultural groups and
respecting a client’s choice of when to seek help and from whom.

In working with involuntary clients, workers should be aware of the need to reinforce terms of service
delivery, taking in the potential for power struggles in relation to decision-making.

You also need self-awareness of your own cultural beliefs, biases and assumptions: avoid allowing such
assumptions to affect interaction with clients and CALD co-workers. A lack of self-awareness is often the
source of cultural bias and ethnocentrism, and may result in stigma, stereotyping and discrimination, all
of which are likely to have a detrimental effect on working relationships.

Activity

● Case study: Cultural needs of client

● Read the case study below and answer the question that follows:
A worker at a Women's Domestic Violence refuge gave an example of a
Muslim client who was staying at the refuge. She refused to have her food in
the same fridge in which meat was stored.
● How might the refuge better meet the needs of Muslim clients?

9.3.3 Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism, which refers to people’s tendency to judge other people’s behavior or actions according
to the standards of their own culture, is a phenomenon that occurs in all cultures. Ethnocentrism results
in people believing that their own culture’s way of life is the ‘right’ way whereas the cultures of others
are not right. An example of this is to describe Americans as driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road
instead of ‘left-hand’ or ‘opposite’ side.

Take Note

In Kenya and the UK people, for example, people drive on the right side of the
road.

4
Such generalizations, often made without a conscious awareness that we have used our culture as a
universal yardstick, can be very inaccurate and cause us to misjudge others and make false assumptions
about other people’s cultures and customs.

Other examples of ethnocentrism:

● An Australian sees an Asian person sniffing loudly. Australians think everyone should use a
handkerchief or tissue to blow one’s nose and consider sniffing to be rude.
● An Asian person sees an Australian blowing his nose on a handkerchief or tissue. Asians view
handkerchiefs and tissues as unhygienic and are often repulsed by blowing one’s nose.

The view that one way is ‘right’ and therefore the other is ‘wrong’ could lead to false assumptions about
the other person’s culture.

The following three points can assist you to be more culturally sensitive:

● Acknowledge the differences in social customs, family life, definitions of normal practice or
dietary habits
● Be aware of your own practices and avoid using them as a means by which to judge others
● Be willing to learn by asking questions and seeking clarification when you encounter unfamiliar
ideas or behavior

9.4 Cultural Bias and its Consequences

The first thing we need to know at this point is what cultural bias is.

9.4.1 Meaning of Cultural Bias

During the socialization process we learn about other cultures through three main ways:

● direct contact with these groups

● information and perceptions from other people
● books, news, newspapers and other forms of mass media.

Take Note

These experiences may develop into assumptions about other cultures or

about a particular cultural group. These assumptions may bias our perception
of other cultures and so are known as cultural bias.

Culturally biased assumptions fall into two categories:

● General bias assumptions about people who are not from your own background. For example,
‘They’re not like us’.

5
 ● Bias assumptions about a particular cultural group. For example, ‘Indians only eat curry’ or
‘Today’s youth have no respect’.

Both categories affect the quality of communication and may lead to inappropriate work practices. Most
importantly, the individual differences existing within any cultural group make such assumptions
irrelevant.

9.4.2 Consequences of Culturally Biased Assumptions

Culturally-biased assumptions result in perceptions that impact on your objectivity when working with
culturally diverse groups. The consequences are stigma, stereotyping and discrimination.

Intext Question

What is the meaning of stigma, stereotyping and discrimination?

● Stigma – refers to negative labeling of a group based on certain attributes which may eventually
generate a negative image to the public. For example:
- Being a single mother thirty to forty years ago often generated a lot of stigma.
- The AIDS virus brought about a stigma to the gay community.
- Today, despite community education, mental health still carries a stigma.
● Stereotyping – involves making assumptions about the characteristics of an individual that are
based on a standard, simplistic characterization of the culture (Cultural Awareness tool, 2003).
People will often use stereotypes to describe a particular cultural group. For example:
- These statements refer to behaviors or beliefs that may be a reaction to one particular
individual rather than a whole subgroup.
- Stereotyping, thus, only serves to limit a person’s understanding of a group of people.
● Discrimination – in a cultural context discrimination refers to showing prejudice towards a
certain group. Most of the time, discrimination involves the unfair labeling and treatment of
others and is based on both stigma and stereotyping.

These three consequences are the most common; you could no doubt add others to the list. Within a
workplace, these negative consequences may lead to three things:

1. Resentment of clients and co-workers who come from different cultures. If a worker believed all
boat people were ‘queue jumpers’, then the attitude toward a refugee client may be less
compassionate than that of a worker who understands the trauma and grief experienced by
refugees forced to flee their homeland.
2. Inadequate initial assessment interviews, whereby inaccurate or insufficient information is
gathered because of some stereotypical beliefs about the client’s ability to understand or
express their wishes or where the client’s behavior is misinterpreted as normal or abnormal.

6
 3. Failure to react appropriately to people in need. A most distressing example of false assumption
occurred at a Brisbane bus stop in 2006. An Aboriginal university guest lecturer in a diabetic
coma was ignored and left unattended for several hours by passengers and passers-by, who
presumed that she may have been intoxicated. Therefore, self-examination of your personal bias
is essential in any communities and disability services organization where you are trying to
deliver culturally sensitive practice.

Activity

Your own personal bias: Reflect on assumptions you have personally made
regarding a particular cultural or social group of people.

9.5 Strategies for Eliminating Bias and Discrimination

It is important to develop policies, procedures and standards of practice that aim to eliminate bias and
discrimination in service delivery. It is also important to look for strategies at both the service level and
the individual level. Below are some effective strategies for eliminating bias and discrimination in the
workplace.

9.5.1 Direct contact with Clients and Co-Workers

Key issues when you are engaging in direct contact with clients and co-workers include:

● finding out the individual’s preferred language and engaging an interpreter if required
● developing a cultural understanding by acknowledging all three layers of cultural factors (and
individual culture)
● being sensitive to the individual’s gender preferences
● being conscious of physical contact, especially with those of the opposite sex
● being aware of differences in eye contact or handling belongings
● consulting the person regarding their religious practice and making appropriate arrangements
for them
● being aware of bereavement ritual or funeral practices
● being aware of differences in communication styles
● being aware of differences in interpretation of meanings
● Clarifying the similarity of and differences between the provision of services in the person’s
country of origin and your own country.

9.5.2 Cultural Sensitivity in Service Delivery

Below are some important ways of ensuring cultural sensitivity when you are delivering services to
clients at the workplace:

7
 ● Do not lump all groups together just because their first language is not English.
● Do not ignore differences within the ethnic and racial groups themselves.
● Provide information in languages other than English (at least the most predominant languages in
your immediate community).
● Recognize that programs which ignore specific customs of groups are inaccessible.
● Identify structures and processes which discourage participation.
● Work from the premise that race and ethnicity are not static and customs change.
● Never underestimate the effects of racism in people’s daily lives.
● Be prepared to be flexible and adapt your work practices to suit client needs.

9.5.3 Service-Level strategies for Eliminating Bias and Discrimination

Below are some strategies that you can employ to promote cultural sensitivity among staff:

● Provide regular training for staff, to develop their knowledge of cross-cultural practice and
cultural sensitivity.
● Encourage staff to engage in cultural consultation when working with ALD clients.
● Employ bilingual staff or ethnic-specific workers to provide bilingual/bicultural services and also
improve knowledge of cross-cultural practice.
● Create an open atmosphere for staff to bring up their concerns.

Take Note

Further examples of best practice strategies are shown below.

9.5.4 Organizational Strategies to Eliminate Discrimination

According to Jouridine (2002) organizations need to spend time training staff in cultural diversity and
strategies for effective communication. Discrimination often occurs when one culture does not
understand another.

Below are some strategies that can be used to either eliminate discrimination or empower a group to
rise above discrimination:

● Provide facts, statistics or information that enables people to seek assistance or obtain
information regarding other cultures (informed decision-making).
● Develop an anti-discrimination policy.
● Set up advisory boards with cultural representatives.
● Have an advisory group help devise a plan for a series of events that will draw attention to
discrimination.
● Contact members of the local media (i.e. local newspaper, radio, etc.) to ask if they will use their
respective mediums to promote a greater awareness of discrimination.

8
 ● Foster mutual respect in the workplace.
● Spend time getting to know people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
● Create environments that allow for a great deal of exchange among participants.
● Know how to establish and encourage positive and appropriate relationships with people from
culturally diverse backgrounds.
● Be aware of your own values and do not seek to impose them upon others.
● Use correct terminology when referring to a person from a culturally diverse background.
● Challenge abusive or derogatory terms.
● Establish a standard of conduct.

9.5.5 Culturally Biased Assumptions in Counseling

Based on Paul Pederson’s (1994) list of assumptions, it is important that you do not assume that:

● We all share a single measure of ‘normal’ behavior.

● All societies use the individual as a basic unit.
● Only problems defined within the expertise of counselors are the concerns for counselors.
● Everyone understands professional jargon in the same way it was intended.
● Independence is desirable and dependence is undesirable.
● Clients are helped more by formal services than by their natural support systems.(Adapted from
Pederson 1994, p.113)

9.6 Summary Recognizing and respecting cultural differences can greatly improve
relationships between people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

In this lecture, we have examined the building relationships based on cultural

diversity. This requires understanding and respect for cultural differences at
individual and organizational levels, and an awareness of personal bias and
how to build good working relationships with people from diverse cultures.

This lecture topic, like others concerned with the cross-cultural paradigm has
addressed three important issues: the most frequently occurring forms of
cultural bias; the consequences of bias in service delivery and work
relationships; and strategies applied to eliminate bias and discrimination.

9
9.7 Terminal
Questions Question 1

Discuss how specific practices in the workplace have changed, or could change,
to better support cultural diversity.

Question 2

How can the cross-cultural paradigm be applied at the workplace to develop

culturally diverse working relationships? Use clear examples to illustrate your
answer.

Question 3

(a) Examine the characteristic features of destination management.

(b) Identify the main tools for destination management and the steps to be
observed while developing a destination.

9.8 References
● Jouridine, L. (2002) Working Effectively with Multi-Ethnic and
Multicultural Communities. Texas
● Pederson, P. (1994) Handbook for Developing Multicultural Awareness.
2nd edn.
● Alexandria: ACA.QCOSS Community Door e Training (2016) “Work
effectively with culturally diverse clients and co-workers” [Online]
Available at: http://etraining.communitydoor.org.au/ (Accessed: 22
March 2016).

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