Haddad Adel
Iranian diplomat pans globalization for espousing single economy and culture.
Haddad Adel
Does globalization intend to impose one culture over others? This was the point raised by Dr. Gholamali Haddad Adel, speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in his lecture “Contemporary World, Uni-culturalism or Multiculturalism” at UPD last June.
Adel said globalization is viewed by countries wishing to preserve their identities as “colonialism” in a new mask.
He said “…the will to resist the scourge of globalization and to preserve independent identities in the face of its destructive onslaught” compelled nations to form alliances, one of which is the Asian Parliamentary Association (APA), with Iran playing a significant role in its formation.
According to him, Asia’s history registers “the bitter experience of European colonialism.” In the 19th century, European philosophers and politicians disseminated the theory that “civilization” meant “Western civilization,” and was regarded to be absolute and other civilizations were evaluated against it.
It is because of this that westerners initiated their ruthless cultural onslaught against Asian and African nations.
The massacre and the pillage of natural and man-made riches were justified as indispensable acts for “civilizing” and building a better future for the indigenous people.
“In that context, what was regarded to be absolute and a yardstick would naturally become a ‘model’ to be followed by other nations and peoples of the world in building or rebuilding their own civilizations in blind imitation of that model at the expense of the element of diversity and the distinctive features of their own cultures,” Adel said.
In much the same way, globalization today is espousing a world with a single-economy, where a single culture dominates.
The problem with this, Adel posits, is that non-Western nations can no longer safeguard their diverse cultures, traditions and histories.
Efforts are being done to transform APA into a platform for appreciating and promoting the values and other distinctive features of Asia.
“Asia can remain Asia in the globalization age by preserving its original distinctive and diversified values…,” Adel said.
—Chi A. Ibay