Human development today

A dangerous fear is spreading around the world– a fear of cultures that seem threatening, for one reason or another.1  This fear has generated questions about the role of culture in human progress that have increasingly come to dominate public debates. For example: Does Hispanic immigration erode the American culture and threaten identity? Is Islam an obstacle to democracy? Does the power of traditional cultures explain stagnation in Africa? Will the conflicts between Shiite and Sunni communities lead to civil war in Iraq?

At the same time, much recent literature in the social sciences has approached culture in purely instrumental terms–as if culture were merely a means to some other end (modernization, for example), rather than an end in itself and one of the chief goals of human development.

In what follows I will argue that the ability to choose an attachment to one or more cultures is an intrinsic value, to be protected and promoted as a basic human freedom. Individuals acting alone cannot achieve this goal: only public policies can ensure that distinct cultures and cultural identities coexist within the borders of any given state (a recognition of different cultures often referred to as ‘multiculturalism’). As economic globalization advances, states must also devise policies that expand rather than reduce cultural diversity. But before I say more about the reasons for regarding culture as an intrinsic value, it will be helpful to discuss my understanding of progress in terms of human development.

As the economist and philosopher Amartya Sen has recently argued, human development is a process of expanding capabilities–of ensuring that people have the freedom to lead full and creative lives according to what they value. Along with the capabilities of being educated, people value being able to enjoy as long and healthy a life as possible, and also to participate in the political life . . .

Endnotes

• 1This essay draws from Human Development Report 2004: Expanding Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), which I helped write as lead author. The views expressed here are strictly my own, and not necessarily those of the United Nations Development Programme.