Hello Antoine,
Like I outlined in my previous response to SJ, I am not so worried
about cultural dominance/imperialism. People are too aware for this
to happen as a matter of course. I am concerned with quality.
Quality measured locally. If there is condescension to be had, it
will be local. Cultural condescension is complicated. It is not a
east-west thing. It happens in every society: consider older kids
commenting on younger kid's musical tastes. Culture, by definition,
is built on the rarification of talent and expression. As you grow
more sophisticated, you understand more. The examplar in any culture
is what has value. Not the common denominator.
jp
_________________________________
http://jeanpiche.com
On 28-Oct-07, at 6:32 AM, Antoine van Gelder wrote:
Jean Piché wrote:
I am perhaps not in a position to be an arbitrer any more than the
undoutedly generous and sharp young minds at Jamendo but I suggest
OLPC thread VERY carefully here. Even when there is quality, I am not
certain what to think of Nigerian children being fed a diet of DJ
Spooky, no matter how much I personally enjoy his work...
Dear Jean,
Also being a member of the so-called 'dominator culture' I can
appreciate where these concerns are coming from as there is much
ill-will between people of all countries - rich&poor - regarding
things that have happened in the past and fears of what might still
happen in the future.
I would however like to comment that it is at our peril that we
tread on egg shells or - even worse - be _perceived_ as treading on
egg shells as there is only one sin which is considered more vile
than cultural imperialism and that is the sin of cultural
condescension!!!
:-D
I'd like to quote an email I received this morning from Ron
Wertlen, one of the folk involved with grassroots olpc here in
South Africa, written on his return from a TV shoot for Swiss
national television.
While reading it, please bear in mind that the area they visited is
one of the poorest and most remote of any district in South Africa.
(or Africa for that matter!)
Ron wrote:
the shoot went very well! The main thing is we got on well, the kids
had a great time (unfortunately only 20 out of 722). And the
highlight was how surprised Cristina was by the kids - they danced
for us after the shoot and there was some modern and ballroom dancing
there complete with costumes. We decided that would be great as a
final scene, to show that there should be no fear of "cultural
imperialism" via the digital content. The people are seeking new
inputs for growth wherever they can and OLPC can definitely make a
big difference.
We overnighted at Bulungula, which is very scenic and it really
requires 4x4 driving, which they promptly also filmed to get a good
feel of the Wild Coast. After that there was a short interview in the
car and then we filmed at the school. 722 kids, 18 educators and I
think about 8 classrooms. They have to have classes out of doors.
Because of a roaring wind, the interviewing was done in one of the
two good classrooms (which also has a principal's corner). that's
also where the kids used the computers. I let them play with block
the most. They really enjoyed that. Then I switched on the video
camera on one, and they figured it out themselves on the other one.
These were fairly young kids Gr. 5.
- a
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