Made in

On this blog, we discussed a lot of issues involving globalization and relationships among cultures: since immigration and xenophobia to Human Rights and Pangea Day.

We still can’t say which one of the processes (homo, hetero or hybridization) is the most important. We only know that all these phenomenons are happening, having positive and negative consequences in our globalized world.

We hope you have learned something useful.

Thank you!

All Different, All Equal

Today we live in a world full of inequality, discrimination, xenophobia, racism, etc... But we are all born of the same root, we had all evolved from the same living being ... We are all human. Why not be the same? We all have feelings, life, heart, emotions, family ...
How can we find solutions to end this inequality? Is there a solution? For how many years will we talk about this problem? One day, I would like to find answers ...

Gastronomy

The gastronomy (from the Greek γαστρονομία; γαστρός [ "stomach"] and νομία [ "law" / "knowledge"]) is a branch that covers food, beverages, materials used in food and, in general, all aspects culture associated with it. A gastronome (Gourmet, in French) may be a cook, but can also be a person who is concerned with the refinement of food, including not only the way food is prepared, but they are , for example, clothing and music and dance that accompany meals.

For these reasons, the cuisine has a broader forum that cuisine, which deals more specifically the techniques of food preparation. A taster of wine is a specialist in those gourmet drinks (and often is also a gourmet in the broadest sense of the word).

The pleasure provided by food is one of the most important factors of life after feeding to survive. The food was nice and that was to be the art of cooking and food to join them reap the full benefit. Ancient culture, the cuisine has led to major social and political transformations. The food has gone through several stages during the human development, evolving from nomadic hunter to the sedentary man, when he discovered the importance of agriculture and domestication of animals.

GOURMET FESTIVALS

In Portugal, exist gastronomic festivals that bring us the flavors of the world and all the regions of our country.

The Universal Declaration of The Human Rights

Has you had saw on this blog, The Universal Declaration of The Human Rights is one of the most important documents in the world. It was created on 10 December 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. They are separated in various articles:

"Article 1.

* All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.


Article 2.

* Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.


Article 3.

* Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.


Article 4.

* No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.


Article 5.

* No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.


Article 6.

* Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.


Article 7.

* All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.


Article 8.

* Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.


Article 9.

* No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.


Article 10.

* Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.


Article 11.

* (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
* (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.

* No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.

* (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
* (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.

* (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
* (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.


Article 15.

* (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
* (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.


Article 16.

* (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
* (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
* (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.


Article 17.

* (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
* (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.


Article 18.

* Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.


Article 19.

* Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.


Article 20.

* (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
* (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.


Article 21.

* (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
* (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
* (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.


Article 22.

* Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.


Article 23.

* (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
* (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
* (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
* (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.


Article 24.

* Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.


Article 25.

* (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
* (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.


Article 26.

* (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
* (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
* (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.


Article 27.

* (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
* (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.


Article 28.

* Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.


Article 29.

* (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
* (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
* (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.


Article 30.

* Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein."



Sources:
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Heterogenization...

I think we have no idea how the countries are interconnected and depend on each other.

The number of countries represented in one situation is very large, it is a reflection of globalization, especially the heterogenization of the diversity of cultures... look at this:

“An English princess with an

Egyptian boyfriend crashes in a

French tunnel, driving a

German car with a

Dutch engine, driven by a

Belgian who was high on

Scottish whiskey, followed closely by

Italian Paparazzi, on

Japanese motorcycles, treated by an

American doctor, using

Brazilian medicines!

And this is sent to you by a

Canadian, using

Bill Gates' technology which he got from the

Japanese. And you are probably reading this on

one of the IBM clones that use

Philippine-made chips, andKorean made monitors, assembled by Bangladeshi

workers in a Singapore plant, transported by lorries

driven by Indians, hijacked by Indonesians and finally
sold to you by a Chinese!”

Sources:

http://fc15.deviantart.com/fs24/f/2008/013/c/f/Globalization_by_Guille3691.png

World Religions

The first evidence of human religion had appeared on the time of Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis, around 100 000 years ago.
Today, it continues to be a very influential aspect of human lives.

To some people, religion is the tool for explaining things which we do not understand through the context of the physical world.
On our world, exist some religions, each different from the other, and helps us to transmit our values from one generation to another, and influences the way we interact with the natural environment. It teaches us how to see ourselves in light of the universe and gives purpose and meaning to life.

They are:
● Christianity
● Judaism
● Buddhism
● Hinduism
● Islamism
● Animism

I am christian.
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, as they are collected in the Gospels, part of the New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and as such refer to him as Jesus Christ. With approximately 2.13 billion adherents, Christianity is now the largest religion worldwide, adopted by about 33% of the world's population. It is the predominant religion in Europe, America, Oceania and much of Africa and parts of Asia.

Christianity began in the first century as a sect of Judaism, sharing why this religion with sacred texts, specifically the Tanakh, that Christians call the Old Testament.
Christianity believes that faith in Jesus Christ gives humans the salvation and life eternal.


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/

Portuguese Flag, Made in China

On my last post I talked about the importance of keeping our culture. One of our culture biggest symbols is our flag. Take a look at it.



Do you see something wrong in the second one? I hope so.

On the shield of the first flag, there are seven castles which symbolize the victorys of Afonso III and the conquest of Algarve.

But in the second one something is wrong: there are Chinese pagodas instead of our castles. That happens because Chinese people are making flags for us. And Portuguese people, who know entirely their nation symbols, proudly show their (Chinese) flags to the world in football championships.

Pagodas are not a symbol of our culture!

Well, at least, this is a good way to illustrate how globalization can mean degradation of one culture symbols.

English and Homogenization

Globalization may make us aware of the diversity of culture. It’s true that without it you couldn’t hear about the Indian caste system, for example. But a process that may be even stronger is homogenization.

Take these facts:

• Two billion of people are learning English;
• My friend and I are going to see Beyoncé, an American singer;
• Over 80% of all information stored electronically is in English;
• My class is good in English because a big part of it plays online games in English. Actually three of them call one game “our world”;
• A great part of Portuguese people never went to cinema to see a movie non-talked in English;
• My brother, a software developer, can barely talk about his job in Portuguese;
• 89% of schoolchildren in European Union have English as a foreign language;
• My classmate did a work about Linking Park, his favorite band. He hates Portuguese music;
• My sister, who is studying Economics in Lisbon, has classes in English.

Conclusion: English is the most important language in a globalized world.

English became important probably because of British Empire’s power, during the period of European colonialism. Nowadays, although English is only the fourth largest language by number of native speakers, it is the most thought and the most used language in international communications.

Therefore, English is the globalization tool; it’s a world linguistic patrimony.

Actually, English starts being used more often than each person mother tongue, especially in computing science and in universities. So, globalized communications tend to homogenize local language varieties, which may contribute to the decrease of number of languages or dialects and with them some cultures may disappear.

However, language homogenization is not always negative. Take the Indian example, which we already saw on this blog: there are a lot of dialects there and this number is decreasing because of English influence. Although cultural wealth is being lost, people can communicate better inside the country.

English may contribute to another homogenization phenomenon: Americanization. Seems like American culture is everywhere: we heard American music (instead of ours), we are getting fatter because of American fast food, we see American movies, most of our idols are Americans, we include English words in our daily communication, we follow American politics, etc.

Powerful American companies like McDonald's are everywhere.

Of course it is important to have a way to communicate globally. But, if we want to keep our culture, we should give more importance to it and we shouldn’t copy foreign habits.

Sources:
http://www.international.ucla.edu/media/images/mcdonalds.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language

Exchanging families...

One of these days, I was watching TV and I saw a program on 'record' International, which was called 'Troca de família’.

This program is a reality show in which two different families exchange mothers for a week and they have to adapt to a completely new routine.

It shows the difference in lifestyles, not only between different countries but within the country.

That episode showed the story of a family (Tavares Bastos) that the mother was called Elane, and was a real battle. The family lives in a slum, and they always live in fear of violence. Elane works as a seamstress to support her family.

The other family (Alphaville) that the mother who called Célia, is part of a typical family successful, living in a luxury closed condominium, and passes the days at home to order the employees, and treat the dogs.

I remember also in another episode, the exchange between a natural family (which are always naked) and a family with Japanese origins.

There was also an episode in which the exchange was between a rural family, with conservative principles, and an urban family, with more modern way of life.

Yeah, even within the country are very different realities and I think this program are well portrayed.

Sources:

http://rd1audienciadatv.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/rd1-audiencia64.jpg