Culture and Labeling: Two Questions
1. In March of 2002, Prime Minister Thanksin Shinawata proclaimed that individualism is damaging to capitalism and that the secrete heart of capitalism is nationalism, which is also damaged by individualism. This reflect what can be called "cultural essentialism," described by Uma Narayan as a set of generalizations about beliefs, values, roles and ideology that is said to be specific to a particular culture. The Prime Minister's remark can be regarded as a reference to the process of selective labeling in which members of a culture (often the elites within the culture or other powerful figures) attempt to define the values and ideology of the culture in specific and often narrow terms.
Contemporary nationalism, particularly in developing or underdeveloped countries, is often focused on cultural preservation in the face of modernization and globalization. Narayan stated that "culture-specific essentialist generalizations differ from universalisitic essentialist generalizations only in degree or scope, and not in kind." In other words, by calling for a nationalism that is not oriented toward the individual, but rather toward the needs of the collective (society as a whole), the Prime Minister is making an essentialist statement about what matters in his society. He is labeling "capitalism" as possible and successful only when all members of the society regard the group as more important than the individual. He is suggesting that there must be uniformity of belief and value in order for his country to advance economically and otherwise.
Selective labeling of this sort insists that only one view 0 an "essential" view รป is permitted and that deviation from this view will damage the culture or society and its members. Narayan sees such essentialist definitions of culture as potentially damaging to the interests of many members of the national community, including ethnic minorities...