Revitalizing the Ethnosphere

Global Society, Ethnodiversity, and the Stakes of Cultural Genocide

Bibliographic Data

ID12966977
AuthorsChristopher Powell (0000-0002-2540-6766, Toronto Metropolitan University, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume10
Issue1
Pages44-59
Publication date2016-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGenocide Studies and Prevention (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1911-0359 • E-ISSN: 1911-9933
PublisherInternational Association of Genocide Scholars (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.5038/1911-9933.10.1.1364
OpenAlexW2416367799
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited55

This paper uses the concepts of ethnosphere and ethnodiversity to frame the stakes of cultural genocide in the context of the emerging global society. We are in an era of rapid global ethnodiversity loss. Global ethnodiversity is important because different cultures produce different solutions to the subjective and objective problems of human society, and because cultures have an intrinsic value. Rapid ethnodiversity loss is a byproduct of the expansion of the modern world-system, and Lemkin’s invention of the concept of genocide can be understood as a dialectical reaction to this tendency. The current phase of globalization creates pressures towards global monoculture, but movements towards polyculture can be observed. Genocide scholars have an interest in three underdeveloped lines of inquiry: measuring ethnodiversity loss; constructing valid measures of the vitality and life or death of cultures; and developing techniques for resolving social differences without the need for cultural consensus

Context (archaeology · Dialectic · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Genocide · Global citizenship · Globalization · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Vitality · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Cambodian History and Society · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · History · Law

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Open DOIOpen Access