Population and Culture...

Marilyn Hempel

In the 1990s, the United Nations hosted a string of world conferences on the important issues facing human civilization. From the Earth Summit to the Social Summit to the Conference on Population and Development to the Conference on Women to the Sustainable Development Summit, world leaders and ordinary citizens met to hammer out Programs (or Platforms) of Action to better the lives of people everywhere. All of the Programs of Action included the caveat that the program would be put into practice in each country according to its culture.

In 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Gro Harlem Brundtland, who was then the Prime Minister of Norway, gave an extraordinary keynote address. It was little noted by the press, but it voiced a turning point. For the first time, a world leader, and a world conference, called for a Platform of Action to abolish certain cultural norms.

Brundtland started her speech with: "There isn't a single country in the world—not one—where men and women enjoy completely equal opportunities. That is reason enough why we must change attitudes, values and policies." She went on to say, "A woman should have the same opportunity as a man to chose education, and to be able to pursue happiness by cultivating practical or intellectual talents. But a woman's range of choice is too often constrained or oppressed by men, by political and cultural traditions, and even by law. . . . There are limits to the practices that countries can expect the international community to accept, praise or condone—particularly when such practices have deep cultural roots."

"Mutilation of girls (FGM) is just that, and does not become sacrosanct or elevated beyond the realm of politics, just because that practice can be said to be part of a 'cultural pattern'. Violence against women, also domestic violence, can be said to be part of a 'cultural pattern' in Western and Eastern societies. But the state becomes an accomplice if violence against women is seen as a separate cultural category of behavior, removed from the realm of justice."

In the 21st century, we are still battling many deeply-held cultural beliefs that keep people from leading happy, productive and sustainable lives. In this Population Press, through the lens of today's economic and social upheaval, we examine some of those beliefs. In some countries it is the belief that girls can properly be sold. Read the extraordinary story of Nujood Ali on page 17. But attitudes about women and girls are not the only cultural habits that must change. Closer to home, it is the belief that growth in consumption can last forever. Read the analysis on page 4.

. . . In a Time of Turmoil

In a previous time of turmoil, President Franklin Roosevelt exhorted Americans to engage in "relentless, restless experimentation." Here at the Population Press, we promise to do that, to find new engaging ways to live more justly and sustainably on this beautiful blue planet.