The Dark Side of Literacy - Indian education reform organization Shikshantar, who aims to encourage concepts of "Swaraj", or self-rule in local education, argues that current education and literacy models do not take into account local cultures and languages and gives too much credit to the Western alphabet. They also argue that there are many serious flaws in what they describe as UNESCO's campaign of "McEducation For All".
posted by divabat on Jun 13, 2008 - 46 comments

So, you're planning to take a trip around the world, are you? Well, in that case--you'll need to know a couple of things before you leave (in order not to offend the sensibilities of the local population). Let's see--suppose you're making your way through Azerbaijan for example, and your host happens to be a businessman who is about to embark on a journey to the city: what would you do to give him the appropriate send off? Would you:

• a) Bid him farewell and shake his hand.
• b) Dance in front of him and do a traditional jig that everyone else is doing in order to ward off evil spirits.
• c) Throw a bowl of water in his wake.

Don't know, well, that's okay. [more inside]
posted by hadjiboy on Apr 9, 2008 - 25 comments

Wife thief - the Wodaabe of Nigeria are one of the world's few remaining Nomadic peoples, retaining age-old customs and ways. Physical beauty and charm are highly prized, qualities much in evidence at the annual Gerewol ceremonies. After donning elaborate makeup and clothing, men engage in stylized dance and preening to win the favor of a desired woman - often one who is already married. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Nov 26, 2007 - 20 comments

Samuel Huntington is interviewed by NPQ
posted by semmi on Feb 4, 2007 - 7 comments

Reasonable people are capable of thinking about complex issues without resorting to simplistic oversimplifications. These two scholarly types discuss what seems obvious but lacks traction amongst most people. What can be done to make these voices heard and more importantly, accepted?
posted by mulligan on Feb 24, 2006 - 35 comments

I'm Afraid Happy To Say We're Out Of Stock: Heh. Shopping in Southern Europe is indeed very much unlike shopping anywhere else in the world... [ More inside.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Dec 9, 2002 - 104 comments

Is The Cult Of Designer Cultures And Cute Primitivism Keeping The Third World Back? In a brief but pointed book review, Raymond Tallis asks whether "the ideology of culture [has] replaced patriotism as the last refuge of a scoundrel". Can excessive cultural relativism and respect for pre-industrial cultures have the perverse effect of maintaining and indeed reinforcing the conservative, National Geographic/Discovery Channel/geopolitical statu quo?
posted by MiguelCardoso on Aug 17, 2002 - 46 comments