Introduction:
The role of culture in the economic development of countries is often overlooked by economists, yet it can significantly affect a country’s economic development. Culture generates assets, such as skills, products, expression, and insight that contribute to the social and economic well being of the community. I will show the benefit of culture’s impact on economic development through tourism, social capital, and corporate governance. In contrast, culture can produce negative outcomes in economic development. Cultural issues, such as gender inequality, lack of social capital, and diminishing cultural heritages, contribute to a downgrading economy.
To understand culture’s impact on a country’s economic development, it is important to understand what culture is: a system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living (Hill 98). Furthermore, it is about the way the people live, and how the quality of their lives can be improved. It shapes “the way things are done” and our understanding of why this should be so. Culture is concerned with identity, aspiration, symbolic exchange, coordination, and structures and practices that serve relational ends, such as ethnicity, rituals, heritage, norms, meanings, and beliefs. It is not a set of primitive wonders permanently embedded within national, religious, or other groups, but rather a set of contested attributes, constantly changing, both shaping and being shaped by social and economic aspects of human interaction.
Economic development is fundamentally about enhancing the factors of productive capacity, such as land, labor, capital, and technology, of a national, state, or local economy, as stated by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Economic development influences growth and restructuring of an economy to enhance economic well-being. We experience economic growth when our standard of living is rising. Rather than being a simplistic process, economic development typically is a range of influences aimed at achieving objectives like creating jobs and wealth and improving the quality of life. It incorporates coordinated initiatives targeted at expanding infrastructure and increasing the volume and/or quality of goods and services produced by a community. A common measure of economic development is a country’s gross national ...
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As you can see, there are many changes being brought about in the 1990’s to reform the way women are treated and looked upon in a sexist world society ruled by men. Although these groups and individuals have not yet reached their final goal of equality for all, they have got the message out that this is unacceptable. Nothing happens overnight, there are many steps to reform and these groups are on the right path. They are starting to get societies to see that women are human too and they should be treated as equal.
The culture of a community invariably determines the social structures and the formation of a society. Developed over time, culture is the collection of beliefs and values that a group of people maintain together. Culture is never constant, and thought to be continually renewed over years as new ideas and concepts become mainstream. It ranges from how people live, day to day topics for conversations, religion, and even entertainment. It is analogous to guidelines, or the rulebook of the said group of people. Society, on the other hand, emanates from the social structure of the community. It is the very institutions to which create a regulated and acceptable form of interaction between peoples. Indeed, culture and society are so perversely intertwined in a
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) defines gender mainstreaming as: “a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality" (ECOSOC, 1997).
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In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared all acts of discrimination on the basis of sex unlawful. 31 years later, the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the General Assembly. The CEDAW prompted an international document of the same name that advocates for the full incorporation of women in decision making capacities. It also “emphasis the civil rights, legal rights of women, reproductive roles and rights, impact of cultural factors on gender relations and barriers on advancement of women (World Bank, 2012). Moreover, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) outlined the most pervasive threats to global peace and security and set eight goals on how to eradicate them. These goals are referred to as Millennium Development Goals (MDG). 189 member states in 2000 vowed to “Promote gender equality and empower women” when they endorsed the UNDP’S MDG.
Over the past hundred years, there have been many movements for gender equality. But despite everything that was done so that women could be treated equivalent to men, there is still inequality. According to Hughes, Krahn
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
The perception the public has had on the role of men and women is outdated and has been for some time, but public attitudes change slowly even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Gender plays a big part in life, it is supposed to give a purpose in life, but why? Explaining the severity of knowing why men and women are equal is one step to rebuilding society and the future. The second step is to actually make these changes happen. Gender Equality is something that every human being should strive for, as well understanding gender roles and how these two really affect our developed and developing countries. Each gender has the power to make a change for oneself and their rights, but coming together we can make an effective change for future
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...ntries women are restricted in where they can and cannot work. Most commonly, they seem to be restricted from jobs in which physically taxing tasks are the norm. This is no doubt due to the stereotype that women are fragile and weak and must be protected (a stereotype that can hold true, but that is not always true). This also seems to be consistent across culture. However, despite the fact that these restrictions were enacted to protect women, they place heavy limitations on women’s opportunities. Furthermore, these are not the only injustices many women across the world face. However, the only way to fight these injustices is to increase women’s participation in politics, as discussed in the UN report from 2008. It is absolutely vital that women be able to actively participate in politics without letting gender discrimination and stereotypes get in the way.
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The first solution that should be suggested is for more efforts to be required by civil society groups and government agencies for greater awareness on gender issues and rekindling efforts of all stakeholders in the quest to formulating policies and programs towards reduction of gender inequality. Specifically, both education and health programs should be emphasized. These programs could greatly benefit women because it can improve access to services for both women and men by removing financial barriers, bringing services closer to local communities, and tackling HIV/AIDS. This would lead to men having a deeper understanding of how protecting their wives and women in general is important, such as always wearing a condom during sex, which would lead to women having a lower chance of contacting
...No’. Promotion of gender equality should be considered in light of Millennium Development Goal 8 which states, “Promote gender equality and empower women”