What diversity?
21 MAY – WORLD DAY OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY FOR DIALOGUE AND DEVELOPMENT
On the occasion of the "World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development", UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, recalls the fundamental role of cultural diversity, which enriches the lives of people and allows you to grow in an innovative, more productive and economically convenient environment. Indeed, UNESCO firmly believes that diversity makes people stronger and that respect for cultural diversity is essential for strengthening intercultural dialogue, sustainable development and peace.
In the current context of war but also of generalized violence motivated by very strong individualist impulses, being able to talk about diversity would seem anachronistic. Historically, after all, humanity has experienced great ethnic and/or religious diversities as factors of destabilization of power which have determined, only by concentrating in the Russian and Balkan area, processes of territorial disintegration: think, for example, of the years of the Bolshevik Revolution and of the civil war (1905/1907), when the Romanov Empire ended (1917/1919), but then also the dissolution of Yugoslavia starting from 1991, and in the same years of the USSR, up to more recently Chechnya ( 1994) and now in Ukraine.
And yet, if political history seems to show the predominance of force for an alleged affirmation of national identity, on the other hand sociology (with Talcott Parsons, but not only) has affirmed that the development of the social system occurs with social differentiation , the only one to produce increases in complexity: the more complex and diverse a company is, the more resources and opportunities for growth and development it has within it.
The consequence is therefore not so much acceptance or respect for the "different" but the enhancement of comparison, the exchange of ideas and personal growth: through diversity we arrive at collective knowledge.
The World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is an occasion to celebrate cultural diversity and all the intangible heritage, language, traditions, customs, practices, etc., which strengthen the links between people and their history. Only in this way will it be possible what the United Nations Agenda 2030 for sustainable development indicates as a means of change and development, i.e. the culture and creative potential of the different cultures present in humanity.
In this sense, the goal is not simple "cultural acceptance", but the creation of a shared culture that arises from mutual confrontation, dialogue and encounter, from co-existence.
How to study practical interventions to support cultural diversity?
In the spirit of a culture of encounter and exchange, CNR-Irpps is carrying out an evaluation research project which has a strong practical value. It is an evaluation activity of the Roma, Sinti and Caminanti Strategy elaborated by the Italian Government for the years 2012-2020. This project aims to allow the CNR, together with UNAR - National Office for Racial Anti-Discrimination, to define a monitoring and evaluation model for the new Strategy envisaged for the years 2021-2030.
It is an important commitment, shared with the structure of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, UNAR in fact, appointed by the Italian State to guarantee the right to equal treatment of all people, regardless of racial or ethnic origin, their age, their religious beliefs, their sexual orientation, their gender identity or the fact that they are people with disabilities, in other words their "diversity". It should be recalled that UNAR was established in 2003 (Legislative Decree No. 215/2003) following a Community directive (No. 2000/43/EC), which requires each Member State to activate a specifically dedicated body to contrast forms of discrimination; in particular, UNAR is responsible for monitoring causes and phenomena connected to all types of discrimination, studying possible solutions, promoting a culture of respect for human rights and equal opportunities and providing concrete assistance to victims.
The CNR-Irpps supports the Government in creating a "virtuous circle" of information collection and processing, in which the integration of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti communities is a priority reference element for inclusion processes that do not only concern minority populations, but that they can identify an integrated and sustainable social approach in the medium-long term, with particular regard to four axes of intervention (which are: education, work, health and home).
Text edited by Marco Accorinti
To learn more:
AR Calabro, Gypsies, History of an announced emergency, Liguori edition, Naples, 2008
T. De Mauro, The words and the deeds, Edizioni Riuniti, Rome, 1977
Z. Lapov, Vacare Romané? Comparing diversity: paths of Roma identities, Franco Angeli, Milan, 2004
L. Piasere, A world of worlds. Anthropology of Roma cultures, Anchor, Naples, 1999
L. Piasere, The Roma of Europe. A modern story, Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2004
E. Rodari, Rom, a people, right to exist and security drift, Red dot editions, Milan, 2008
C. Vallini (edited by), Minorities and minority languages, International Conference, Oriental University Institute, Naples, 1996
K. Wiernicki, Nomads by force: history of the gypsies, Rusconi, Milan, 1997.
