1.2 In the field of culture

A number of elements have brought change at the cultural level: secularization, the communications media, state unity, internal and external migration, tension between state and race, between local culture and world culture.

The independent centralized government operating in the previous colonial boundaries has facilitated ethnic claims and tensions. States try to impose uniform scholastic and administrative systems which do not respect ethnic differences. This not only causes tensions but even fratricidal wars as has happened in a number of countries in all continents. The world religions themselves are not successful in counteracting ethnic conflicts and have sometimes even been involved in them.

School instruction has made headway everywhere but often the change has been from schooling to unemployment. Young people with an education often find that it is unsuited to local needs and find themselves unemployed. This fact in itself facilitates another fairly widespread phenomenon: young people do not become integrated in the global culture of the group. There is a change from traditional and compact cultures to divided cultures.

Migrations, whether they be within the country or abroad, also bring change. The movement from the rural areas to the city mixes ethnic groups and local traditions. That gives rise to new relationships and to new ways of thinking and behavior. A new culture is formed and traditional cultures are changed and intermingled. Modern communications media have brought a transition from the local to the global with cultural standardization in many sectors which are a breakaway from traditional culture.