Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

that occupy the lowest rung of the indicesand indicators of the knowledge society.Manuel Castells addresses this matter,taking as his starting point the fact thatthe network age generates new patterns ofknowledge-related conflict, patterns thatare caught between the logic of identityand the unchecked and explosive logicof information (Castells, 1998, in French;Nur al-Din Afaya, background paper forthe Report, in Arabic).It is true that the conflict continues, at itsdeepest level, to be over wealth and power,but it has further complex manifestations,including the conflict over information,identities, and cultures.The confrontation of cultural identitiesin a rapidly globalising world requires usto clarify certain phenomena, for Arabs area party to this many-fronted battle withina quadripartite globalisation process thatconsists of the following trends:(1) continual expansion of informationcapital,(2) rapidly paced evolution of technologicaldiscoveries,(3) the desire of political powers to controlthe world, and(4) the insertion of the world into a singlecultural mould.The information technology revolutionsupports these trends and choices that seekto take ownership of knowledge, power,and influence. The question to considerhere is how can national culture andmother tongue be preserved; how, in fact,can we rethink the meanings of identityin the face of the spate of material fromnetworks promoting informational andeconomic uniformity whose trademarksand cultural icons have filled the cities,and the even villages, of the world? Beforewe answer, we should point out that inthe view of some to talk of identity inan era that recognises only the logic ofcompetition, profitability, and increasedproduction is to dream, or indulge innostalgia. This is an era dominated by asearch for architectural plans for marketsyet to be built and the goods to fill themand for the accumulation of further assetsBOX 1-7Cultural and Linguistic Diversity andLocal Cultural IdentitiesExcerpts form the 2003 Geneva Declaration of Principleson Building the Information SocietyCultural diversity is the commonheritage of humankind. TheInformation Society should befounded on and stimulate respect forcultural identity, cultural and linguisticdiversity, traditions, and religions,and foster dialogue among culturesand civilisations. The promotion,affirmation, and preservation ofdiverse cultural identities and languagesas reflected in relevant agreedUnited Nations documents includingUNESCO’s Universal Declaration onCultural Diversity, will further enrichthe Information Society.The creation, dissemination andpreservation of content in diverselanguages and formats must be accordedhigh priority in building an inclusiveInformation Society, paying particularattention to the diversity of supply ofin the chain of an information economythat has exceeded all the previous century’sexpectations for the material economy.Current uses of the concept of identityin the context of current conflicts showhow ambiguous the word is. It is a termused frequently in times of war, when theparties to the conflict need to give each otherwell defined features in preparation for theconfrontation. Historical events, however,indicate that there is no closed, completeidentity. A pure identity is merely a fantasy,since market logic requires acceptance ofa degree of the standardisation that shapesthe destiny of the world (Kamal ‘Abd al-Latif, 2003, in Arabic). Here, the worldfaces a paradox. At their conferencesand meetings, international organisationsadopt the vocabulary of solidarity, sharing,and respect for identity and difference.They explain that diversity should be seenas a source of wealth and employ a lot ofother similar vocabulary useful for dealingwith the problematic issues of identity andglobalisation. In contrast, the knowledgebasedeconomy and the informationcreative work and due recognition ofthe rights of authors and artists. It isessential to promote the productionof and accessibility to all content—educational, scientific, cultural orrecreational—in diverse languagesand formats. The development of localcontent suited to domestic or regionalneeds will encourage social andeconomic development and willstimulate participation of allstakeholders, including people livingin rural, remote and marginal areas.The preservation of culturalheritage is a crucial component ofidentity and self–understanding ofindividuals that links a communityto its past. The Information Societyshould harness and preserve culturalheritage for the future by all appropriatemethods, including digitisation.The knowledgebasedeconomyand the informationrevolution fiercelyand destructivelypermeate alllocal culturesand economiesHistorical eventsindicate thatthere is no closed,complete identity.A pure identity ismerely a fantasyTHE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: CONCEPTS AND PROBLEMATICS OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY45