The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

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The cultural context of biodiversity conservation
educational and religious programmes and information on international sporting
events. 94 Although admittedly not taken up as an explicit theme in this work, the following
photograph (Fig. 5.25) illustrates some of the seen examples of global phenomena
that have an obvious impact on local life. Next to the symbols of Catholicism,
capitalism and national unity, images of the global soccer phenomenon appear in the
interior of an informant's home in San Benito.
Fig. 5.25 An assembly of global imagery in a local household
Here, as in many other contexts, the dichotomy between traditional and modern loses its
meaning as both dimensions are constantly interacting in ongoing processes of social
and ethnic construction. Flores Arenales has assessed the particular ways by which local
communities develop a process of ethnic reconstruction, combining external and
internal cultural symbols in the larger frame of the recovery of the social memory. He
is one of the few scholars who address the experiential side of war: »An organised recollection
of the past provides not only personal or collective sense of temporality, but
also makes possible the transmission of knowledge to the next generation« (1999: 199).
lustrates the dynamic transformations the farmers are experiencing under the worldwide economic
and political forces.
94 It occurred that informants, foremost young men, asked me about my favourite soccer team and
would be disappointed to hear that the German ethnographer did not even have the slightest idea as
to the members of the national team of her own country. This led to my personal finding that any
anthropologist should acquire at least some basic knowledge on soccer while preparing fieldwork.