Cultural Integrity in Non-Traditional Societies

Discussions concerning the impacts of current neo-liberal economic policies on `endangered people' have focused on `traditional' cultures and the `extinction of experience' from loss of cultural knowledge. There is little consideration of non-traditional societies and their efforts to maintain collective socioeconomic rights outside of the western, individualist, neo-liberal development paradigm. Cuba presents one example of a society successful on many counts in providing human services, especially in the areas of public health and education, that are unavailable for millions throughout Latin America. Cubans provide an alternative vision for them and many impoverished people in the Third World, who now face threats from pressures for global neo-liberalism. This article explores the implications of the `extinction of experience' for collective cultural and economic rights under threat from modern corporate consolidation of global economic power, consumerism, and the presumed `failure of socialism'.