Publications
Efficacy and Shortcomings of Regulatory Framework for Safeguarding Traditional Craft Practices: Case Studies from West Bengal, India
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Manage No DI00001436 Country India Author Sneha Bhattacharyya (Project Manager, Contact Base, Kolkata, India) Published Year 2023 Language English Copyright 
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| Description | Bourgeois notions of aesthetics have suc- cessfully identified the idea of culture as a “superior reality” (Prakash, 2019). The label of superiority inherently separates culture from acts of labor. As a result, popular perceptions mainly interpret art and culture and related activities as leisurely pursuits. It is precisely because of this that the role of culture has often been popularly undermined in terms of achieving holistic development. However, since around 2010, insightful evidence-based works have highlighted the importance culture plays in bringing grassroots empowerment (UNESCO, 2010). In spite of this progress, culture has not been recognized as an independent Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). We can trace the reasons for such non-recognition to the narrow definitions that different disciplines ascribe to culture. For a variety of reasons, economists have avoided getting too closely involved with the concept of culture and its relationship with economic development. There is a general acceptance that culture must have a role in guiding a population along a particular path, but, as Landes (1998) points out, a discomfort with what can be construed as implied criticism of a particular culture has discouraged broader public discourse. Economists have often narrowly defined culture as “customary beliefs and values that ethnic, religious, and social groups transmit fairly unchanged from generation to generation” (Guiso et al., 2006). The problem with this definition rests in its inherent conceptualization of culture as a static attribute, not reflective of the changes that happen over time. If we view culture from such an angle, we will fail to capture its dynamicity. Culture, in my opinion, has the power to transform birth (somewhat without purpose) to life (necessarily meaningful and purpose-driven). Murdock (1965) rightly conceptualizes culture as comprising habits, skills, and expertise shared by members of society. It is the process of learning, not of heredity. This definition implies that culture is an ascriptive trait and not an achieved one, which is not essentially present but needs to be nurtured in order to safeguard cultural heritage. | ||
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