A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

Diversity, a ‘lite’ way of thinking about cultures
Homi Bhabha (2002) explains that cultural diversity seeks to regard culture
as an object of empirical knowledge. It would describe cultural differences
in terms of ethics, aesthetics and comparative ethnology. But
to acknowledge cultural expressions, it is not enough to establish a relationship
between different cultures: we need also to acknowledge the
political and symbolic assumptions and the whole process of cultural
replication that lies behind each element. When the objects of material
or symbolic culture that are most visible are considered out of their context,
it usually leads, not to dialogue, but to studies of the market. Nevertheless,
it is this idea of cultural uniqueness that has in fact served to
construct the notion of interculturalism in Latin America. If cultural expressions
are essentialized and exoticized, they are seen as a scarce
commodity, to which very few have access. It is an excellent point of
departure for any advertising campaign.
However, while this has been happening because of the logic of development
projects, as far as the State is concerned there is no great difference,
even when States declare themselves to be plurinational, as is
the case with Ecuador. Tourism is seen as a ‘development alternative’
in whose name images have been disseminated both inside and outside
the country, that portray Latin American countries as one enormous living
museum, a kind of journey into the past but with all the conveniences
of the present. The selling image of ‘real Indians’ (see Bernal,
2010) reflects an oppressive colonial reality: poverty, alcoholism and violence.
However, all the modern-day professionals who see themselves
as indigenous do not conform to this stereotype. Interpreting cultural
difference on the basis of ethics or aesthetics promotes racism and prevents
the perception of contemporary social processes as a whole.
State political messages are transmitted on national TV channels with
the avowed aim of recognizing and supposedly implementing actions to
generate interculturalism. Naturally the languages used is Spanish, with
a small box on the screen where sign language is used for the people
who have hearing difficulties (though it is impossible to distinguish it
248