What does the digital world mean for diversity?
“The belief systems, values, and perspectives of source communities are threatened in the digital world, where terms such as openness or participation are evangelised without scrutiny.”
Fascinating how the cultural heritage of the global community, when looked at from a perspective of digital innovation, often lacks diversity. That’s the point being made in this article from The Museum of the Future.
Words such as “cloud”, “open”, “internet freedom” even “fake news” are actually a reflection of a world view. One that excludes people, “at the fringes of the digital world”, as Jasper Visser points out, referencing a new book by Ramesh Srinivasan, Director of the Digital Cultures Lab at UCLA.
At first, the viral meme First World Problems comes to mind. However in actuality it’s an unusual and perhaps difficult concept to grasp. I sense that there is a lot of truth in the idea that technology reveals “an underlying ontological belief for how the world should be ordered.”
The Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris, is careful to avoid imposing any kind of hegemonic order open the world. The museum ‘pursues an active policy of cooperation with the countries from which its collections originate’ and aims to help bridge the gap between cultures. Even the language and terminology they use within their digital interpretation (audio guides) is chosen with this mission in mind, and the utmost respect for the differing perspectives they represent.
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