Cultural Stories: Perspectives and Context

The last several months I've been looking into cultural narratives. What is our cultural narrative? And from which lens are we viewing it? Is it the American dream? Is it the Western cultural narrative? And how is this different from the cultural narrative of other cultures and civilizations such as the African, Indian, Latin American, Japanese, or Chinese?

If we take it to the very local level, we can think of the cultural story of our home town, and then go up the scale. So, for example, we can start with the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco, then the City of San Francisco, then the Bay Area, then Northern California, then Western region of the US, then the USA, then North America, then Western Hemisphere and finally Western Culture. Each of these levels has a particular character and a specific quality to its cultural story. So, it's very difficult to assign a cultural story at a global scale.

In the case of San Francisco and the Bay Area it is a hot spot for new innovations and hi-tech and one of the cultural narratives revolves around this theme. It is also a place of constant change, a melting pot of different ideas and cultures. There's also a transient quality about this region. There's also the cultural heritage of San Francisco, the impact of the Gold Rush in the 1850s, the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, the port of San Francisco, the emergence of Silicon Valley, the impact of Jack London, David Brower, John Muir, the 1960s music and counterculture, Stanford University and UC Berkeley and many other individuals institutions and movements that comprise the story of this region.

In addition to the physical and economic characteristics affecting the cultural narratives, there are the qualities associated with urban centers. In the case of the San Francisco Bay Area, the fast pace of life, the congestion, traffic, population density, valuable real estate all impact the story of this region.

A completely different cultural narrative may apply to someone living in say Cairo, Paris, Osaka, or Johannesburg. What each cultural narrative has in common is the impact of the city's physical biogeography, national and cultural heritage, population ethnicity, economic activity among many other factors.

For additional information about the world's civilizations, see: The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel Huntington. Also, Duane Elgin has done interesting work on social evolutionary stages. And to learn about cultural stories, see Great Transitions Stories and New Stories.

Two Films: Elemental and Rebels with a Cause

In the last several weeks two documentary films have come out that highlight the determination and passion inherent in the leaders from the environmental conservation and activists movements: Elemental and Rebels with a Cause.

Elemental tracks the lives of three activists passionate about making change in the world: Eriel Deranger an activist leader from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation fighting the Tar Sands development in Alberta, Canada; Rajendra Singh, who commits to rejuvenate rivers in Rajasthan, India and to cleaning up the Ganges River; and Jay Harman, an entrepreneur and inventor of high efficiency fans and pumps and founder of Pax Scientific in San Rafael, California. Elemental provides a fascinating insight into the daily challenges that each of these leaders face on a daily basis including family responsibilities, financial challenges and political fights.

Rebels with a Cause, tells the story of the activists that fought to protect the undeveloped land in Marin and Sonoma counties in California. This film takes us back in time and brings forth the enormous pressures to develop the land north of San Francisco in the 1950s and 1960s. The rebels, including: Huey Johnson, Doug Ferguson, Marty Griffin, Phyllis Faber and David Brower among others, recount their strategies and battles to protect the undeveloped land in Marin and Sonoma Counties. Learning about their struggles provides a valuable historical context to the current parks and preserves surrounding San Francisco including the Point Reyes National Seashore, Muir Woods, Bolinas Lagoon, etc.

Both of these films beautifully describe the connection between the leaders' passion and commitment, and their accomplishments. A great tribute to past and current environmental leaders dedicating their lives for a better world.