1. Cultural competence in a globalised society
During the second week of the Better Lives Unit, I had the chance to attend John Lau’s lecture on Cultural Sustainability: it inspired me to challenge the relationship between culture and globalisation, and to rethink how we approach cultures different from our own. According to Dr. Lau, when discussing the relationship between globalisation and cultural identities, concepts like cultural sustainability and cultural competence are fundamental, as culture “acts as the filter through which people process experiences”. In Dr. Lau’s words, globalisation is “an international influence that changed the fabric of culture”. But what does that mean, exactly?
In the past few years, globalisation has become a familiar buzzword and, over time, developed into a concept so intrinsic to our daily lives that we have stopped questioning it altogether. Yes, we live in a globalised society, blah blah, we already know. Nothing new under the sun. Cultural Sustainability made me realise that, this way, we fail to see the influence globalisation has on our perception of other cultures. As fashion students and future fashion practitioners, we must be aware of this; being able to navigate cultural differences respectfully is a fundamental skill in every fashion practice.
The cultural norms we experience today are versions of European culture that developed as a result of close contact with different ethnic groups, and therefore through globalisation. Diversity and multiethnicity are integral parts of the 20th century’s zeitgeist. The concept of of zeitgeist, the defining spirit of the time, was often mentioned during the lecture: Dr. Lau described it as “the set of ideals and beliefs that motivate the actions of a society at a specific period of time”. The zeitgeist finds full expression through fashion: the word “fashion” indicates something that is popular and in style, and “what’s ‘in fashion’ at any one moment speaks to wider trends in society, politics, and the arts”.
Fashion is often influenced by current events. For example, Dr. Lau mentioned how Yves Saint Laurent’s collections of the 1960s and 1970s were inspired by student riots and female emancipation movements that were common during during those same years. Right now, “citing” other cultures is big among fashion designers. The problem is that, says Dr. Lau, often designers fail to do the proper research and reference this or that culture just because “it looks cool”. This happens because said designers lack cultural competence, the ability to “think, feel and act in ways that acknowledge, respect and build upon ethnic, socio-cultural and linguistic diversity”. In the era of globalisation, fashion practitioners come in contact with cultures other than their own on a daily basis: cultural competence is necessary to achieve a mindful representation of culture and to avoid incidents of racism and cultural appropriation, which are -sadly- a common occurrence. Culture is the filter through which we process experiences: it’s therefore important for each of us to challenge ourselves and the “intended meanings” of what we see through cultural sustainability.
References:
Lau, J. 2020, Cultural Sustainability, lecture notes, Better Lives Unit FU001708, London College of Fashion, delivered 18 February 2020.
Make It Our Business (2017), What does it mean to be culturally competent?. Available at: http://makeitourbusiness.ca/blog/what-does-it-mean-be-culturally-competent
(Accessed: 23 February 2020)