Journal of Social Sciences

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/13918

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Culture

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Towards fundamentalism: globalization, moral order and the case of Iran
    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2015) Lecamwasam, N.O.; Gunasekera, O.D.A.
    Globalization is a multi-faceted phenomenon that causes the steady erosion of political, cultural and economic boundaries of nations by facilitating an increasingly uniform world system. Culturally, globalization expects to substitute traditional and allegedly parochial cultural practices with so called progressive values which just happen to coincide with western ones. However, cultural globalization is not a simple matter of replacing one culture with another. The glaring incompatibilities between tradition and modernity have resulted in the stiff rejection of a global order by fiercely traditional societies for whom compromising their identity is not an option, thus making global culture a far-fetched dream. Iran stands as a classic example of such resistance. Despite its initial endorsement of modern American values during the Pahlavi regime, the country prioritized the preservation of conservative values after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. With the aim of discovering the connection between globalization and religious fundamentalism, the paper explores cultural and religious underpinnings of Iran’s transformation that collectively manifested themselves as an anti-globalization movement that regarded globalization as corrupt and extravagant, qualities with which the existing monarchy was identified. The turn to Islam was thus necessitated to preserve pristine Iranian values which were viewed as the essential anti-thesis of globalization. Using secondary sources including books and web articles, the paper takes a historical approach to Iran’s case and concentrates on the growing antipathy of traditional societies towards globalization which makes them cling to their familiar value systems ever more staunchly. In conclusion it argues that Iran’s value system cannot be considered backward simply because it is incompatible with that of the West. It does not arrest development in an absolute sense but simply offends the prospect of a global model of development which, after all, is only the ultimate measure of development in the eyes of the West.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Changing patterns of food consumption with special reference to Egg, Fish and Meat in India
    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2013) Lloyd, Chrispin C.; Ananthan, P.S.; Jackson, Paul M.; Sandee, P.
    An analysis of food consumption patterns and how they are likely to shift as a result of several factors is important to address the food security-related policy issues of any country. Real GDP growth which is outstripping population growth is making the average Indian per capita income to rise but this is accompanied by a fall in the per capita consumption of staple food. This decline indicates improvement in the welfare, as laid down by Engel‟s hypothesis. The objectives of the study are to (1) analyse the pattern of food consumption (egg, fish, meat) among rural and urban sectors in 15 major states of India to reveal the trend and changes taking place in recent years. (2) To find out the impact of increasing average Indian Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE) over the cultural preferences of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items. The study was based on secondary data from National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)‟s household consumer expenditure surveys (CES). The four quinquennial surveys (50th, 55th, 61st and 66th rounds corresponding to 1993 to 2010) were made use of for mapping the consumer expenditure on meat, egg and fish products in different states of India while the earlier 27th round survey data was used as a benchmark to map changes over the years. Based on Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE), 15 major states were classified into 3 groups namely High, Medium and Low MPCE States, and then comparison of their expenditure for egg, fish, meat for the past 20 years were made. Analysis was done using Microsoft Office Excel ver. 2007. The study clearly indicated two important points related to Indian food consumption pattern over the decades. One, the proportion of expenditure for food items in total monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) is declining gradually, whereas the share of expenditure for non-food items is vice-versa in both, rural as well as urban sector of all Indian states. Between 1972-73 and 2004-05, the share of food in total consumer expenditure has fallen from 73% to 55% in rural areas and from 64% to 42% in urban areas (NSSO, 2010). Two, decline in the expenditure towards food consumption is falling because of shift in consumption away from cereals to high calorie commodities such as meat, milk, fish etc, in other words from low value to high value commodities. Even though, there are several reasons claimed to be behind such a scenario, the impact of Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization (LPG) reforms caused the major change, which led Indians to spend more lifestyle spends rather than regular spends. Changing income/MPCE levels as well as changes in taste/choices seems to impact the basket of food consumption (egg, fish, and meat). However, the deep rooted cultural preferences especially for non-vegetarian food still hold sway in rural areas in North Indian States of Haryana and Rajasthan though urban consumption trends are fast changing here as well. Further field-level studies are required to validate some of these inferences.