Loss of cultural diversity

Visualization of narrower problems
Name(s): 
Cultural holocaust
Declining cultural diversity
Endangered human cultural diversity
Nature 

Cultural diversity is a reflection of people's connection to their local environment, to the living world. Centuries of conquest, colonialism and "development" have already eroded much of the world's cultural diversity, but economic globalization is rapidly accelerating the process.

Claim 

Cultural diversity is more than appearance, more than folklore, song and dance. It is the embodiment of values, institutions and patterns of behaviour. It is a composite whole representing a people's historical experience, aspirations and world-view. Deprive a people of their language, culture and spiritual values and they lose all sense of direction and purpose.

Broader 
Insufficient diversification
Destruction of human heritage
Socio-cultural environment degradation
Narrower 
Lost knowledge
Cultural suicide
Endangered cultures
Homogenization of cultures
Lack of variety of social life forms
Related 
Erosion of biological diversity
Aggravated by 
Conformism
Cultural alienation
Cultural imperialism
Rejection of other cultures
Lack of appreciation of cultural differences
Vulnerability of socio-economic systems to globalization
Neglect of cultural diversity by social service agencies
Value(s) 
Diversity
Loss
Reference(s) 
United Nations Environment Programme: Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity: a complementary contribution to the Global Biodiversity Assessment
Type 
(D) Detailed problems