Cultural Capital and Sustainable Livelihoods in Sri Lanka's Rural Villages: Towards Culturally Aware Development

Abstract

Increasing attention is being directed towards the role of culture in the development and well-being of rural communities. Systems of knowledge, beliefs, customs, norms and a wide range of culturally related activities, such as arts, crafts and music, can play a significant role in the everyday lives of people and contribute to the sustainability of human societies. The means through which culture can be effectively incorporated into development processes requires further research. This article develops the concept of ‘cultural capital’ to explore how cultural assets sustain an artisan class in three rural villages close to the city of Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The field research found that embodied cultural traditions and subsequent material outputs are vital ‘resources’ in achieving livelihood objectives and meeting family aspirations. We argue that the development industry needs to reconsider cultural assets and traditions and incorporate them into its work at conceptual and programmatic levels. Conceptually development needs to see itself as a cultural as much as economic or social process, and programmatically we see openings within sustainable livelihoods approaches for a greater explicit appreciation and awareness of locally-specific cultural traditions, strengths and perspectives.

Notes

1. The Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) emerged in the 1990s and has been applied to rural contexts as a tool in understanding and analysing poverty. Today SLA permeates throughout the development industry attracting individual researchers and multilateral institutions alike (Carney, 2002). SLA found its intellectual inspiration in the work of people like Chambers and Conway (1991) and Scoones (1998) in their IDS discussion papers. The Brundtland Commission in 1987, Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, The Copenhagen Declaration in 1995 and The Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) in Beijing have given major consideration to the concept of livelihood and ‘sustainable livelihoods’.

2. Kandyan society has categories of varying castes, which is similar to the Dravidian caste system in South India. For a descriptive analysis of the caste system in Sri Lanka, see Silva (2009), Coomaraswamy (1956), Ryan (1953) and Seneviratne (1978).

3. (i) Abarana pattala – jewellery workshop (ii) Otuni pattala – crown workshop (iii) Rankadu pattala – golden sword workshop and (iv) Simhasana pattala – Lion Throne workshop.

4. Dumbera is a name given for this area and refers to weaving and designs which are distinct to the weavers in Dumbera region. Dumbera designs feature traditional Kandyan motifs.

5. The Rajakariya (king's duty) system required the services of these groups (Silva et al., 2009) at the temple festivals (like Esala perehara), daily tévava (musical service), ceremonies and various state occasions. Thus such caste-based professions were automatically assigned and they were expected to provide their service to royalty.