Creating intentional spaces for sustainable development in the Indian trans-Himalaya: reconceptualizing globalization from below

Abstract

In an era of globalization, multifaceted and complex changes have increasingly interconnected geographically dispersed places. A central question of globalization studies concerns whether top-down forces of globalization are forging a global culture or whether processes of globalization from below are able to push back against homogenization by appropriating global forces rather than simply being overwhelmed by them. In this paper, I develop the concept of intentional spaces to show how ideas move globally and how local communities appropriate these ideas, revealing the actual practices that happen in the middle of top-down and bottom-up processes of globalization. I identify three types of ‘intentional spaces’ – physical, pedagogical, and ideological – to document the middle: where top down global forces meet local responses, and how these processes unfold. These intentional spaces enable processes of globalization from below, particularly the development of a mode of critical education that is both political and anti-hegemonic. This critical education empowers local people to adapt global/Western perspectives and influences to indigenous perspectives and practices, creating its own discourses of globalization. I use the context of the trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh to consider how national and international forces intersect with the local, and how local communities re-envision their participation in a modern, global economy.

Keywords:

• globalization
• intercultural education
• India
• sustainable development

Notes

1. A dialect of Tibetan.

2. A pseudonym. All names, except SECMOL and Sonam Wangchuk, have been replaced by pseudonyms to protect anonymity.

3. Examining how SECMOL Ladakhi youth are engaging in political and social action is beyond the scope of this paper, but it is important to note that these new initiatives have begun, most recently with the New Ladakhi Movement in December 2013.