Cultural Preservation Amid Technological Change

Sangaralingam Ramesh ()
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Sangaralingam Ramesh: University College London and University of Oxford

Chapter 4 in The Political Economy of the Indigenous Peoples of the World, Volume II, 2026, pp 155-204 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter examines the preservation and renewal of Indigenous cultures in an era of rapid technological change, arguing that digital technologies are neither inherently liberating nor inherently destructive. Their significance depends on who controls them, how they are governed, and whether their use strengthens community authority, language continuity, and land-based knowledge. Through examples including immersion education, digital archiving, online storytelling, Indigenous media production, and participatory mapping, the chapter shows how communities are adapting new tools to sustain living traditions rather than merely documenting endangered pasts. It emphasizes that cultural preservation cannot be separated from territorial rights, environmental stewardship, and political self-determination, since languages, ceremonial practices, and ecological knowledge are embedded in place, kinship, and social relations. Case studies from Hawai'i, First Nations communities, Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, and Latin America demonstrate how technological innovation can support cultural resurgence, legal mobilization, and economic activity when directed by Indigenous institutions. At the same time, the chapter considers the risks of commodification, data extraction, and decontextualization when digital systems absorb Indigenous knowledge into external archives and markets. It argues that Indigenous cultural resilience lies not in static preservation, but in controlled adaptation, intergenerational transmission, and the creative rearticulation of tradition within contemporary technological worlds.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-24129-0_4

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-24129-0_4

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