Culture is the knowledge and characteristics of a given set of people and it encompasses of the people’s music, social habits, religion, arts, cuisine, and language. Culture is further defined by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition as the mutual patterns of understanding and cognitive constructs as well as interactions and behaviors that are attained through socialization (D’andrade, Shweder and Le Vine 2004). Therefore, culture can be observed as the growth of a given set of individuals that are natured uniquely by their social patterns. Culture incorporates clothing, food, religion, marriage, beliefs, ethics, art, language and many other aspects. Cultural intelligence is the aspect of a person is capable of functioning effectively in matters of cultural diversity. Cultural intelligence is significant worldwide due to the increasing diversity of people in each of the continents (Earley and Ang 2003). Cross-cultural management, on the other hand, is the ability to understand and manage the ethnic differences in multi-cultural and international business environments. In this assignment, the culture of Australia and South Africa is compared and contrasted.
Australia and South Africa are multicultural nations, both nations have black and white races, an aspect that has brought about cultural diversity in both countries. The South African labels are not just based on the simple matter of black-and-white as the nation initially had various cultural groups that are said to have amalgamated to form the South African hybrid (Steward 2006). Australia is also a multiracial and multicultural nation with policies that embrace the shared cultural traditions and values (Inglehart 2018). The culture of Australia is wide and greatly diverse, the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people have inhabited the country for many years paving a way to multiculturalism.
English is spoken in both Australia and South Africa. In Australia, most of the people in the country speak English as the first language, however, there is no single national language in Australia due to the increased diversity in the country. Apart from English other languages spoken in the country are; Greek, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Italian (Riley 2007). There is also the indigenous language spoken by the Aboriginal people in Australia and it is said to be the main language for about 50,000 Aboriginals. South Africa has about 11 official languages which are; English (9.6%), Xhosa (16%), Afrikaans (13.5%), Ndebele (2.1%), Tswana (8%), Sepedi (9.1%), Venda (2.4%), Tsonga (4.5%), Southern Sotho (7.6%), SiSwati (2.5%) and Zulu 22.7%) (Sorokin 2017). The country has various language sets due to the increased diversity other languages spoken are Chinese, French, Greek and Italian (Sorokin 2017).
Slavery was experienced in both Australia and South Africa. In Australia, there was the black birding of the people from the Aboriginal group, however, in most cases, the colonists in Australia used convicts to work on their farms. The people were made to work in cattle, pearling and sugar cane industries (Keesing Felix 2013). The workers were severely abused by their masters and the wages paid were very minimal and some were not paid at all. In South Africa, with colonialism, forced labor and slavery set in from the year 1652, the slavery in the country was brought by the Dutch with most of the South Africans being forced to work in plantation fields. Most of the South Africans are thought to be the descendants of the slaves who were brought to the colony of Cape town in from 1653 to 1822 (Steward 2006).
Australia and South Africa are generally predominated by Christianity. Approximately 64% of all the people in Australia identify themselves as Christians, however, the Australian people are allowed to lawfully practice any religion of their preference (Steward 2006). The cultural diversity in Australia has been demonstrated through religion as all except three of the twenty-two major religions worldwide are practiced in the country. South Africa, just like Australia, has a higher percentage of Christians in the nation with other people being allowed to practice any religion of their preference. Most of the religions out of the major 22 religions in the world have been practiced in South Africa (Nida 2005).
The South African and Australian culture allows marriage from any race. The interracial marriages are on a rise in South Africa, especially among the young individuals, this is because of the increased traveling abroad as well as the increase in the tourism activities in the country. Australia, just like South Africa, has experienced an increase in the interracial marriages as well as relations both in the older generations and among the youths (Sorokin 2017). The increase in the interracial marriages in the country is attributed to the increased traveling abroad as well as increased visitors coming to the country for educational, recreational purposes and for many other purposes.
Same-sex marriages are legal in both Australia and South Africa. Australian multi-cultural policy has allowed the aspect of same-sex relationships and marriages among individuals which have become common especially among the youths staying in the cities. People in the country are allowed to express their affection freely to anyone they fall in love with. South Africa, just like Australia, has made same-sex marriage legal. In most cities of South Africa, there increased the percentage of same-sex partnership, particularly among the youths (Leeds-Hurwitz 2002). However, some areas of the cities, as well as the South African rural areas, have not yet acknowledged the aspect of same-sex marriage and therefore there are fewer cases of same-sex marriages in the areas.
Monogamy is a custom in both Australia and South Africa, all the cultural groups in Australia, as well as South Africa, have embraced the monogamous form of marriage. However, both countries tend to experience increased rates of divorces among the married individuals, the divorce cases are thought to have raised above 50%. Cohabitation minus marriage is thought to be on a rise in both nations, particularly among the younger generation. Despite the delicateness of the marriage bonds, marital ceremonies are amongst the most important and visible occasions for socializing in both nations (Johnston 2013).
Australia and South Africa both have an artistic background that started way back from the prehistoric times. The Australian art includes the Colonial, Aboriginal, Atelier, printmakers, Landscape, early 20th century painters, contemporary art, sculptors, and photographers. The Australian Art date way back from the 20th and even 19th century, for instance, the Aboriginal art that has stayed for about 30 000 years. Australia has an impressive history with artists who are experienced in both indigenous Australian and Western backgrounds (Locke and Bailey 2013). There are various galleries and museums in Australia that are supported by the local, national or state government as well as other private and university-owned museums that store the artistic history of Australia, for instance, the National Gallery of Australia. South Africa, just as Australia, has an extensive range of arty artifacts that were produced in the pre-colonial cultures of the African backgrounds. The artistic artifacts were used for hunting purposes such as the shields and swords as well as for beauty purposes such as in personal adornment, basketry, beadwork, and clothing. Presently, South Africa’s art has been improved to form the prevalent craft work and painting, for instance, the famous geometric design painting house of the people of the Ndebele community is an example of the modernized South African art. Just like the Australian government, the South African government and Universities are greatly supporting the traditional arts (Pedersen 2007).
The cultural contrasts between Australia and South Africa
In South Africa, there was the increased practice of the African indigenous religion, the religion that was rarely practiced in Australia. South Africa’s practitioners of the indigenous African religion included the diviners and herbalists who took care of the maladies and spiritual requirements of the communities and people (Boas 2002). In some situations, the clairvoyant powers of the practitioners were hired by the chiefs for a prophesy and advice. There were cases of enmity between the traditional diviners and the missionaries in South Africa due to the difference in their point of beliefs (Possamai 2005). In contrast, the Australian religion hardly comprised of the traditional indigenous religion, and therefore there were very few cases of conflicts among the Christians and the traditional diviners.
There have been very limited cases of fights between the blacks and the whites in Australia as compared to South Africa which has experienced more cases of fights between the two groups. The blacks and whites in South Africa use the historical racial conflict in defining their identities. The white South Africans refer to the Blood River Battle that occurred in 1838 as a very symbolic event, the white went to the extent of making a pact with God to help them win the battle so that they could establish a church and honor that day as a Sabbath (Griswold 2012). The win of the whites against the Zulu made them celebrate the day of victory for the next one-fifty years through songs, prayers, paintings and holidays. The blacks on the other hand never had a great victory over the whites, however, the few victories the blacks had against the whites helped them establish their identity. For instance, the Shaka Zulu’s heroism which he obtained by uniting the Zulu tribes and helping the Zulu to conquer and control other tribes (Moran, Harris and Moran 2007).
To the contrary, Australia has documented very few evidence of the whites and blacks fighting. In addition to this claim, there is the absence of the cultural inheritance of either the blacks or whites in Australia celebrating a battle like South Africa’s Blood River battle (Sorokin 2017). Most of the paintings in Australia portraying the whites and the Aborigines display them behaving in a friendly way towards each other. The Australian surrounding might be the reason for the cultural variations in the racial associations and since the Aborigines were the hunter-gatherers in Australia, they never had a large population like the Zulu’s for the purpose of organizing large armies. In addition to this, due to the extremely poor farming environment of Australia, the colonials in Australia hardly succeeded in establishing large farming groups to fight the Aborigines (Shiraev and Levy 2016). Cases of conflict between the Aborigines and the colonists were very few and rare as the colonists were farmers and the Aborigines were hunter-gatherers and therefore making it difficult for the two groups to cross paths.
The percentage of the whites in Australia is higher than that of the whites in South Africa, while the black’s percentage in South Africa is higher than that of the blacks in Australia. In the year 2007, it was approximated that in Australia, the whites were about 92% of the whole population while the Aborigines comprised about 2.3%. The South African black population encompassed about 80% of the entire nation’s population while the whites comprised around 9.1% (Shweder 2011). The difference in the racial compositions established from the white government’s actions in both countries. The white government in South Africa sought to eliminate the blacks, consequently, the black population was denied equal educational rights there were even attempts to make the blacks assimilate the whites. For this reason, the whites grew into the first world and adopted the low-birthrate values while the blacks grew in the third world adopting the high-birth rate values. The third world of the blacks was able to get access to the medical treatments and therefore, there were reduced mortality rates among the blacks.
The white government in Australia put into practice the policy of integration towards the Aborigines. When the population of the Aborigines was close to the cities, the Aborigines were inspired to get into the society and stay like the whites. In the 1850s the white missionaries took a step further and went into the Aboriginal communities took their children and admitted the children in schools (Smedley and Smedley 2005). The assimilation policies in Australia resulted in about 70% of the Aborigines moving and living in cities with a lifestyle that is similar to that of the other white Australians and therefore there are no shanty black towns on the edges of the Australian major cities. The areas that are located far away from the towns the communities of the Aborigines have been left alone, and the continued cases of alcoholism, traditional conflicts, and European diseases have kept these Aboriginal population low (Helman 2007).
South Africa and Australia are both multicultural countries, however, the concept of multiculturalism varies in each of the countries. In South Africa, the term multiculturalism means an assortment of various cultures living in a multi-colored country. Reflecting the diversity of the nation, South Africa has eleven official languages, the Zulu taking the lead, then the Xhosa and Afrikaans (Riley 2007). English is the 6th most spoken language in the country. In contrast, multiculturalism in Australia means many people with varying colored faces staying together. Therefore, the official language in Australia is English, it is also the indigenous language for about 92% Australian (Holden 2002). The omission of the permit system, apartheid-style, for the Aboriginal communities as removed all barriers that separated various ethnic groups in Australia.
The Australian slavery involved the use of convicts while that of South Africa involved Malaysian slaves. The whites in South Africa imported slaves from Malaysia during the 2nd half of the seventeenth century to work within Cape Town. In the year 1806, the Town’s population had about 26,000 whites, 30,000 slaves, and 20,000 biracial populations. On the other hand, Australian slaves were convicts who were allocated by the landowners to work on the fields as required and the convicts could be released only when the convict conforms and behaves. The Aborigines were rarely used for slavery as they had the tendency of walking away from work into the bush (Shweder 2011). When transportation of the convicts ended, the Islanders of the Pacific were imported to work on the fields in situations that could be termed as slavery. Since slavery in Australia was only grounded on race for a limited period of time, Australia never established the hierarchical concepts of race as was the case in South Africa. Additionally, the stereotypes of South Africa never pared various racial group sets with specific socio-economic standards or jobs.
There are no black human right advocates in Australia as compared to South Africa that has numerous black activists for the human rights. South Africa has shaped many activists for the human rights that are renowned by the community internationally. The first activist to gain international attention was Ghandi, who established his name by forming a non-violent resistance among the South African sugar cane employees of the Indian descent. Nelson Mandela was another black activist together with Bishop Desmond Tutu who in 1984 won the Nobel Prize (Alasuutari 2005).
Australia, on the other hand, has never natured a black human rights advocate like in the cases of Mandela. The black politics’ heroes in Australia are the whites such as Paul Keating and Gough Whitlam. For instance, the Keating’s speech in 1993 accepting the whites’ responsibility for the injustices against the Aboriginal people. However, despite being the Aborigines’ heroes the whites failed in their duty to eradicate the disadvantages faced by the Aborigines; despite the fact that they have the relevant resources of an economy of a first world at their disposal (Smedley and Smedley 2005). The probability of their failure might be based on the fact that the whites needed to harness the personal political gains instead of giving a clear description of the Aboriginal model that the activists wanted to engineer socially.
The whites in South Africa usually played sports such as rugby union and cricket while the black people played soccer. To disintegrate the racial obstacles, the government in South Africa has instigated the quota arrangements to obtain many players of color within the rugby and cricket teams. Australia on the other hand, the common sports are cricket, rugby union, Australian football, soccer and rugby league. All the sports in Australia are played by any race except soccer, therefore the Australian sports have no racial relations (Jasper 2008). The blacks have been accepted easily y their team members as well as the fans. After the World War II, the many relocations from southern Europe formed soccer groups in Australia that were biased racially, this led to conflicts of the races and this prevented the game from being accepted by the entire community of Australia. In the year 2005, a league was formed without racial alignment of the teams, the league is said to have developed past the ethnic base level (Smedley and Smedley 2005).
South Africans are usually circumspect and polite in their speech as compared to Australians. However, the South African urban center residents tend to decline the common traditional courtesies. Each cultural group in South Africa has its own way of expressing respect and propriety. The black Africans in the nation intensely mark the social groupings of status, gender, age and kinship in the etiquette expressed. Pride and honor are granted to genealogical seniority, age, political position, the male, and adulthood. The rural South Africans still perform the elaborate and formal forms of respects and social greetings, however, the more westernized groups tend to be less formal in their language and in the expression of etiquette (Arowolo 2010). Australians, on the other hand, are a bit more outgoing and louder than the South Africans. They are less formal in their language and gesture of etiquette, therefore, the ranks of the social statuses are not clearly marked in the Australian society.
The economy of SA is slightly lower than that of Australia. However, South Africa’s economy is inclining quickly due to the presence of the current “black diamonds” that emerged after the affirmative action inception. The country has undergone various industrial upgrades which in return has resulted in economic advancements (Boas 2002). Australia, on the other hand, has a well-developed economy that is more stable as compared to the South African economy, this is attributed to the well-being of the individuals in the country with most of them being the whites that live a first world life (Samuel Craig and Douglas 2006)
Conclusion
Culture is the knowledge and characteristics of a given set of people and it encompasses of the people’s music, social habits, religion, arts, cuisine, and language. Culture incorporates clothing, food, religion, marriage, beliefs, ethics, art, language and many other aspects. Cultural intelligence is the aspect of a person is capable of functioning effectively in matters of cultural diversity, the cultural intelligence of a country such as Australia is very crucial due to the increased cultural diversity in the state (Pedersen 2007). Comparison of Australia’s culture to South Africa’s culture indicates a wider picture of how the two republics are culturally similar to each other in most aspects.
References
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