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It is generally assumed that the urban zones are better off and the rural zones less so. That's partly true and partly not. However, there are a host of other sectors where serious differences exist. These run into socio-economics and cultural issues as well. Several studies have been conducted on cultural aspects of urban and rural life which indicates the rise of non-urban cultural self-identification that are not dependent on any so-called "national" values.
Diverse cultures signify multiplicity of social constructs which together means a lack of monolithic construction of the state "Self". So a single cultural vision doesn't apply to the entire Bangladesh.
CULTURAL STRUCTURES AND POLITICS : Global interests in culture and related topics have been on for a while and coincide with the rise of global militant politics to a certain extent. This occupies much of Western thought. One aspect of Western thinking is about management of culture as a source of militancy. This militancy can have several sources whether religious-Islam- or ideological- Communism- and are perceived as facilitators of the same.
Socialist radicalism began to die about two decades back and the principal worry of the West has become Islamic militancy which was interpreted in cultural terms. However research also indicates that while radicalism in one form or another always exists in every society, it never reaches critical violent scale unless an external trigger pushes it such as foreign invasions and wars. This is noticed in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan very specifically.
Other forms of militancy are also linked directly or indirectly to the culture of the land. That means the primary source of strength, weakness and threats are territorial identity based. This applies to LTTE -Tamils in Sri Lanka-and IRA in Ireland or the Shanti Bahini in Chittagong HT. Thus the presence of "land" is the most significant determinant in culture and procuring that.
WHAT DOES "LAND" MEAN IN BANGLADESH : Land primarily means livelihood and that is a major determinant factor. Protecting that influences other actions. Several studies show that land encapsulates a variety of elements including traditional /organic cultural values built over time. This is different from the dominant view of the middle class driven shushil "national culture" that is more recent and linked to European ideas and interactions.
That is natural as an interpretation of the "state culture", the unifier culture was necessary for governance and still includes the notion of the "modern state". This is linked to land based culture as a source of livelihood and patronage as a form of social status gathering in the same culture.
While "culture" was not studied in relation to livelihood needs before, they have recently begun to be, as in the rural areas two major interventions have begun to reshape it. They are economic -- remittance and agriculture -- which means their influences are fundamental. The transition is obvious as most were peasants before from the lower socio-economic rungs who often will sell land to fund their employment trip abroad. Upon return they buy more land which is a restoration of status and after that try to enhance their social status with culture.
OLD CULTURES, NEW SURGE : Pervez Siddiqui, who runs the Films for Peace Foundation has been involved in several studies connected with culture and society and he summarizes his findings by saying that, "these people follow traditional culture which is 'waz' and other religion driven cultures. This serves a dual purpose. 'Waz' is entertaining and listening to it is also a pious act and ensures greater chances to go to paradise. They are also donating to local mosques and madrassas. That in turn is producing more religious cultural products. To us they may seem as promotion of religion but to them, its promotion of the culture they feel close to, the land based agro-culture."
Siddiqui goes on to say that this social funding has become so big that they don't need official or donor funding to keep going or growing. It's a new economy-religious culture based- and it's surging.
WHAT NEXT : The rise of social media is very important as it spreads cultural products rapidly to many. The kind of "secular' cultural products that once dominated the non-digital world were much more sophisticated but have less influence as the audience size is smaller in comparison. On the other hand, social media products, considered of lesser quality, reach a larger audience when it comes to these "new" cultures.
This is not to say that the people are more religious and socially conservative. Various studies suggest that the number of people involved in "non-religious practices" are higher whether related to sexual or gambling or narcotics consumption related behaviour. Religious attire is more of a declaration of social identity than piety. However, the public culture of faith-based expressions dominates.
Thus, the identification, description and narration of culture needs new thoughts and analysis if they are to be interacted with. Bangladesh despite its small size has a huge population and the diversity is high which makes attempting to produce a monolithic cultural mentality an impossible project.