Systems Thinking Case Study #10:
Systemic structures that affect indigenous cultures vs globalization!
HOW COME INDIGENOUS CULTURES PRESERVE THEIR HERITAGE DESPITE
THE ONSLAUGHTS OF GLOBALIZATION?
[A study using Bali - "Gems" gleaned at Cafe Asia II in Bali]
DIALOGUE NOTES:  MAKING
SENSE OF BALI

  • Bali is an Indonesian island
    located at 8°25′23″S, 115°14′
    55″E, one of the Lesser Sunda
    Islands.  It is in a chain with
    Java to the west and Lombok
    to the east.  Bali is a tourist
    destination and, along with
    Java, known for its highly
    developed arts, including
    dance, sculpture, painting,
    leather and metalworking, and
    music, especially that played
    on the gamelan.
  • Bali is famous for dance, as well
    as painting, scuplture, and
    woodcarving. Balinese gamelan
    music is highly developed and
    varied.
  • The dances portray stories
    from Hindu Epics such as
    Ramayana. Famous Balinese
    dances include Pendet, legong,
    baris, topeng, barong, and
    Kecak (the fire dance).
*Tri Hita Karana means Three Sources of Happiness; the harmonious relationship between human
beings and nature, between human beings and community and the harmonious relationship between
human beings with the God.
WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IF WE LEARN TO APPLY
THESE STRATEGIES? (marked by yellow stars)

WHAT MIGHT MAKE IT DIFFICULT OR GET IN THE WAY
OF MAKING THESE HAPPEN?

WHAT KEEPS OUR CONVERSATIONS LIKE THESE AND
IS MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SEE THESE STRUCTURES?

Click here to share your thoughts,
comments and reactions!
  • The problem Bali's culture is facing today is from the tourism industry. Today the culture is slowly changing to attract
    tourists; its original form is gradually fading away.
  • The ancestors of today’s inhabitants arrived by sea some three thousand years ago, part of the great Austronesian
    migration that originated in Yunan , China about 7000 BC and extended from Easter Island to Madegascar.
    Archaeological sites at the western tip of Bali and along the north shore reveal evidence of a rich culture skilled in the
    ancient arts of metal-working and rice cultivation who regularly traded with India.
  • Today the Balinese are a heterogeneous mixture of beautiful people that includes Polynesian, Malay, Japanese and
    Indian features. Although the Balinese speak their own language, the lingua franca throughout the archipelago is
    Indonesian.
  • Unlike most of Indonesia, which is Islamic, Bali has retained its own unique form of Hinduism. It is the outward
    manifestations of this rich religious tradition - the ubiquitous temples and dazzling processions and ceremonies - that
    delight and amaze visitors.

Images of Bali   Images of Cafe Asia