Oral history interview with Lourdes Arizpe, 2002.

Biographical Note

Assistant Director General for Culture, United Nations

Scope and Contents

Early life, multicultural/lingual childhood in Argentina and Mexico, university studies in interpreting and anthropology, study of Mexican Indians, relationship between research and activism. Assistant director-general for culture at UN, new ways of looking at culture and development, globalization, universal human rights, the dangers of cultural relativism, women and gender. Wealthy countries lose spiritual/cultural development, finding a balance between culture and development, distribution of wealth. Ideological role of the UN, time with UNESCO, time in academia/research, importance of interdisciplinary and global cooperation

Subjects

• Arizpe S., Lourdes--Interviews.
• Cultural relativism.
• Culture and globalization.
• Economic development--Social aspects.
• Globalization.
• Human rights.
• Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Unesco.
• United Nations--Officials and employees--Interviews.
• Weiss, Thomas G. (Thomas George), 1946- interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Women--Social conditions.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 2003