Intangible cultural heritageIntangible cultural heritage (ICH)—as opposed to a place's tangible cultural heritage, cultural properties such as historic sites, monuments, and artifacts—comprises manifestations of intellectual wealth such as customs, beliefs, traditions, folklore, language, and knowledge, as expressed in particular through craftsmanship and performance.
Cultural appropriationAdoption of culture and cultural identity perceived as inappropriateCultural appropriation is an adoption of an element or elements of culture or identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. Charges of cultural appropriation typically arise when members of a dominant culture borrow from minority cultures.
FolkloreExpressive culture shared by particular groupsA German folk tale, Hansel and Gretel; illustration by Arthur Rackham, 1909Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs, poems, and jokes. This also includes material culture, such as traditional building styles common to the group.
LanguageStructured system of communicationA mural in Teotihuacan, Mexico (c. 2nd century) depicting a person emitting a speech scroll from his mouth, symbolizing speechA Cuneiform tabletChildren of deaf adults using American Sign LanguageBraille, a tactile writing systemLanguage is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary.
Human rightsHuman rights are moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning they belong to every individual simply by virtue of being human. They encompass a broad range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, such as the right to life, freedom of speech, protection against enslavement, and right to education.UniversalizationUniversalization is an incipient concept describing the next phase of human development, marking the transition from trans-national to interplanetary relations and much more aggressive exploitation of opportunities that lie beyond the confines of Earth.
Minority groupThe term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the lowest number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority group is disempowered relative to the majority, and that characteristic lends itself to different applications of the term minority.
United Nations General AssemblyIntergovernmental organization organUnited Nations General Assembly Hall at the UN Headquarters in New York City in 2006AbbreviationUNGAGAAGNUAGFormation1945; 81 years ago (1945)TypePrincipal organLegal statusActiveHeadquartersNew York City, U.S.PresidentKhalilur RahmanParent organizationUnited NationsWebsiteun.org/ga African Group (54) Asia and the Pacific Group (54) Eastern European Group (23) Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) (33) Western European and Others Group (WEOG) (29)The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ.
Linguistic rightsLinguistic rights are the human and civil rights concerning the individual and collective right to choose the language or languages for communication in a private or public atmosphere. Other parameters for analyzing linguistic rights include the degree of territoriality, amount of positivity, orientation in terms of assimilation or maintenance, and overtness.
CultureSocial behavior and norms of a societySymbolic expression developed as prehistoric humans reached behavioral modernityReligion and expressive art are important aspects of human culture.Germans marching during a folk culture celebrationThe Acropolis of AthensWritings often create a sense of cultural identity, Ernest Hemingway writing.Culture ( or ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups.EthnocideEthnocide is the extermination or destruction of ethnic identities. Bartolomé Clavero differentiates ethnocide from genocide by stating that "Genocide kills people while ethnocide kills social cultures through the killing of individual souls". According to Martin Shaw, ethnocide is a core part of physically violent genocide. Some substitute cultural genocide for ethnocide, and other argue the distinction between ethnicity and culture.
RitualActivities performed according to a set sequenceA Javanese ritual dance dedicated to the goddess of rice and fertility, Dewi SriA ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.