Cultural Appropriation of Mottainai: Wangari Maathai and Cultural Empowerment

• In Event: The State of Adaptation/Assimilation Research

Abstract

This paper takes Wangari Maathai’s work with the concept as a case study to reflect on cultural appropriation in the context of environmental challenges locally and globally. Using Wangari Maathai’s appropriation of mottainai, an old, mundane Japanese concept, as a case study, this paper proposes a different mode of cultural appropriation than the ones previously examined in Communication Studies. Whereas the majority of the studies of cultural appropriation focused on unconsented or forced appropriation between the cultures of unequal power, Maathai’s appropriation exemplifies an instance where cultural appropriation occurs with the support of the originating culture and with a goal of enabling individuals and communities as agents for change. I explain this mode of cultural appropriation as cultural empowerment.

Author

• Etsuko Kinefuchi, U of North Carolina, Greensboro