Identità, saperi locali e sviluppo

In the ancient societies a man was member of a definite group from his birth, he had a previously established way of life and his identity cannot be brought into question: one was hunter and member of the tribe, and that was all. In the current society the identity become more mobile, multiple and auto-reflexive and it can be subject to changes and innovations. Today the belongings are fragmented, the identities are not vanished, but they changed their dimensions and functions, becoming various.
The identity is rather the result of a construction process, and a shared common memory is a fundamental aspect of the social life which can be identified as a distinguishing mark of identity. A social memory composed by knowledges, values, cultures which are the local knowledge.
The question is therefore if and how the identity can be a development factor or, on the contrary, if the permanent continuity of traditions, habits, way of life and of production is an obstacle to development and growth.
In this point there are two orders of issues: the transmission of traditional knowledge to the new generations and the insertion of new technologies in the traditional societies. About the first aspect, the transmission of knowledge must be through the observation and the practice: the traditional activities cannot be learned through the codified instruction. About the second aspect, it is necessary overcome the classic tripartite model which had three different subjects (searcher, technical assistant and producer) often incapable of communicativeness, because of their different education and because of the social distance. In other words, it’s necessary the overcoming the distrust between the possessor of theoretical knowledge and the possessor of practical experience