1st Edition

The Politics of Cultural Development Trade, cultural policy and the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity

By Ben Garner Copyright 2016
    260 Pages
    by Routledge

    258 Pages
    by Routledge

    There is a growing recognition of the role that culture can play in sustainable development strategies. This development has generally been welcomed, but also raises a number of questions: What are the implications in policy and practice? Who are the most influential voices in promoting a global agenda for culture and development, and to what extent has the creation of new international policy instruments reflected a consensus? More fundamentally, what is meant by "culture" in these discussions and who has the power to give particular definitions political and legal authority?

    The Politics of Cultural Development seeks to provide a theoretically and historically informed response to such questions, illustrated by reference to case studies (including the European Union, the Caribbean and China). Particular attention is paid to the formation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, a landmark instrument in debates about culture and development. The book goes on to explore some of the practical implications that this international treaty is beginning to have for the ways that culture is (and is not) being integrated into contemporary development policy and practice.

    This book will be useful for students, academics and policymakers in the fields of international development, international relations, international political economy, cultural policy and cultural theory.

    1. Introduction  Part I  2. Trade and culture  3. The last frontier of development: exploration and conflict during the World Decade for Cultural Development, 1988-1997  Part II  4. The rules of the cultural marketplace  5. Cultural exceptions and exclusions: the other sides of the consensus  6. A blueprint for cultural development? The EU-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement  7. Conclusion

    Biography

    Ben Garner is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, UK, where he also leads the undergraduate programme in International Development Studies.