Emerging Trends in 2003-2004:
Sustainable Development and
Cultural Liberty
Introduction
The topic of sustainable development or, more specifically, the
interface between culture and sustainable development, has been
of particular interest in 2003-2004.
There was in fact an increase in 2003-2004 in the number of events
of all kinds (seminars, workshops, symposia) all around the world
with the common objective of studying the concrete contribution
that cultural industries make to sustainable development, as regards
collective wealth and economic development as well as social cohesion.
The publication, on July 15, 2004, of the Human Development Report
2004 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), introducing
the concept of cultural liberty, is also noteworthy. This major
report examines human development by considering the concepts of
cultural diversity, democracy, interculturality, cultural exclusion,
differentiation and juxtaposition of identity, as well as globalization
and cultural domination, topics that have been of interest to the
INCP from the outset.
Culture and Sustainable Development
Since the UNESCO Conference on Cultural Policies for Development
in Stockholm in 1998, an event that laid the foundation for the
current debate on the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity
1, the real contribution made by
the various types of cultural activity to a country's social and
economic development has been a topic of growing interest to various
international organizations. There were many events in 2003-04 designed
to explore these issues, which unfortunately were somewhat overshadowed
by the Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002,
aside from the statement made by French President Jacques Chirac
on the need for UNESCO to take up the draft of a convention on cultural
diversity, and in spite of the fact that culture is generally recognized
as fundamental to the social pillar of sustainable development (see
textbox).
The three pillars of sustainable development:
Economic - must reconcile the search
for growth and economic efficiency;
Environmental - must preserve, improve and enhance
the environment and resources in the long term;
Social - must meet fundamental human needs while
addressing the objectives of equity and social cohesion, and therefore
must include education, health, conveniences, comfort and culture-related
issues.
Latin America has shown a special interest in this topic, in particular
in connection with a Seminar on Cultural Industries and Sustainable
Development hosted by Mexico in April 2004, and the High-Level
Panel on Creative Industries and Development, held in conjunction
with UNCTAD XI, in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in June 2004.
Among the potential avenues put forward by participants at the
Mexico seminar was the concept of transversality, that is the need
to promote strategies and policies in support of cultural industries
based on the creation of synergies among the various sectors of
government activity: finance, trade, environment, tourism 2,
communication, education, and of course culture. The key is to decompartmentalize
government activity and to adopt a concerted, multisectoral approach
involving all sectors of public activity, institutions and the private
sector for the benefit of cultural industries.
Another concern raised is the fact that these industries face major
challenges including access to international production and distribution
chains. Yet such access cannot be provided without direct state
intervention, specifically through public policies designed to encourage
cooperation and discussion and to strengthen the role of developing
countries. The role of the public sector in creating
conditions conducive to the development of the cultural sector is
in fact a recurrent topic, and is entirely consistent with the concerns
that have always been key to the INCP.
The financing of culture, the theme of the INCP
6thAnnual Ministerial Meeting in Opatija, Croatia, was still a topic
of interest in 2003-04. It should be noted that the Agence Intergouvernementale
de la Francophonie (AIF) held a symposium on access to
international financing, with a special focus on cultural industries
in May 2004. The funding of culture is in fact a constant concern
to cultural observers, especially in developing countries, an issue
that is related to a more specific one, that of cultural
entrepreneurship. It seems that the fundamental notion
whereby culture must transcend its strictly artistic nature in order
to encompass its economic dimension as well is still not well known
or understood. The artist, often alone and on the fringe of established
networks, is hesitant to see his art as an activity with economic
potential. Thus in order for creators to survive and prosper through
their art, they must place their art in a broader context. Hence
the need to provide training for artists and creators
on the rules of economic activity, especially in developing countries,
and including matters of copyright and intellectual property.
Cultural Liberty: Human Development Report 2004
In the international community's discussion over the protection
and promotion of cultural diversity, the UNDP Human Development
Report 2004 provides a fresh perspective by introducing the new
concept of cultural liberty. In this regard, the
Report states that:
- Cultural liberty is a vital part and a pillar of human development.
Efforts must therefore be made to specifically promote it without
stopping at social, political and economic progress, which are
not enough to ensure cultural liberty. Explicit policies need
to address the restrictions on cultural liberty.
- Cultural liberty can be defined as the ability of individuals
to live and be as they choose, while being truly able to consider
other options and without excluding other choices they consider
important (such as relating to education, health or employment.
3)
- If well managed, greater recognition of identities will promote
greater cultural diversity in society, in turn enriching the lives
of individuals.
The UNDP Report thus seeks to shatter the myth that policies recognizing
cultural identities and encouraging diversity can lead to fragmentation,
conflict and even authoritarian rule. In the UN agency's opinion,
the recognition of cultural diversity actually contributes to the
nation's identity, to maintaining peace, to development, democracy
and the respect of human rights.
In particular, the Report advocates an alternative approach that
"respects and promotes diversity while keeping countries
open to global flows of capital, goods and peoples. (…) Policies
need to explicitly recognize and respect cultural difference. They
also need to address imbalances in economic and political power
that lead to loss of cultures and identities."
One can wonder about the differences and similarities of this new
concept of cultural liberty and the better known and more widely
used-especially in the INCP-concept of cultural diversity. The report's
authors tend to define the first as a choice and
the second as a state, either positive or negative,
depending on how politics choose to frame it. In other words, cultural
liberty allows people to experience their cultural diversity, which
may be expressed more or less positively depending on the socio-political
context. Public authorities shape this context through various approaches,
for example multiculturalism and interculturality.4
The UNDP Report states in this regard that it is not always easy
to establish policies that foster the expression of cultural diversity
and are fundamentally based on cultural liberty, since this can
require compromises.
This rationale suggested by the UNDP is very much in keeping with
current thinking, since other international organizations are also
interested in the issues of intercultural management and governance.
For example, the Ninth International Metropolis Conference,
to be held this year in Geneva from September 27 to October 1, 2004,
will focus on cooperative migration management. The acceleration
of globalization, the evolution of migratory patterns and the consolidation
of regional political spaces, especially in Europe, no doubt account
for this renewed interest in matters relating to the integration
of migrant populations and the building and consolidation of social
cohesion.
Conclusions -Potential Avenues for the Future
The two main themes of interest in 2003-04-the interface between
culture and sustainable development and the notion of cultural liberty-are
interrelated and reflect a common desire to decompartmentalize our
understanding of the role culture plays in human development. In
addition, these themes lead us to other issues that have still been
relatively little explored, such as the link between culture and
intercultural dialogue on the one hand, and social cohesion and
human security on the other. In this regard, the work on interculturality
by the INCP Liaison Bureau, as well as the UNDP Human Development
Report and the work to come in preparation for the Annual Ministerial
Meeting in Senegal in 2005, provide and will provide a good foundation
and an excellent opportunity to further explore these issues.
Therefore, in keeping with the INCP mandate of exploring national
best practices relating to cultural policies, and as suggested in
the paper on interculturality,5 the following
issues could be further explored at future Annual Ministerial Meetings
(list below non-exhaustive):
- Best practices for interculturality (or culture as
a tool for strengthening social cohesion)
- Cultural tourism as a tool for sustainable development
- Cultural diversity and human security and/or peace-building
1 UNESCO's primary objective with
the Stockholm Conference was to transform the new ideas set out
in Our Creative Diversity into policy and practice. Some 2500 participants
from 149 countries explored the main avenues for recasting cultural
policies within a human development framework. The outcome was the
Conference Action Plan, adopted April 2, 1998.
2 The economic role of tourism,
especially cultural tourism, in developing countries has still not
been sufficiently explored, much to our surprise. A number of INCP
members, including some from the Caribbean, have on numerous occasions
raised the role that this sector plays in the national economy,
calling for a more thorough examination of these issues.
3 According to the UNDP Report,
there are two types of cultural exclusion: (1) exclusion based on
way of life and requiring everyone to live exactly like every one
else in society; and (2) exclusion based on participation where
individuals are the victims of discrimination or are denied social,
political, or economic opportunities due to their cultural identity.
While these two forms of exclusion occur in varying degrees, they
are generally present on all continents, regardless of the level
of development.
4 See INCP, The Concept of Interculturality:
Report of the Liaison Bureau, 7th Annual Ministerial Meeting, October
14-16, 2004, Shanghai, China.
5 Ibid.
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