Cultural Globalization and the Convention

The 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions can be viewed as safeguarding group identities as understood through cultural expressions. Equally, the Convention protects the economic interests of member states in commercially produced cultural expressions such as film and television programmes. This dichotomy has led to vociferous trade versus culture debates in international cultural policy-making; but, seen as a facet of global deliberation, this may be an enduring contribution from UNESCO to global norm formation. Despite the importance of cultural issues within UNESCO, until the 2005 Convention culture had remained relatively marginalized from discussions among post-Second World War global institutions. The emergent global issues of culture, cultural identity, and cultural expressions therefore, need some historical context. Without this context, the vocabulary of the UNESCO Convention seems technocratic, limited to debates between commerce versus culture, and devoid of connections to historical trends.