Comparative models of cultural policy

Professionals in the cultural sector increasingly need to know about and understand the international context within which they work, especially if they are seeking operational partnerships and funding outside their own countries.

National cultural policies have encouraged cultural organisations to promote their own public values and outcomes. But establishing partnerships with an expanding range of international stakeholders often creates tensions between the centre and the periphery - a dilemma which cultural organisations have to appreciate and resolve in their own terms.

Developmental and cross-border territorial models provide dynamic alternatives to the traditional and hierarchical models that many cultural organisations still adhere to. In examining comparative models of cultural policy, this module considers how cultural agencies have established binding international conventions and professional networks.

Indicative content

This module enables you to explore the development of public cultural policies and support in the post-war welfare state as well as paradigms of national cultural policy systems. Areas covered include:

• constitutions, legislative and paralegal systems, common law and arm's length models
• state models, territorial and developmental models; the relationship between the centre and the periphery; subsidiarity
• European Union - roles and relative influence in relation to the arts, heritage and creative industries
• European Cities of Culture - case studies focusing on local development, legacies, evaluation and sustainability
• Council of Europe, European Cultural Foundation, Soros Open Society Institutes in post-Soviet Europe and Asia and their impact on the political value, levels of support and practical survival of culture post-1989
• cultural cooperation and exchange instruments; intergovernmental and international cooperation
• beyond Europe: foreign and external policies; cultural diplomacy and the foreign institutes (British Council, Goethe Institute etc)
• the development of international models, organisations and networks. UNESCOs approach to cultural protection and policy development; cultural property, illicit trade and restitution debates.

Recommended reading

• Barber, Benjamin R. (1995). Jihad vs. Mc World: how globalism and tribalism are reshaping the world. Ballantine Books, New York
  
• Bennett, T. (2001). Differing Diversities: Cultural Policy and Cultural Diversity. Strasbourg, Council of Europe
  
• Council of Europe (1997). In From the Margins (Culture and Development in Europe). Strasbourg, Council of Europe
  
• Dittrich-Van Weringh, K. (2006). A Cultural Component as an integral part of the EU's Foreign Policy? Amsterdam, Boekmanstudies
  
• Heiskanen, I. (2001). Decentralisation: trends in European cultural policies. Strasbourg, Council of Europe
  
• Gordon, C. and Mundy, S. (2001). European Perspectives on Cultural Policy. UNESCO
  
• Matarasso, F. and Landry, C. (1999). Balancing Act: twenty-one strategic dilemmas in cultural policy. Cultural Policies Research and Development Unit, Policy Note No. 4, Strasbourg, Council of Europe Publishing
  
• Renfrew, C. (2000). Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership. London, Gerald Duckworth and Co.
  
• Zan, L. (2006). Managerial Rhetoric and Arts Organisations. New York, Palgrave Macmillan
  
• Evaluations of National Cultural Policies - free downloads of National and External Evaluation Reports on 30 + European countries from: www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-operation/Culture/Policies/Reviews/CDCULT
  
• The Laboratory for Cultural Cooperation - www.LabforCulture.org