Digital Cultural Diplomacy

Abstract

Abstract The chapter identifies and describes major transformations of cultural diplomacy in the conditions of increasing digitalization and platformization to propose a new typology of cultural diplomacy actors. Focusing on the roles they play in the global digital space and the power they can accumulate to exert impact, the chapter explores cultural diplomacy actors from the perspective of their involvement in the processes of digital cross-cultural communications. It argues that traditional government actors of cultural diplomacy in the digital realm increasingly become more dependent on cultural institutions and communities who serve as key cultural content providers. Furthermore, their activities in the digital domain are shaped by interfaces, digital capabilities, and algorithms of dominant communication platforms, designed by transnational corporations as main digital infrastructure builders. Finally, they operate in a very dynamic communication space populated by various opinion makers, including individual influencers, who accumulate a significant diplomatic power to shape global discourses. Providing provocative illustrations to describe major functions of each actor, the chapter exposes a highly saturated, heterogeneous, and complex nature of global cross-cultural communications that requires a more nuanced actors’ typology to help its deeper analysis.