An international instrument for international cultural policy

Abstract

This article lays out the contexts informing a unique, international instrument for policy and the development of creative works: the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, 2005. It argues that culture needs to be defended against those interested in including cultural services in global trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization, and demonstrates how the Convention may be implemented to give cultural agendas an equal status alongside economic, social and environmental issues that currently determine policy for development. It gives analysis of some of the key articles and suggests that although the instrument will have to be tested legally, it provides the framework for national policy to build sustainable infrastructures in recognition that diversity of cultural expressions is central to the well-being of our societies.