An Analysis of The UNESCO Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

In order to understand the necessity that was transformed into the creation of the Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, one must first obtain some background information on economic principles of liberalism, definition of cultural diversity, differences between cultural goods and commercial goods, conditions after the Second World War and the extent of World Trade Organization (WTO), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Without fully understanding and obtaining information on these previously mentioned concepts, one might fail to notice how these important and relevant terms coincided towards the preparation of the UNESCO Convention.

To commence with the explanation and the role of these concepts, it’s perhaps best to start with the conditions after the World War II. With the Second World War ending, causing the world economy to come through one of the most crucial recessions, there was a need for an economical strategy change. As a consequence of this economic need, dominance of liberal economy progressed throughout the world, spreading from one country to another. Liberal economy brought the concept of free trade, which is beneficial for all parties that are involved in the trade process. The extent to which countries benefit from this exchange is, of course, depending on the production levels of the countries. Therefore, whoever produces more and trades more, becomes better off compared to less productive countries. To gain advantage as a less productive country, some countries have tried to get control over the trade that goes on in their country with other countries. Such countries tried to keep trade in a level that wouldn’t benefit the traded country more. This injustice in trade process inflicted on both parties involved in trade, had to be prevented. World Trade Organization was founded to construct certain rules and regulations on trade, while flourishing and securing the natural course of liberal economy. GATT and GATS were written documents of the rules and regulations that were decided upon in World Trade Organization. These documents revealed certain acknowledgments on the conditions in which countries should impose tariffs and quotas and the conditions that apply to the trade of services. To further clarify the main function of GATT, it aims to eliminate any discriminative actions such as embargos, capitulations, etc. without any viable cause and to provide healthy competition in today’s modern world and international trade. It hopes to improve trade relations among countries. GATS tries to define the service sectors on the other hand. This agreement is often criticized for undermining obligations to citizen while favoring business activities.

Another important concept that must be thoroughly understood is the difference between commercial goods and cultural goods. Commercials goods are produced mainly for their functional use. There’s a supply and demand side for these goods where the producer tries to maintain equilibrium to maximize his/her profit. The worth of these goods are defined through the fixed and variable costs in addition to a profit depending on the competition in the sector. These values add up to create commercial goods’ market value through which its exchange is realized. Cultural goods on the other hand, cannot be valued through the same process of valuing commercial good. Since the cultural products are distinctive and one of a kind, the costs don’t play a significant role in the process of determining their market value. The symbolic, historic or aesthetic value of the cultural good is essentially effective in its valuation. Therefore, the GATT or GATS weren’t sufficient for defining the conditions for trade of cultural goods. Consequently, the need for an amendment in these agreements or a separate convention specifically concerning cultural goods was needed.

Furthermore on the conditions leading to the UNESCO Convention, the existence of cultural diversity is crucial to the trade of cultural goods. The uniqueness of the cultural good is directly related to the environment that it’s produced in. We can discuss in this sense, both the cultural diversity among nations and within nations. The cultural products vary among different countries or regions because of the differences among cultures. Also, within one country, what is produced in one region may not be produced in another region due to a lack of knowledge in the production process of this good. Any change in the production process of this good can diminish this good’s cultural and market value. As explained, the diversity of cultures has immense effect in cultural production and has to be protected for this type of trade to exist.

The UNESCO Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was created in light of these concepts and events. The question that we’re up against is, acknowledging that culture is a dynamic phenomenon, whether it is a sensible action to interfere with its natural course by such conventions or agreements. It is evident that the current conditions practicable for trade are somewhat ineffective when it comes to cultural products because of the lack of protection on cultural diversity. Indeed, the Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions appears as an effort to come up with a solution to protect cultural diversity and cultural heritage that varies among different countries. Then, we should ask if these efforts are adequate and suitable for the protection of cultural diversity and heritage while answering the questions on the context and the motives behind this convention.

If we try to analyze the motives behind the creation of this convention that was initiated with the joint efforts of France, Canada and the European Union, perhaps, the main point that would attract attention would be the obvious dominance of United States on the international trade. Thus, the dominance of US in the global market affected the cultural atmosphere of every nation tied together by trade relations. France and Canada united together with the fear of losing control over their cultural heritage that they counted on in terms of one of their economic resources. It’s a well-known fact that there are opposite approaches to cultural policy and strategy between United States and France. Due to the fact that US is a relatively new country compared to France, US cultural policies and strategies depend on multiculturalism in a sense that it cares less about the heritage, which is a factor that flourishes pop-culture. On the other side, France is a country that deeply cares about the protection of its cultural heritage and language. It’s not surprising to observe that a country so protective of its cultural heritage and language such as France, to be disturbed by the domination of a foreign culture affecting their cultural assets. The fact that these two main camps on the issue of diversity of cultural expressions have diverse views is expected and is not necessarily a negative thing since; it enforces the emergence of new ideas and solutions to such issues in cultural field. In his article “The UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity, and the WTO: Diversity in International Law-Making?” Joost Pauwelyn suggests, “Whatever the merits of how best to sustain minority cultures -- through public institutions, subsidies and screen quotas, as the convention implies, or rather by vigorous antitrust rules and the free flow of ideas, as its critics retort -- the episode offers an intriguing glimpse into the increasingly complicated world of international law-making.”(2005) Perhaps, it should be restated that a culture with the lack of cultural heritage translates better into the popular culture, because some cultural heritage ties are so unique that other nations may fail to relate to these intangible and tangible assets. As a homogenous and multiethnic society, US adopt the cultural values that are dear to all of its citizens through a certain extent of intercultural relations and policies. It’s safe to claim that when a multicultural nation defines its cultural policies accordingly, these cultural values generally become a part of the popular culture.

Moreover, the distinction between economic development and commercialization should not be overlooked, because these two concepts, if misinterpreted, can cause an erosion of cultural heritage and cultural diversity. Only through a clear understanding of this dissimilarity, full protection and promotion of cultural heritage and diversity can be achieved. To go further into the explanation of these two opposing terms, it’s best to begin with commercialization. The process of commercialization has to do with promoting a product as a commercial good to be sold in the market. During this phase, there has to exist a product which can be widely demanded and the supplier can make a mass production of this particular commercial good. The producer only selects the kind of goods that he/she knows will be sold and he/she aims to gain the maximum profit through the trading of these goods. When put like this, the commercialization of a good emphasizes the end product of the whole production process rather than taking other element into consideration. What is sold is more important than how it is produced and what its inputs are. While talking about the commercialization of a cultural product, the circumstances are the same. A cultural producer, an artist for instance, selects the number of artworks that he/she creates, which he/she knows are demanded from this artist. The other artworks are not taken into account and are forgotten after a while. Even if this artist has put a lot of effort into the production of these works or used a special technique in this process, because there’s no demand or visibility of these goods, they will erode in time. Economic development on the contrary, bears its meaning within its name. For there to exist a development of any kind, which is a concept that is calculated through the course of longer units of time, there has to be a sustained progress. Sustainability, therefore, is the key element that leads to economic development. To be more specific, in order for economic development to occur, the whole process of creation and production should be protected. Unlike commercialization, economic development should take necessary actions for securing the cultural environment, cultural producers and provide them visibility as giving importance to the whole production process.

To conclude with, the main question that the UNESCO Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions brings into mind is whether or not the dynamic nature of cultural evolution should be tempered with or not without keeping in mind that cultural diversity and cultural heritage are too valuable to loose. Without a doubt, cultural diversity and heritage are valuable and should be protected for the upcoming generations. In the course of this complex discussion, one must feel the need to ask what counts as cultural heritage and what doesn’t. Every ancient tradition or practice in daily life cannot be defined as intangible cultural heritage but some traditions reveal their cultural value. Certain actions such as the UNESCO Convention, definitely favor the protection aspect of culture over the dynamism aspect of it but do we really have such a choice? Can we protect some part of a concept while avoiding the other?

Thus, there’s another question brought to surface with this convention; the question is the freedom of expression and whether it’s even slightly independent from all the provisions and the prohibitions of the governments. The title of the UNESCO Convention bears the claim of protection and promotion of cultural expressions but to what extent can cultural expressions be protected or promoted when other cultures’ expressions are restricted within a country? Perhaps, the reason why the UNESCO Convention is approached to be controversial by many people and mainly by the United States is its failure to answer these questions. “The pact was overwhelmingly accepted. Only two UNESCO members, the United States and Israel, objected. The United States called the treaty "deeply flawed," protectionist, and a threat to freedom of expression.” (Pauwelyn, The UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity, and the WTO: Diversity in International Law-Making?, 2005)

Additionally, as it has been mentioned previously, the most efficient way to protect and promote cultural diversity and cultural heritage, which includes cultural expressions, is through sustainability. Taking economic development process as a role model in this sense and sustaining the production process of cultural goods and expressions, would take the nations a long way. The author of the article “The UNESO Convention on Cultural Diversity, and the WTO: Diversity in International Law-Making?” Joost Pauwelyn supports the view that the convention fails to provide an efficient way to protect cultural heritage and cultural diversity in his claim, “The major bone of contention in the negotiations was not about finding the most effective policy for different cultures to flourish. It was rather about how the new treaty --explicitly permitting the protection of cultural industries - would relate to existing free trade rules at the WTO. But even that question was left unresolved in article 20 of the convention - an article that goes both ways.[4]”. (2005)

Finally, the recent argument is whether Turkey should sign the Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions or not. The current scenario of Turkey is quite different from the ideal in terms of acknowledging and protecting cultural expressions. There are a number of expressions that are accepted in Turkey while opposing or diverging expressions are denied or even censored. In a country where there exist more censorship than there are expressions, signing the Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions would not be a mistake, if the aim is cultural progress. Going back to the origin of the debate, it is yet to be seen and observed how much the cultural heritage should be protected and how much the dynamism of culture should be protected through the actions taken by the UNESCO Convention.