Cultural exception

Cultural exception

Cultural exception (French: l’exception culturelle) is a concept introduced by France in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations in 1993[1]. Some countries had voiced their concerns during the final negotiations of the Uruguay Round that implementation of the GATT principles on cultural goods and services "would undermine their cultural specificity (and unique status), in favour of their commercial aspects".[2]

The purpose of Cultural exception is to treat cultural goods and services differently than other traded goods and services because of the intrinsic differences of such goods and services. Many countries defend the fact that cultural goods and services "encompass values, identity and meanings that go beyond their strictly commercial value".[3] It notably allowed France to maintain tariffs and quotas to protect its cultural market from other nation's cultural products, most notably American films and television. South Korean policy in favor of its movie industry is another example of how cultural exception is used to protect the audiovisual market[4].

Cultural exception as such does not really exist. First the debate concerned mainly the audiovisual products. Secondly, in the WTO liberalization process, every country decides which sectors it will deregulate. Audiovisual services is one of the sectors where the number of WTO members with commitments is the lowest (30, as of 31 January 2009)[5] (Source: WTO) [2]

In France in 2005, 65% of its film products were American imports, compared to 90% American imports in other European film markets.[6]

Cultural exception has been gradually replaced by the more consensual concept of cultural diversity [3] as shows the adoption in October 2005, of UNESCO's Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Sponsored by France and Canada, the convention was passed 185-2, with four nations abstaining from voting. The notable naysayers were the United States and Israel.

The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is a legally binding international agreement that supports Member-States' wills to assert their right in applying cultural policies and measures that exclude cultural goods and services from international trade agreements.[7]

The United States claims that cultural exception is a form of protectionism that harms global trade and that the UNESCO Convention deals with such protectionism rather than cultural diversity. In addition, it claims that the UNESCO Convention allows for oppressive governments to suppress minority cultural voices. The film industry and other cultural industries in the United States are also against the concept of cultural exception, as it harms their export market, and have lobbied the United States to take its current position against cultural exception.

See also

References

  1. ^ Hacker, V. (2006), « L’Art délicat de la politique audiovisuelle de l’Union européenne. Entre tractations commerciales et politique culturelle », Les politiques culturelles de l’Union, Dialogues européens, Presses de la Sorbonne, pp. 24-36.
  2. ^ UNESCO
  3. ^ Canadian Coalition for Cultural Diversity
  4. ^ Hacker, Violaine (2011), « La télévision, un instrument démodé ou crucial pour l’avenir de l’Union européenne ? », revue Essachess : La télévision du présent et de l’avenir, Vol 4, No 7.
  5. ^ Hacker, Violaine (2011), “ Cultiver la créativité, corollaire de la diversité culturelle européenne ”, Revue Géoéconomie : Cinéma: le déclin de l'empire américain?, numéro 58, pp. 25-36.
  6. ^ (NY Times, 2/5/2005, pg. 9B)
  7. ^ UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Art. 6, Par.2), [1]

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cultural diversity — is having different cultures respect each other s differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. It differs from multiculturalism in that multiculturalism is usually… …   Wikipedia

  • cultural anthropology — cultural anthropologist. the branch of anthropology dealing with the origins, history, and development of human culture, and including in its scope the fields of archaeology, ethnology, and ethnography. Also called social anthropology. Cf.… …   Universalium

  • Cultural cringe — Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. It is closely related, although not …   Wikipedia

  • CULTURAL LIFE — Introduction The movement for the return to Zion which emerged as a force at the end of the 19th century was based on a variety of motivations, including the political – the demand for an independent homeland where the Jews could forge their own… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Cultural and historical background of Jesus — Scholars examine the cultural and historical background of Jesus in order to better understand Jesus, his ministry, and the origins of Christianity. This examination treats the New Testament as one of many documents, written and perhaps later… …   Wikipedia

  • Cultural Revolution — This article is about the People s Republic of China. For Iran s Islamic Cultural Revolution, see Iranian Cultural Revolution. Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution Cultural Revolution propaganda poster. It depicts Mao Zedong, above a group of… …   Wikipedia

  • Cultural Resistance —    Acts of cultural resistance are expressions of solidarity and nonviolent protest. During the “dirty wars” in South America, protest literature and films were dominant examples of cultural resistance. In other instances, cultural resistance… …   Historical Dictionary of the “Dirty Wars”

  • Cultural representations of the Warsaw Uprising — Warsaw Uprising Prelude Military description Military units involved Lack of outside support Capitulation Aftermath Planned destruction of Warsaw People …   Wikipedia

  • Cultural differences in role-playing video games — Due to cultural differences between game developers, historically different inspirations and origins, distinct target audiences, and hardware with dissimilar capabilities, two main trends or families of electronic role playing games (RPGs) exist …   Wikipedia

  • Cultural depictions of Richard III of England — Late 16C portrait of Richard III (National Portrait Gallery, London), copied from an early 16C one in the Royal Collections. This version features in Josephine Tey s novel The Daughter of Time. Richard III of England has been depicted in popular… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”