It will be a busy spring at the secretariat
of the INCD. We are involved in both national and international organizing
around negotiation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) set to
begin again on March 26 at the World
Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. We are also involved in organizing parallel
events to the Free Trade Area of the Americans (FTAA) negotiations taking place
in Quebec City, Canada, in late April. And we are planning the second conference
of the INCD in Lucerne, Switzerland, September 22-23 2001.
The language of cultural diversity has
crept into the American submission to the GATS negotiations. While proposing
that trade in audiovisual services should be covered in the GATS, the
submission "recognizes public concern for the preservation and promotion
of cultural values and identity." The document goes on to discuss the
possibility that the trade rules could "take into account the special
cultural qualities of the sector."
Is this a promising sign that the American
negotiators are willing to soften their stance, or just a ploy to get others to
agree with their free-trading stance? It seems to be a bit of both. The actual
content of the submission is still aggressive: they are asking for
liberalization in the previously excluded audio-visual area, and justifying it
on the basis that new technologies "let a thousand flowers bloom" on
the web and in the cineplexes, making cultural support measures old-fashioned
and unnecessary.
We strongly oppose this position.
Commitments in the audio-visual area of the GATS threaten policies which
support production and distribution of locally produced film, radio, and
television, and even books. The availability of such products on the web will
not replace their availability through existing media, and in many cases the
development of local content on the web also benefits from government support
measures. We are also concerned that liberalization in technical areas such as
e-commerce and "value-added telecommunication" will, by the back
door, threaten local cultural support measures.
However, we find it promising that the
American trade negotiators felt the need to try to address the concerns of
cultural communities in their submission.
The Canadian Conference of the Arts has
produced a fact sheet on GATS and culture, called Is it a Trap or a Trade
Agreement? We have joined other civil society groups in calling for Canadians to fax their concerns to their
Members of Parliament or the Ministers of Foreign Affairs on March 26, the day
that GATS negotiations are set to begin again in Geneva. We are also
participating in cross-country briefings on the GATS.
Please let us know if you are participating
in similar campaigns in your countries.
Anti-globalization activists are readying
for a second Seattle in Quebec City, where negotiations for a Free Trade Area
of the Americas will take place from April 17-22. Security is tight: scarves
have been banned in the area (annoying residents of this cold northern city)
and a huge chain link fence (dubbed the Berlin wall) is rising around the quite
considerable area ear-marked for the negotiations. As in Seattle, there will be
direct actions of various sorts aiming to block the proceedings, as well as a
parallel NGO summit, the Peoples' Summit of the Americas.
Appearances of the INCD:
Well-known Canadian actor and arts activist
RH Thomson will talk about culture and trade issues in a forum parallel to the
FTAA meetings in Quebec city, April 19, 2001 (information will be posted on the
web site of the summit, www.peoplessummit.org closer to the date)
Janet Creery, associate coordinator of the
network, spoke about the work of the INCD at a conference on Globalization,
Trade and Culture at the University of California at Berkeley, March 2 2001
James Early, USA representative on the INCD
steering committee, raised cultural issues at the most recent teach-in of the
International Forum on Globalization in New York, February 24-25 2001. He also
spoke at the Uncovering Cultural Pathways conference at the University of Manchester,
UK, organized by INCD member Ariz Zeria.
Nitis Jacon of La Red in Brazil brought the
concerns of the network to the meetings of the World Social Forum in Porto
Alegre, January 25-30 2001. She raised cultural concerns in a workshop on human
rights and met with the many participants at what is being dubbed the launch of
the alternative globalization movement.
Building Consensus on Culture and Trade:
The Steering Committee of the INCD is
reviewing an agenda for the second meeting of the network, to be held in
Lucerne, Switzerland from September 21 to 23. The conference will concentrate
on developing the terms of a proposed International Instrument for Cultural
Diversity, to regulate trade in culture in ways which promote rather than
undermine cultural diversity. The proposed agenda follows. Please send comments
if you have any - we will be discussing and revising the agenda in the next
weeks.
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR CULTURAL
DIVERSITY
SECOND ANNUAL MEETING
LUCERNE SWITZERLAND
21-24 SEPTEMBER 2001
FRIDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER
1000 - 1700 Meeting
of INCD Steering Committee
1800 Registration
Opens
1900 - 2200 OPENING/KEYNOTE
ADDRESS
Welcome
Chairs/SuisseCulture/Steering Committee
"Cultural diversity: an antidote to
globalization."
The
keynote address will be a call to arms.
It will tackle issues such as the local, national and international
scope of inclusiveness and the role of governments, business and the artist in
promoting diversity.
(Benjamin
Barber, John Ralston Saul, Margaret Atwood?)
SATURDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER
0900 - 1100 PROMOTING
CULTURAL DIVERSITY:
INCD Activities Since Santorini
A recap of activities since Santorini from
the members of the INCD, the Secretariat and Steering Committee
1100 - 1130 Nutrition
Break
1130 - 1300 NEW
INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENT FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY (NIICD):
Act
1: Building the Instrument
A
panel of experts will provide background, a survey of existing international
commitments and preliminary ideas of what kind of instrument can be effective
in preserving sovereignty and encouraging states to promote cultural diversity.
1300 - 1430 Lunch
1430 - 1600 NIICD,
Act II: Lessons from Other Movements
A
report from other movements about how similar challenges have been tackled in
other fields. The session will look
particularly at the new Biodiversity Treaty
1600 - 1630 Nutrition
Break
1630 - 1800 PART
OF THE SOLUTION, OR PART OF THE PROBLEM?
A
discussion with UNESCO, WTO, INCP and other intergovernmental institutions.
1900
- SOCIAL EVENT
Jointly
with Ministers in the INCP Contact Group
SUNDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER
0900 - 1100 NIICD,
Act III
In small working groups, delegates will
discuss the elements of the instrument and their ideas about how it will be
negotiated and administered. This
includes the role of the INCD and other NGOs in developing the instrument and
the need to enlist government allies.
1100 - 1130 Nutrition
Break
1130 - 1230 PART
OF THE SOLUTION, OR PART OF THE PROBLEM?
A
discussion about UNESCO, WTO, INCP and other intergovernmental institutions and
their role, if any, in the NIICD.
1230 - 1400 Lunch
Break
1400 - 1630 INCD
BUSINESS MEETING
- By-laws
- Election
of Steering Committee
- Membership
- Finances
- Communication
1630 - 1700 Nutrition
Break
1700 - 1800 NIICD,
Act IV
Synthesis,
decisions and direction to the Steering Committee about the New Instrument
MONDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER
Steering
Committee to meet with Ministers of Culture for
1 ½ to 2 hours
Draft Agenda
16 February 2001
Culture at the Table: A Symposium on
Cultural Policies for the 21st Century
March 19 from 3:30-5:00, in the Education
Resource Center, Roof Terrace level, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts.
Hosted by the Center for Arts and Culture,
ArtTable, Inc., and the Kennedy Center Education Department, this symposium is
free and open to the public.
The participants in the symposium are:
Benjamin Barber, Director of the Walt
Whitman Center for the Culture & Politics of Democracy at Rutgers
University
Shalini Venturelli, Associate Professor of
International Communication Policy at American University
Gigi Bradford, Executive Director of the
Center for Arts and Policy
Sondra Meyers, ArtTable moderator and
consultant on international civic and cultural projects.
Email center@culturalpolicy.org for more
information.
Linguistic diversity: Role and challenges
for European cities and regions
22-24March Hotel Sol Park, Rovinj, Croatia
Conference organised jointly by the
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE), the Ministry of
European Integration of Croatia, and the Committee of the Regions of the
European Union, with the support of the Modern Languages Division of the
Council of Europe.
Sessions include: Languages as factors in
cultural identity, Languages as a means of social integration and cohesion, and
The role of European local and regional authorities in promoting linguistic
diversityFor more information visit the website
http://www.coe.fr/cplre/conf/rovinj/indexe.htm
or contact
Ministry of European integration of Croatia
Department for Education
HR - ZAGREB
Mrs Petra Goran
Tel: +385 1 6303 165
Fax: +385 1
4569 328
Email:
Petra.Goran@mei.hr
A Seminar on the Conditions for Artistic
Work in Europe
March 29 to April 1, 2001
The Island of Gotland, Sweden
This seminar on the status of artists in
the European Union includes such sessions as "Legal and Policy Frameworks
for Artists in Europe" and "The Romantic Ideal of the Lone Creator
and the Reality of Working Conditions, Dependencies and Status Problems".
Email council@klys.se for more information.
Second People's Summit of the Americas
17 to 21 April, 2001
Quebec City
Organized by the Hemispheric Social
Alliance, these meetings will bring together activists from all sectors to
offer an alternative vision of development in the Americas. The city of Quebec
is small and a huge turnout is expected - plan early if you are interested in
attending. For information see www.webnet/comfront/quebec.htm
Exploring Canadian Identities
20 - 22 April 2001 - Toruñ, Poland
For more information contact Dr Ewa Welnic by
email: welnic@maius.uni.torun.pl
or Anna Branach-Kallas by email: kallas@maius.uni.torun.pl
or visit the website
http://www.maius.uni.torun.pl/ang/en/konfer.html
Convergence, Creative Industries and Civil
Society: The New Cultural Policy
April 26 -
28, 2001
Cultural Policy Planning Research Unit The
Nottingham Trent University
This event addresses such questions
as: What are the implications of the
convergence of the
telecommunications, computing and content
industries for the new cultural policy?
What are the most effective strategies for sustainable creative industry
development? What needs to be done
about intellectual property rights in a context of convergence and
globalization? What is the relationship
between culture, identity, and quality of life?
For more information contact Professor
Colin Mercer, The Nottingham Trent University, Broadway Media Centre, 14-18
Broad Street, Nottingham NG1 3AL, UK
E-mail: ccpru@ntu.ac.uk
www.human.ntu.ac.uk/cppru
Cultura y desarrollo - Second International
Congress on Culture and Development
June 3-7,
2001 La Habana, Cuba
Its aims are as follows:• to provoke reflection and debate about
fundamental problems that culture and development are facing in the globalized
world,
•
urging the preservation of cultures;
• to
encourage exchange of experience, ideas and projects that stimulate creativity
in the face of new challenges;
• to
promote the search for common points in developing strategies for cultural
development and cooperation.
For more information contact: Mr. Andrés Gonzáles Beltrán,
Executive
Secretary, Centro de Superación para la Cultura,
Calle 15 No. 754 e/Paseo y 2, Vedado,
Ciudad de
la Habana, Cuba, CP 10400,
Tel.: (537) 55 3691
Fax: (537) 55 2301
E-mail:
csuper@cubarte.cult.cu
CISS-ISA Third International Millennium
Series Conference
"Assessing and Responding to Policy
Imperatives for a Complex World: Global, Regional, National and Local
Dimension"
June 25-26, 2001 Heidelberg, Germany
The conference will focus on the need for
identifying policy approaches at the global, regional, national and local
levels, which effectively deals with the problems that confront the
contemporary international community, while simultaneously bridging political,
cultural, and economic divides. Of
special interest, is the role of the United States in responding to policy
needs a the global and regional levels.
For more information:
American Political Science Association
1527 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC
20036-1206
Tel: (202) 483-2512
Fax: (202)
483-2657
Email:
apsa@apsanet.org
http://www.apsanet.org/PS/conferences/ciss.cfm
The Intercultural World and the Digital
Connection
July 19-21, 2001 Rochester, New York
The conference will focus on digital
communication which relate to civic discourse in civil society and the
intercultural, international, and global communication linkages.
For more information email Michael Prosser
at mhpgpt@rit.edu
Global Village or Global Image?
Representing Diversity and Difference
July 24 -27, 2001 London, England
This conference will examine the growth in
the diversity of media technologies and representations that shape, and have
been shaped by cultural identities.
Questions that will be addressed include: "To what extent are
different people, places and political viewpoints linked together?" and
"Who is being excluded from these representations?".
For more information contact The British
Film Institute,
c/o Susan Mains,
Inaugural International Media Conference,
21 Stephen Street, Knowledge, Education
Department,
London W1P 2LN, UK.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/globalimage/
The 8th International Conference on
Cross-Cultural Communication
24-28 July 2001, Hong Kong Baptist University,
Hong Kong, China
THE GOALS OF THE CONFERENCE are:
To bring together international educators
and scholars to share ideas and experiences from diverse interdisciplinary
perspectives on communication across cultures.
To provide a forum for the exchange of
scholarly research on issues relating to communication
across language and culture.
To disseminate through monographs, journals
and websites recent research and thinking on
emerging issues relating to language and
culture.
To bring different academic disciplines
together to share theoretical insights and findings about
communication across cultures.
For more information:
Dr. Shiwen PAN
English Department
Hong Kong Institute of Education
Tai Po,
Hong Kong SAR
Peoples Republic of China
Tel: (852) 2948-7240
Fax: (852) 2948-7270
Email: span@ied.edu.hk