Antonios Vlassis

Soft power, global governance of cultural industries and rising powers: the case of China

This article addresses the importance of cultural industries for the strengthening of the soft power of the rising powers and it seeks to understand how the cultural industries allow rising powers to shape the structures of their international environment. More specifically, studying the cases of People’s Republic of China and of the movie industry, my article focuses on the current evolution of the relationship between the Chinese authorities and the film industry, as well as on the development of the domestic film market. I further aim to draw up an inventory of China’s role within the global governance of cultural industries. Finally, I aim to highlight the global cultural competition that China faces, emphasizing the practices of the US administration and Hollywood. I argue that even if China is the current centre of gravity within the world economy, it still has a long way to go in order to shape the distribution of resources within the global governance of cultural industries and to play a crucial role in the international battle of cultural symbols.

Culture in the post-2015 development agenda: the anatomy of an international mobilisation

Throughout 2012–15 several actors were advocating that culture be explicitly integrated within the post-2015 UN development agenda. My article offers an anatomy of the recent international mobilisation in order to understand the cleavages and the contrasting visions. In doing so, it seeks to analyse the policy process through which the agenda is made, why and how a critical mass of actors is attempting to embrace the inclusion of culture in the post-2015 agenda and the political reactions vis-à-vis this mobilisation. The article argues, on the one hand, that the promotion of culture in the post-2015 agenda is largely based on UNESCO’s will to advance its policy agenda and enhance its position within the UN system and, on the other hand, that this mobilisation lacks political support from the most influential governments; therefore its chances of success are more than contingent.

European Commission, trade agreements, and diversity of cultural expressions: between autonomy and influence

The Convention on diversity of cultural expressions – adopted by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2005 – is a main international instrument within the global governance of cultural and audiovisual industries. For its part, the European Commission played a critical role in the negotiation, leading to the Convention on Diversity of Cultural Expressions’ adoption. In this respect, the article aims to explore why and how the Commission uses the Convention on Diversity of Cultural Expressions throughout the recent European Union trade negotiations, for which purposes and how the Convention on Diversity of Cultural Expressions influences the European Union foreign policy and its objectives. The article is more concerned with analysing the policy process through which the Commission’s strategy is formulated in light of the Convention on Diversity of Cultural Expressions and of the place of cultural and audiovisual industries within the European Union trade agreements and also concerned with understanding whether the Commission’s autonomy is transformed into influence within the policy process.

Organizaciones regionales y diversidad cultural: la diplomacia de la Unión Europea con el Mercosur entre la sombra de Hollywood y la acción intergubernamental

The aim of the article is double: on the one hand, to explore the EU’s ability to conduct a foreign audiovisual policy towards the Mercosur region and to promote the norms of the Convention on diversity of cultural expressions; on the other hand, to analyze the impact of the EU audiovisual policy model on the development of the Mercosur audiovisual cooperation and to focus on the main forces shaping the Mercosur audiovisual landscape. The article seeks to emphasize why and how the EU pursues an audiovisual foreign policy towards the Mercosur region, for which purposes as well as to highlight the resistances. In this sense, it is more concerned with understanding how the EU’s audiovisual diplomacy interplays with other main factors, such as the governmental action, namely the EU and Mercosur members’ audiovisual diplomacy and the practices of private sector (Hollywood and big media conglomerates).