Reactik Project

About the project

As culture policy is bonded with economic growth, CP has a great influence on the so called “creative economy”.

Based on ideas rather than physical capital, the creative economy straddles economic, political, social, cultural issues and is at the crossroads of the arts, business and social forces (Van der Pol, 2007). The CP and Creative Economy are derived from an unlimited resource – that of human creativity.

From that perspective it is to assume that the common European cultural agenda seek to utilize the endless growth potential and resources found at the core of every European society. For this purpose, the EU establish ties with many agents in the field of culture such as national cultural institutions, museums, orchestras, festivals and industries via various funding mechanisms.

Globalization, and other economic and social developments in the 21st century have brought the EU to the understanding that a common culture policy should not be applied solely on its MSs, but rather be used as an instrument in its external relations that will enable the EU to promote its interests, economy, norms and values around the world.

Article 167 of TFEU stipulates that the Union and its MS shall foster cooperation with third countries and the competent international organizations in the sphere of culture. In other words, the EU grasps culture as an instrument equal in its importance to political or economic power, hence wish to endeavor its cultural and creative assets to better assert its influence on a global scale.

Under the titles of “European Agenda for Culture in a Globalizing World” and “Engaging the World: Towards Global Cultural Citizenship” The EU promotes a supernational “cultural diplomacy” aiming at achieving its external relations strategic objectives in third countries.

The EU perceives culture as a key element of sustainable development, as it believes that the creative industries can promote reconciliation, growth and freedom of expression on which other fundamental freedoms can be built. Therefore, the ECP has been shaped to achieve a dual mission: first, to foster the social and cultural cohesion within Europe itself and second, an external dimension designed to reach out and influence third countries.

For that aim, an EU Cultural Diplomacy Platform has been established, envisioned to strengthen the EU ability to engage with its partners across the globe: from international organisations, national governments, local authorities, civil society organisations and individual citizens. And indeed, it is evident that the EU has long become a prominent international “partner” to hundreds of cultural endeavors and became an enthusiastic promoter of the “creative industries” and their role in economy.

Based upon state of the art research in EU studies, the network wishes to raise the awareness for this under studied domain in the European Integration studies, and to provide answer for the following questions: What is the role of Cultural Diplomacy in the EU external relations? How can Cultural Diplomacy could be measured and evaluated? How does the EU implement its cultural strategic agenda? What are the tools and instruments used? What is the impact of these actions on non-EU countries? How does the ECP affect the perceptions of non-EU countries on the EU? How does the target countries react to the power put on them, if at all?

All these questions and more will be discussed during a 3 years long project, aiming at establishing a new sub-discipline within the EU studies: European culture diplomacy research.

Partners

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem | Israel
Jawaharlal Nehru University | India
UC University of Canterbury | New Zealand
University of Copenhagen | Denmark
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev | Israel
Jagiellonian University in Kraków | Poland
Waseda University | Japan