Extract

Wolfgang Schneider

“Even when many people experience national cultures in a unified manner, there is a danger that they will break lose from their fixed boundaries and be unable to guarantee any commitment to a cultural affiliation. We should not be trying to keep up with such a process. Cultural policies should be dedicated to thinking ahead, opening up new paths and accompanying such a process in a critical manner. I am a great believer in the idea of intercultural learning communities and would like to plead for an open cultural dialogue. However, this should not simply be implemented in foreign policies. It also belongs in development ministries where far too little attention has been given to the social and cultural components of work in so-called third world countries.” (Schneider 1998: 34)

15 years later after the founding of the Department of Cultural Policy at the University of Hildesheim it is time to come back to the subject. In a period of globalisation it is no longer possible to focus on separate national levels of Cultural Policy. We now need an international framework. This is why it is imperative to conduct research into international cultural policies.

It was the world summit conference on “The Power of Culture”, 1998 in Stockholm where the process started. The meeting of more than 100 Ministers of Culture and over 100 arts organisations in civil society was the central initiative behind the “Convention on the Protection and Promotion of...