CYIL 2014

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW…

Lilian Richieri Hanania (ed.) Cultural Diversity in International Law: The Effectiveness of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions [Kulturní rozmanitost v mezinárodním právu: Efektivita Úmluvy UNESCO o ochraně a podpoře rozmanitosti kulturních projevů] “An intriguing instrument” (Ruiz Fabri, xvii), the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (hereinafter “CDCE”) was adopted in October 2005 (entered into force in March 2007) to promote cultural policies in response to the “culture and trade debate”. The latter reflects on the opposition existing between, on one hand, the will to maintain policy space for cultural policies and, on the other hand, the non-discrimination principle typically governing trade instruments (Richieri Hanania, Ruiz Fabri, 1). Today, the CDCE counts 133 State parties and has been also ratified by the European Union (as well as by all the EU members). The book under review aims at bringing broader awareness of the CDCE among the public and assessing, almost a decade following the CDCE signature, the overall impact that this still relatively novel instrument brings into the legal as well as non-legal practice. Opening with a foreword authored by Professor Hélène Ruiz Fabri, this book offers several aspects which make it an interesting read. Firstly, it results from the cooperation of experts coming from different countries and different professional backgrounds. While some of them are lawyers, others are experts in political or social science. Lilian Richieri Hanania, the editor of the book, has hence succeeded in pulling together an international team whose expertise reaches beyond the area of law. This makes the book, as whole, an interdisciplinary endeavor. Secondly, the reader will find specific practical suggestions that each of the contributors to the book formulates so as to enhance the presence or clarify the legal status of the CDCE. Following the introductory remarks co-authored by Lilian Richieri Hanania and Professor Hélène Ruiz Fabri, the book divides into two main parts that make the nineteen contributions to the book evolve around the impact of the CDCE on the “culture and trade” debate and in other areas of international law (Part I) as well as on areas not related to the specificity of the cultural goods and services, as international cooperation and development policies (Part II). Accordingly, the first part of the book looks into the recognition, by other international organizations, of the specific (cultural and economic) nature of cultural goods and services. Ten contributions composing this part of the book are further divided into two subsections: the first one looks into questions such as the effects of the CDCE on trade negotiations; the role for the CDCE following the China- Routledge, 2014, 320 p.

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