The world war against U.S. cultural occupation
Unesco’s 190 members are embrawled in a fight about cultural diversity. On one side are France and Canada, who want to protect their culture from America and insist on "the cultural exception" in world trade. On the other side? America, who says culture best flourishes in “the freedom of the globalized economy.”
“So is this another example of anti-Americanism? The Hollywood lobby has long complained about the protection of the French film industry. But because of that help, France has Europe's only thriving movie industry: Hollywood accounts for about 65 percent of the French box office, compared with 90 percent elsewhere in Europe. Now Denmark, Germany, Britain and Spain are also looking to help their film businesses.”
posted by Adam @ 4:06 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for posting this. I am printing the New York Times piece right now. I was talking to a dear friend about nationalism the other day. On the one hand, we both think nationalism is bad for people and leads to war and sometimes even genocide. On the other hand... if nationalism is used to grow an economy or strengthen an industry, it feels more than benign to the participants. People want to be productive, they want to build not just physical things but networks, industries (like the French movie biz or Canadian publishing)... It is too easy to deride nationalism and too hard to stamp it out because most of us, at some point, find ourselves appreciating its fruits. I speak as a New York Nationalist who is fiercely devoted to building, improving and enhancing her local economy.
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