The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) was adopted in 2005 and designed to allow States to protect and promote cultural policies. This book examines the effectiveness of the CDCE and offers ways by which its implementation may be improved to better attain its objectives. The book provides insight in how the normative character of the CDCE may be strengthened through implementation and increasingly recurrent practice based on its provisions. Hailing from various fields of international law, political and social sciences, the book’s contributors work to promote discussions on the practical and legal influence of the CDCE, and to identify opportunities and recommendations for a more effective application. Part One of the book assesses the effectiveness of the CDCE in influencing other areas of international law and the work conducted by other intergovernmental organizations through the recognition of the double nature (cultural and economic) of cultural goods and services. Part Two focuses on the practice of the CDCE beyond the recognition of the specificity of cultural goods and services in international law by addressing the CDCE’s call for greater international cooperation and stronger integration of cultural concerns in development strategies at the national and regional levels. The book will be of great use and interest to academics and practitioners in law, social and political sciences, agents of governmental and international organizations, and cultural sector stakeholders.

Drawing from a comprehensive review of legal instruments, practice, jurisprudence and literature, and using a multidisciplinary approach, this unique book brings forth the full spectrum of cultural rights, as individual and collective human rights, and offers a compelling vision for public policy.

This volume explores the recent evolution of cultural heritage law which has resulted in the emergence of a new international conscience, rooted in the awareness that cultural heritage represents a holistic notion strongly connected with the identity of peoples.

This collection of essays pays homage to the multifarious and enduring work of Kalliopi K. Koufa, the first woman to become Professor of International Law in Greece. The volume brings together 37 contributions of renowned international law scholars from all over the world on a wide spectrum of important contemporary theoretical and practical issues. The essays reflect the multiple faces, the expanding scope and diversity of contemporary international law. Areas covered include the use of force, dispute settlement, international criminal law, international environmental law and, most notably, terrorism and human rights, areas on which the work of Professor Koufa in the United Nations and elsewhere has been particularly influential.

Bringing together academics and private international lawyers from a wide range of jurisdictions and institutions, this volume explores how private international law can best contribute to the development of the global legal architecture needed to integrate our emerging multicultural world society.

This book attempts to reconcile the concept of free trade with a key non-trade social value - cultural diversity - in an era of economic globalisation. It first shows how we can look at culture in many different ways, and explains why we should care about cultural diversity. The book then examines the challenges that policymakers are faced with in formulating cultural measures in the new media environment, and analyses UNESCO's theories and approaches to cultural diversity. This is followed by a comprehensive examination of the treatment of 'culture' in global and regional trade agreements, including the framework of the GATT/WTO system, the WTO's judicial practice involving cultural products, and the treatment of culture under the EC/EU and NAFTA. This identifies the challenges trade norms encounter in dealing with cultural products. The author seeks to formulate a balanced view of the challenge of protecting and promoting cultural diversity while also recognising the important goal of trade liberalisation. To this end Professor Shi proposes a dual method through which the norms found in WTO agreements and in UNESCO cultural instruments may be brought into alignment: the first highlighting the compatibility of cultural policy measures with trade obligations on a domestic level, the second suggesting potential linkages between the WTO rules and the UNESCO Convention from the perspectives of treaty interpretation.

Cultural genocide is the systematic destruction of traditions, values, language, and other elements that make one group of people distinct from another.Cultural genocide remains a recurrent topic, appearing not only in the form of wide-ranging claims about the commission of cultural genocide in diverse contexts but also in the legal sphere, as exemplified by the discussions before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and also the drafting of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These discussions have, however, displayed the lack of a uniform understanding of the concept of cultural genocide and thus of the role that international law is expected to fulfil in this regard. The Concept of Cultural Genocide: An International Law Perspective details how international law has approached the core idea underlying the concept of cultural genocide and how this framework can be strengthened and fostered. It traces developments from the early conceptualisation of cultural genocide to the contemporary question of its reparation. Through this journey, the book discusses the evolution of various branches of international law in relation to both cultural protection and cultural destruction in light of a number of legal cases in which either the concept of cultural genocide or the idea of cultural destruction has been discussed. Such cases include the destruction of cultural and religious heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the forced removals of Aboriginal children in Australia and Canada, and the case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to Indigenous and tribal groups' cultural destruction.

What is the role of ethno-cultural groups in human rights discourse? Under international human rights law, standards are unclear and ambivalent, while traditional analyses have often failed to elucidate and unpack the conceptual, legal, and policy complexities involved. In Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Human Rights, prominent experts chart new territory by addressing contested dimensions of the field. They include the impact of collective interests on rights discourse and nation-building, international law’s responses to group demands for decision-making authority, and concerns for immigration, intersectionality, and peacebuilding. Drawing from diverse scholarship in international law, legal and moral philosophy, and political science, this volume will be essential reading for scholars and practitioners of human rights, diversity, and conflict management.

This book explores the objects, means and ends of international cultural heritage protection. It starts from a broad conception of cultural heritage that encompasses both tangible property, such as museum objects or buildings, and intangible heritage, such as languages and traditions. Cultural heritage thus defined is protected by various legal regimes, including the law of armed conflicts, UNESCO Conventions and international criminal law. With a view to strengthening international protection, the authors analyze existing regimes and elaborate innovative concepts, such as blue helmets of culture and safe havens for endangered cultural heritage. Finally, the ends of international protection come to the fore, and the authors address possible conflicts between protecting cultural diversity and wishes to strengthen cultural identity.

The 2005 UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity is a landmark agreement in modern international law of culture. It reflects the diverse and pluralist understanding of culture, as well as its growing commercial dimension. Thirty diplomats, practitioners and academics explain and assess this important agreement in a commentary style. Article by article, the evolution, concepts, contents and implications of the Convention are analysed in depth and are complemented by valuable recommendations for implementation. In an unprecedented way, the book draws on the first-hand insights of negotiators and on the experience of practitioners in implementation, including international cooperation, and combines this with a good deal of critical academic reflection. It is a valuable guide for those who deal with the Convention and its implementation in governments, diplomacy, international organizations, cultural institutions and non-governmental organizations and will also serve as an important resource for academic work in such fields as international law and international relations.