Globality and community in culture and development

Abstract

Communities in the 1990s are facing unprecedented challenges resulting from the scale, speed and depth of economic, political and social change. These are particularly evident in post‐Cold War Europe. The ability of communities or regions to respond to these challenges is also increasingly contingent on culture. The commercialization of culture is also continuing to evolve as one possible response to economic circumstances. As a result, both economic and cultural policy makers are facing new and difficult challenges. In particular, there is a growing need to fuse these two arenas of decision‐making and guidance. This paper looks at some of the principal themes which need to be addressed: the cultural attitudes of the agents of economic development at both the individual and community levels; the internationalization of culture and development; and culture as an economic generator. It reviews some of the trends and issues, and places in context the findings of the case studies presented in this volume.

Keywords:

• culture
• Europe
• development
• community
• locality
• internationalization