Description
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Free Trade and Cultural Diversity in International Law by Jingxia Shi
This book seeks to reconcile free trade and cultural diversity in an era of economic globalisation. It first shows how culture may be seen in different ways and explains why we should care about cultural diversity. It then examines the challenges facing policymakers in formulating cultural measures in the new media environment and analyses UNESCOs 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 WTOs judicial practice and the treatment of culture by the 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.