"[...] If Afghanistan is to avoid a renewal of civil war, there is no viable alternative to Taliban rule and Taliban dialogue. Engagement with the Taliban in terms of urgently needed humanitarian aid opens avenues for cooperation in the field of cultural foreign policy and civil society support. Her
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e, the Taliban are especially open to support in the educational sector. Education, including for women, is a widespread demand in Afghanistan, even in the rural areas. As a member of civil society stressed, the Taliban are not ready to accept political activities but seem so far result-oriented in what concerns practical improvements for the Afghan population. Under seemingly non-political activities, for example competitions about daily life concerns like waste or water management, independent thinking and the respect of human rights can still be fostered. Generally, activities can be promoted with Afghan and Islamic references acceptable to the Taliban mindset. Fostering women’s rights, for example, can be done by giving the examples of the wives of the prophet Mohammed and of the relative freedoms of women in Saudi Arabia and Iran, who have more rights than those under the previous Taliban regime. As one participant states “the only progressive ideas which can be ingrained in Afghan society need to be somehow referring to internal cultural heritage Afghan and/or Islamic”. In this context, a lot of venues can be explored. Herat, for example was a major cultural centre over centuries. Afghans know also very little of the significance of historically important Islamic cities like Bukhara or Samarkand in neighbouring Uzbekistan, despite the fact that a sizable proportion of the Afghan population are Uzbek. Even more significant is the fact that Afghans who are very attached to their religion know very little of the achievement of the golden age Arabo-Islamic culture in science like mathematics, geography, astronomy, medicine or architecture or literature. There are also some classical art forms through which we can engage with the Taliban, such as poetry, as well as opportunities in contemporary comedy, where a certain criticism can be voiced and tolerated. The interplay of new and traditional media also provides unique opportunities in terms of education and human rights. Here DW-TV, Radio and internet activities can play an important role. Independent initiatives should also be promoted. These can offer considerable opportunities to connect regional civil society actors, which for one of the interviewees is one of the most effective ways of engagement “for example, feminist groups of neighbouring countries which supported feminist groups in Afghanistan”. (Conclusion, page 17)
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"This paper sets out to challenge the dominant narrative of the creative economy as a new option for developing countries. The much-vaunted growth rates proclaimed by UNCTAD’s Creative Economy Programme have slowed, and are seen to apply to a particular kind of manufactured good, as well as being
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overwhelmingly dominated by Asia, and especially China. This paper tries to unpick the dominant creative economy model of entrepreneurship, creative human capital and open market opportunity and suggests that – other than in East Asia – it is business as usual for the Global North. The creative economy not only fails to deliver its promise of development but has profound consequences for local cultures, caught up in an ever more global web of exploitation driven by the new digital platforms. We need to return to the earlier concerns of ‘culture and development’ now fully aware of the downsides, as well as the potential, of cultural economies in an uncertain global landscape." (Page 1)
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"Christiaan scrutinizes existing concepts of cultural and creative industries, as applied in public policies in African countries and largely inluenced by programmes of intergovernmental development agencies. He then searches for empirical evidence of their true value for human development. He looks
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into the role of the music industries in Ghana and Burkina Faso in particular and in doing so is able to draw conclusions on the potential and deicits in the existing development approaches for these areas. He considers the cultural industries as a source for diversity that goes beyond the economic debate on growth, and looks into possibilities to build more organic relations between existing concepts, policies and practices. This research will undoubtedly advance cultural policy thinking and debate in Europe on three levels: it gives an insight into the way a European debate resonates and has a meaning in a global perspective; it advances the empirical understanding of the cultural industries in West Africa and; it challenges the extent to which European action can and should inform progress of the cultural industries elsewhere." (Foreword, page 10)
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"This edition is “special” as it provides a rich body of evidence demonstrating local creative economy decision makers and stakeholders in action that did not exist before. The evidence and analysis are presented in two formats: in this printed report and in a new webdocumentary that accompanies
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this publication, capturing the dynamism of the creative economy in developing countries. Case studies are provided across the global South from the Asia and the Pacific region to the Arab world, from Africa to Latin America and the Caribbean. This is strengthened by the first portfolio analysis of the impact of initiatives funded through the UNDP-Spain Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund Thematic Window on Culture and Development and the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity demonstrating that local decisions makers are shaping their own creative economy development pathways." (Foreword, page 10-11)
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"En el libro que ofrecemos al lector se realiza un análisis detenido de la situación actual de las industrias culturales, sobre todo en la perspectiva de su influencia en los procesos de desarrollo, y se analiza lo que esta agencia se ha propuesto al definir a las relaciones entre cultura y desarr
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ollo como una de sus estrategias fundamentales de cooperación. Lo hace mostrando las posibilidades que tienen los países de fortalecer y redistribuir sus ingresos, incentivando, a través de políticas públicas y planes concretos, las industrias culturales. Éstas generan rentabilidad y empleo, resaltan la creatividad local y encuentran fortalezas en las culturas locales. Pero también este libro advierte claramente que la cultura no se reduce a su versión industrial, ni es solamente un asunto comercial y del mercado. Los productos culturales son mucho más que mercancías. Son soporte de la cohesión social y la democracia." (Prólogo, página 11)
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"La relación entre comunicación y cultura es un binomio indisoluble, buscar una fórmula equitativa en el perfeccionamiento del mismo, asumir que la participación constituye una de las dimensiones principales de la sociedad de la información; o que la planificación de objetivos en los países e
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n desarrollo ha de estar presente en cada etapa que se aborde son, entre otros atractivos temas, objetivo del análisis de este provocador ensayo, que abre nuevas perspectivas de debate y sitúa la discusión en los fines más ambiciosos de la cooperación internacional al desarrollo." (Tapa posterior)
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