Culture and Sustainable Development: Beyond the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

Abstract

The 2005 UNESCO Convention provides an explicit link between the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions and sustainable development in Article 13 and development cooperation in Articles 14–18. However, the Convention leaves out broader notions of cultural diversity, which include culture as a way of life and cultural rights (for latter, see Donders, Chapter 8). Therefore, we argue, the reductionist understanding of culture does not necessarily or intrinsically have the potential for sustainable development that is claimed in the 2005 Convention. As a result, the link between the diversity of cultural expressions and sustainability has limited potential for transfor..