This talk outlines a new interpretation of the making of global cultural policy since 1945. Using UNESCO as a case study, I argue for reading cultural policy in relation to the fate of the globalizing postwar economy. I outline three stages in the history of global cultural policy frameworks – postwar liberal cosmopolitanism, the development age, and the neoliberal “creative economy” era – and relate them to broad cycles of capitalist expansion, stagnation, and crisis.

The talk will be held in the Gordon Wood Lounge (DT 1811), with drinks, snacks and conversation to follow.

All welcome.