Dear Colleagues

The Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries at King's College London has the pleasure of hosting the following research seminar on Wednesday 24th January at 4.00pm. All welcome

The Cultural Turn in International Development

Professor J.P. Singh (University of Edinburgh) 

16.00-18.00hrs, 24 January 2018, Strand Building S -2.23

International development efforts in the last 30 years have taken a ‘cultural turn’ at two important levels. At the everyday anthropological level, the cultural turn refers to notions of human well-being that allow people to name their world and live with dignity.  At the level of art and creativity, the cultural turn refers to the importance of creativity, and creative and entertainment industries in meeting human needs.  However, there is a tension between the anthropological and artistic notions of culture in development: the former is favoured at the grassroots and the latter at global and national development agencies.  This presentation will examine the various ways in which the two notions have moved close to or farther away from each other, especially through social media and information technologies. Serious attention to the value-chains of cultural production, especially through participatory processes, closes the gap between global and local aspirations for development.

Bio: J.P. Singh is Chair and Professor of Culture and Political Economy, and Director of the Institute for International Cultural Relations at the University of Edinburgh.  Singh has published 9 books and nearly 100 articles. His latest book is:  Sweet Talk:  Paternalism and Collective Action in North-South Trade Negotiations (Stanford, 2017).  Globalized Arts: The Entertainment Economy and Cultural Identity (Columbia, 2011) won the American Political Science Association’s award for best book in information technology and politics.  His current book project is Development 2.0:  How Technologies Can Foster Inclusivity in the Developing World (Oxford, forthcoming). He is founding Editor of the journal Arts and International Affairs.

Jeanette Steemers

Professor of Culture, Media &

Creative Industries

King’s College London

Strand Campus

London WC2R 2LS