Suchergebnisse

This paper discusses the world political situation after the Cold War, as it has become obvious that we live in a world where there is a single superior world power. The United States has an overwhelmingly superior position in the world both militarily and economically, its dominant position is concretely present everywhere on the globe, and the language spoken in the U.S.A. has become the lingua franca of the world. Historically, whenever there has been a sovereign power monopoly, the sovereign power has taken advantage of the situation. This is exactly what we have witnessed in U.S. foreign policy.

This article questions the popular and social science notion of (national) cul ture and the functions of culturespeak. An empirical analysis of the public discussion in Finland during the 1980s and 1990s on national arts and cul ture shows that culture is used as a word that refers to a national way of life and as a synonym for art or other cultural products. Due to changes related to globalization, both dimensions of culturespeak are becoming problem atic. The expansion and deepening of market relations has not only made nation-state cultural protectionism ineffective or impossible but also prob lematized the high-low distinction and affected the underlying notions of the general public. The nationalist rhetoric creates another kind of problem— it is problematic to promote an ethnocultural conception of nationhood and citizenship in today's multicultural Europe and world.

"Notions of social change are often divided into local versus international. But what actually happens at the national level--where policies are ultimately made and implemented--when policymaking is interdependent worldwide? How do policymakers take into account the prior choices of other countries? Far more research is needed on the process of interdependent decision-making in the world polity.National Policy-Making: Domestication of Global Trends offers a unique set of hybrid cases which straddle these disciplinary and conceptual divides. The volume brings together well-researched case studies of policy-making from across the world, which speak to practical issues but also challenge current theories of global influence in local policies. Distancing itself from approaches which conceive narrowly of policy transfer as a 'one-way street' from powerful nations to weaker ones, this book argues instead for an understanding of national decision-making processes that emphasise cross-national comparisons and domestic field battles around the introduction of worldwide models. The case studies in this collection show how national policies appear to be synchronised globally, yet are developed with distinct 'national' flavours. Presenting new theoretical ideas and empirical cases, this book is aimed globally at scholars of political science, international relations, comparative public policy, and sociology"--

The article studies UNESCO's program that, from the late 1960s onward, aimed at spreading globally the concept of cultural policy. An essential part of the program, UNESCO invited member states from different regions of the world to prepare reports on national cultural policy. That was successful in spreading cultural policy as a concept and as a governmental structure. Except for only Australia, Canada and the United States, in which cultural policy is handled at a sub-state level, all countries that produced a national report have established a ministry of culture, typically synchronously with the report. The analysis suggests that UNESCO's success was due to two factors: the process of domestication and peer pressure. This means that, for one thing, the UNESCO materials stressed differences rather than similarities, and therefore the program was not seen as a threat to national sovereignty. Rather than mentioning the program's contribution to structural isomorphism, the documents stressed that developing and reporting on a national cultural policy are means to support and promote national art and cultural heritage. Secondly, diffusion of the concept of cultural policy benefitted from international comparisons enabled by the national reports and the tendency of countries to emulate others, especially those belonging to the same reference group. These two factors were results of strategic planning on UNESCO's part. Experienced in seeking to guide national policies, the UNESCO staff members could anticipate the challenges that the program could face and the processes that different moves could trigger. ; publishedVersion ; Peer reviewed

The article studies UNESCO's program that, from the late 1960s onward, aimed at spreading globally the concept of cultural policy. An essential part of the program, UNESCO invited member states from different regions of the world to prepare reports on national cultural policy. That was successful in spreading cultural policy as a concept and as a governmental structure. Except for only Australia, Canada and the United States, in which cultural policy is handled at a sub-state level, all countries that produced a national report have established a ministry of culture, typically synchronously with the report. The analysis suggests that UNESCO's success was due to two factors: the process of domestication and peer pressure. This means that, for one thing, the UNESCO materials stressed differences rather than similarities, and therefore the program was not seen as a threat to national sovereignty. Rather than mentioning the program's contribution to structural isomorphism, the documents stressed that developing and reporting on a national cultural policy are means to support and promote national art and cultural heritage. Secondly, diffusion of the concept of cultural policy benefitted from international comparisons enabled by the national reports and the tendency of countries to emulate others, especially those belonging to the same reference group. These two factors were results of strategic planning on UNESCO's part. Experienced in seeking to guide national policies, the UNESCO staff members could anticipate the challenges that the program could face and the processes that different moves could trigger. ; peerReviewed

The article analyses how the implementation of early childhood education plans in Finland is linked with international trends and what happens in the process through which such worldwide ideals are domesticated to the local conditions. Through a detailed analysis of different stages of the process, the article sheds light on the question of how, to what extent and at which levels the national path of change is converged with those in other countries. The results show that the early childhood education system has not fully met its declared objectives. However, it is emphasized that declared objectives of a reform must not be confused with the 'original', perhaps worldwide model, which is then contrasted with actual practices. Similarly, the actual form that the new practices assume must not be mistaken for the effect of a genuinely national tradition. Rather, the ideals and objectives stated in the documents related to the reform in question must be seen as part of the political process and of a global form of governance that the reformed policy represents. Not only the model being domesticated but the rationalities, counterarguments and forms of resistance which different parties invoke to defend their interests are often transnational.