Abstract

"Culture" in processes of "development" is more often than not reduced to cultural and creative industries (CCI). As such, culture is now being considered explicitly in the context of international development. The Creative Economy Reports (UNCTAD 2008; 2010 and UNESCO/UNDP 2013) are exemplary of this. My argument in this paper is that the predominantly optimistic CCI discourse may however not be as strongly linked to the “culture and development” school of thought in development studies as it seems on first sight (see e.g. Schech and Haggis 2000 and Yousfi 2007). My aim is to clarify the complex relationship that exists between these approaches.

Bio

Christiaan De Beukelaer, a PhD student from the University of Leeds, is researching cultural industries development in the Global South. 
Christiaan holds a BA in Musicology, masters degrees in Cultural Studies and in Cultures and Development Studies. In 2012, he won the Cultural Policy Research Award for best cultural policy research proposal for young scholars (10.000€). Currently, he is conducting field work in Burkina Faso for his PhD.

Ativity within the research group Cities, Cultures, and Architecture (CCArq)