Category:The Cultural Diplomacy Dictionary

Introduction

“The Cultural Diplomacy Dictionary is aimed at introducing governmental & diplomatic officials, academics & scholars, young professionals & students, artists, civil society & private sector representatives, to contemporary and evolving concepts of cultural diplomacy.” The Cultural Diplomacy Dictionary items have been gathered from a diverse range of literature, including English, American, French, Spanish, Chinese and German. The essential idea was to compile a list of terms that do not already possess a precise definition, and describe them in a way that is more relevant to global politics today.

This Cultural Diplomacy Dictionary also contains references to influential people and organizations that have made significant contributions to cultural diplomacy and related fields, including Cultural Studies, International Relations, Sociology and Anthropology.

Scope & Limitations

One of the major challenges faced when researching terms was finding accurate and consistent information. Many of the websites, although initially appearing to be reliable, contain information that was either inaccurate or out of date. This led to some inaccuracies in the initial drafts. Some of the very specific or more basic terms also lacked information, which is one of the reasons why some definitions are shorter than the rest.

A further challenge was trying to write definitions from an entirely neutral perspective, since several terms were often associated with positive or negative connotations. Moreover, in an attempt to provide readers with up-to-date definitions of terms and concepts referring to current issues, developments, and events, we encountered the challenge of researching on-going academic debates. The analysis and synthesis of different perspectives and approaches on very complex issues often led to fields of knowledge not directly relevant, but highly interconnected with social sciences and cultural studies, highlighting the multifaceted nature of global systems and structures.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned limitations, steps were taken to ensure that information was collected from at least 2-3 reliable sources. The definitions have been written as concisely as possible and examples have also been provided in relevant cases. Where certain concepts are linked to various fields of study, they have only been defined in light of their relevance to culture, development, and international politics.

Acknowledgements

The Cultural Diplomacy Dictionary is edited by Dr. Kishore Chakraborty (Director of Research, The Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies) who also provided guidance and support for the project. A dedicated team from the ICD Academy consisting of Danielle May, Davide Rastelli, Elsa Crowther, Giovanni Tonutti, Jakub Cywin’ski, and Vicky Ramsden, under the supervision of Umamah Basit & Katie Dickmeyer that has been responsible for the entries, the research and the writing for the individual entries. Elvira González-Valles has been responsible for the Book Design.

The project has also help from Ambassador Karl-Erik Norman (Professor at the Centre for Cultural Diplomacy Studies) Ana Maria Bell, Eunyoung Kang and Olli Suominen (M.A. students at the Centre for Cultural Diplomacy Studies). The dictionary is aimed at introducing students, academics, and civil society representatives to contemporary and evolving concepts of cultural diplomacy.

The Dictionary is a project conceived by Riman Vilnius, one of the founders of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD). This current document is the result of his continuing enthusiasm and interest in seeing such a dictionary to publication.