Tony Bennett, Differing diversities - Council of Europe

Differing diversitiescircumstances of indigenous cultural production. 1 Be this as it may, many indigenouseconomies are now so locked into cultural tourism that the development ofculturally appropriate ways of managing this industry is likely to be essential fortheir future viability.The third area focuses more on the activities of audiences than producers, andconcerns the roles which the new media – video, satellite and cable television, andthe Internet – play in the cultural practices of minority communities. The evidencefrom a range of studies suggests that the rates of use of these media are unusuallyhigh among the members of such communities. This suggests, in turn, that the newmedia play a significant role in the organisation of the international networks andcultural flows on which the maintenance of diasporic cultures depends. 2 It is alsoclear, in some jurisdictions, that these patterns of use are driven by an active dissatisfactionwith the range of diversity on offer in public and commercial free-toairchannels. These preferences of culturally diverse communities as consumers inthe media marketplace are clearly of relevance to the role that the development offuture policies for the new media can play in enhancing cultural diversity. 3Culture, policy and everyday lifeIt is clear from the issues reviewed so far in this section that a cultural policy fordiversity cannot be just an arts policy in view of the central role played by themedia – new and old – in the practices of diversity. But nor will cultural policiesfor diversity prove adequate if they are conceived as simply arts plus media policies.Account has also to be taken of the ways in which cultural activities are knittedinto the fabric of everyday life; of the ways in which ethnically-marked differencesin cultural tastes, values and behaviours inform not just artistic and mediapreferences but are embedded in the daily rhythms of different ways of life; and ofthe ways in which these connect with other relevant social characteristics – thoseof class and gender, for example.The issues that such a broadened perspective opens up often go beyond the immediateremit of arts and cultural ministries. The question of work cultures and therole that these can play in fostering racial hatred is an example, although theseissues clearly connect with debates about the role of legislation or media regulationin prohibiting incitement to racial hatred and violence, or the measures that mightbe taken to reduce the racial vilification and abuse that is often associated withspectator sports. Other issues have to do with the implications of different religiousbelief systems as these are translated into different norms and values for the conductof everyday life, and the social tensions and conflicts these can occasion.__________1. See research position paper 5: “The implications of the legal environment for cultural diversity policies”by Mira T. Sundara Rajan for a discussion of the issues involved here.2. See research position paper 6: “The role of the media in the cultural practices of diasporic communities”by Annabelle Sreberny for a discussion of the relevant literature here.3. These issues are considered in research position paper 1: “The consequences of European mediapolicies and organisational structures for cultural diversity” by Denis McQuail, but see also Collins andMurroni, 1996.60