Between the lines: locating critical theory at the intersection of trade and cultural policy in Canada

Abstract

In the early 2000’s Canada and France were at the forefront of what appeared to be a counter-hegemonic movement in the rapid creation of the Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions at UNESCO to perceived US cultural hegemony at the World Trade Organization. However, the final Convention lacks the fundamental protections it set out to create and reinforces the commodification of culture and the promotion of cultural industries, rather than challenging commodification or supporting arts and culture. This thesis uses Marxian critical theories to interrogate the nature and form of the Canadian government’s involvement in the creation of the Convention and posits Gramscian evidence of the presence of behaviours of hegemony and resistance to hegemony, the formation of a Weltanschauung (common sense world view) led by organic intellectuals in civil society and demonstrates important instances of trasformismo (absorption of counter-hegemonic ideas) at work.