Culture and Economy

Contemporary Perspectives

Ullrich Kockel

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138719262
• eBook ISBN: 9781351764124
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This title was first published in 2002. For many regions, 'culture' is considered the only viable resource they have for economic development. Neo-liberalist economics has become the dominant paradigm across a wide range of cultural contexts, while the cultural contingency of this paradigm itself has been obscured. In offering an empirically grounded anthropological critique of these issues, the volume makes an original contribution to the international debate on culture and economy. The case studies shed light on everyday practices used to establish culture's economic 'value', and concepts of 'culture' and 'economy' employed by policy decision-makers are scrutinized through studies of strategies and policies at various levels. Aspects of economy, such as the market, are examined as cultural constructs in a historical context. Illustrated by international case studies, the volume provides a compelling and insightful survey of the theories and practices that shape the polyvalent relationships between culture and economy in the twenty-first century.

1 Culture and Economy: A Brief Introduction

Ullrich Kockel

Since the mid-1980s - the period leading up to the Maastricht Treaty and the re-invention of the 'European Economic Community' (EEC) as 'European Union' (EU) - 'culture' has become something of a buzzword in European integration and regional planning, and at the same time a kind of battle cry for regions and groups seeking a greater measure of self-determination. For many of the so-called 'peripheral' regions, 'culture' is considered the only viable resource they have for economic development. Yet the actual concept of 'culture', as used in this context, has remained rather oblique. At the same time, neo-liberal economics has become the dominant paradigm across a wide range of cultural contexts, while the cultural contingency of that paradigm itself is being obscured.

Having come to European ethnology from a background in economics, I find this trend particularly fascinating. In much of twentieth century discourse, 'culture' and 'economy' have been represented in juxtaposition, if not indeed as an outright contradiction of terms. The spectrum of debate ranges from the formalist-substantivist dispute in economic anthropology to the Frankfurt School's critique of the 'cultural industry', to the fin de siècle 'cultural turn' in practically every humanities and social sciences discipline. Towards the end of the century this debate became increasingly esoteric, as the fashionable constructionist approach to just about everything encouraged the hegemony of literary criticism as the chief epistemology of these disciplines, requiring the textualisation of the practices and phenomena of everyday life for analytical purposes. From the perspective of European ethnology, Orvar Löfgren (2001) and others have criticised this ontologisation of 'text' to the neglect of 'lived experience', which they regard as the proper ontological foundation for cultural inquiry. At the same time, 'culture' at precisely the level of lived experience became more and more instrumentalised and commodified.

The area where these processes attracted most attention initially was probably tourism, as many regions located some distance away from the sun-and-sand mainstays of mass tourism saw the promotion of 'heritage' or 'cultural' tourism as a viable alternative, to make up for a shortfall in industrial development (cf. Kockel 1994). With this type of tourism together with the increasing affordability of far-flung exotic destinations - reducing the income of traditional sun-and-sand resorts, these have also begun to discover their culture and heritage as a resource for development (see Nogues in this volume).

As research on culture and economy accelerated, it soon became clear that, on the one hand, the instrumentalisation and commodification of 'culture' is by no means restricted to tourism while, on the other hand, there are other, equally if not more complex issues concerning the relationship between culture and economy that needed to be examined, and from different disciplinary perspectives paying greater attention to people's lived experience than to any trendy analytic text (cf. Kockel 2002). The 1990s saw the growth of practical concerns with regard to this problematic, as they found expression, for example, in the conferences organised under the EU's PACTE programme (Kilday 1998). By the end of the decade, research in this field had reached a stage where it seemed necessary to try and survey work in progress with a view to identifying key strands of a research programme. This is mainly being done through workshops and conferences, and first outputs from these are beginning to appear in print (e.g., du Gay and Pryke 2002). The present volume brings together contributions from two such meetings, as well as a number of invited essays.

Culture and Economy in Contemporary Europe

At the 2000 conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) in Krakow, a panel surveyed theories and practices that shape cultural and economic relationships in Europe at the threshold of the twenty-first century. The contributors investigated the culture/economy nexus within a specifically European context primarily from three angles. Case studies of territorially and non-territorially based groups shed light on the everyday practices associated with the envaluation of culture in the context and for the purposes of economic development. These were complemented by case studies of organisations and institutions involved in the design and implementation of economic strategies and policies at various levels, scrutinising the concepts of 'culture' and 'economy' employed at the level of policy decision making.

A third perspective was offered by theoretical contributions examining aspects of economy, such as the market, or homo oeconomicus, as cultural constructs in their historical context, considering 'mainstream' economics as well as 'folk' models of the economy. Critics of neo-liberal economics have often pointed out that it seems to have assumed the role of a secular religion, and this critique of the cultural function of economics led to the theme for a second meeting.

Economics as Folklore

Anthropologists and economic historians working with an ethnological perspective have long argued that the economy is culturally contingent. Taking this argument one step further, a panel at the 2001 conference of the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF) in Budapest examined the premise that economics as we commonly know it - that is, the dominant neo-liberal paradigm that pervades policy making and lays claim to being a universal explanatory framework for all spheres of life - can itself be analysed in much the same way as other oral or literary traditions of everyday life, that is, as folklore. Economics abounds with superstitions and moral imperatives in disguise, affirming Hie societal code of values and conduct we are supposed to live by. Thus it serves as a quasi-religious belief system in our secularised world. The legitimacy of such systems is maintained either by their congruence with experienced, everyday actuality, or by powerful interests.

Contributions to this session concentrated on two aspects. Case studies of aspects of everyday life investigated how people try to make sense of economic imperatives' in their lived experience. How effectively is the code of values and conduct transmitted in everyday practice? How is it adapted and changed in economic interaction? How far, and in what forms, does it penetrate into various non-economic spheres of life? To what extent is the economic belief system congruent with the experienced, everyday actuality at the local level? What contribution does it make to the construction of localities, local identities, or power structures, and to their interaction across local and wider contexts? What are the power structures that maintain or modify the hegemonic view at this level, how do they work, and what determines their success or failure?

Some contributions looked at economic discourse itself in its academic, media and public policy form, analysing a range of economic texts with the tools of folklore study. The purpose of this was to establish whether and to what extent treating economics as folklore can shed light on some of the pressing socio-economic problems of contemporary life. Intended as a critique of ideology, the discussion aimed to highlight the contribution European ethnology might be able to make to a better understanding of issues and processes that will shape our everyday lives in the new century. The session also raised questions regarding the production of ethnological knowledge, and the consequent (potential) role of the ethnologist in the shaping of political processes. This, together with questions raised by contributions on the stock market (de Montoya and Hartwig in this volume), and on heritage-related policy (Hale, Johler, Nic Craith and Nogués in this volume), has led to the theme for a further workshop, on 'Heritage Futures', at the 2002 EASA conference in Copenhagen.

Outline of the Book

The present volume brings together, revised and thematically arranged, contributions to the first two workshops. Several interesting papers could not be included, for various reasons. A number of additional essays were invited, to cover specific aspects of the overall theme. The volume presents different disciplinary perspectives, with most contributors coming from social/cultural anthropology, European ethnology, folklore, or a combination of these. Other disciplines include economics, geography, history and linguistics.

Social Economy in Transition

The first three essays examine instances of the transition between different economic circumstances. Caldwell's study of food poverty in Russia puts the impact of the celebrated 'end of history' under the ethnographic microscope, looking at a society where the certainty of work with its however limited prospects of life-chances has radically disappeared. Foreign aid policies are shown as being informed by circumstances and models of the economy that are quite removed from the everyday lived experience of local people in Moscow. Thus the food aid issue 'represents a larger debate over the relation between economy and society'.

While the poverty witnessed in Moscow does not (yet) have its parallels in the Austrian town of Eisenerz, Moser's study of a declining Alpine mining community highlights underlying processes of change that are not entirely dissimilar. In both cases, global market forces are seen as having destroyed the certainties that came with an established mode of production and exchange. In the Austrian case, these certainties had a basis in the reliance on a single industrial sector rather than, overtly at least, a particular political system. For people who are struggling to survive economically, the distinction may be purely academic, the point being that, in both cases, they have lost what they regarded as the bedrock of their social economy.

The changing meaning of work as a result of much wider economic transformation is a theme continued by Jancius, who looks at work creation schemes in the context of post-Communism. Her case study of Leipzig shows a society where the unification of political territories into a new German state has not only replaced the political system of the eastern part with that of the western one, but swept away many, if perhaps not all of the remnants of the social market economy that once made West Germany a Wirtschaftswunderland. At the same time, we see individuals and organisations trying to balance a vaguely remembered social ethic that underpinned that economy with the "rags to riches' folk tales of neo-liberalism, to create an interpretive framework that might help them cope with their changed circumstances.

Images of the Market

The next three chapters draw our attention from the changing fortunes of individuals in a transitory social economy more to the market itself. Elevated to the status of a divine principle by economic ideologues who persistently misread the moral philosophy of Adam Smith as gospel, the market is presented both in textbooks and in political broadcasts as the panacea for all (or most) that is considered wrong in modern society. Good examples of how markets are supposed to function are found in regular marketing events, such as trade fairs, and in more regular activities, such as the daily trading at the stock exchange.

Montoya discusses how culture affects perceptions of financial markets among shareholders in Sweden, and how this influences shareholders' actions within these markets. Visions of a 'society of shareholders' clash with other ideals of society, including those of the contemporary radical critics of global capitalism, but also the concept, strongly developed in Sweden, of a socially responsible economy. In her conclusion, the author refers to the same ideological balancing act earlier contributors identify, between communal and individual goals of economic activity.

Hartwig's ethnography of shareholders in one particular US stock market company reveals some of the superstitions with which people approach trading in this particular market. Given that the stock market has considerably more bearing on people's life-chances than the average spring bazaar at a community centre (which otherwise may also serve as a good example of how markets may function), this chapter serves as a salutary reminder that there is more than one kind of rationality, and that homo oeconomicus does not become 'irrational' economic man (or woman) just because he or she relies on a bit of magic to deliver the goods.

After the lofty heights of financial markets, Goldenberg's essay takes us back to the former Eastern Bloc, and to trade in material objects, in this case art and craft products using precious stone. Her study of a trade fair casts light on how the Polish amber industry tries to continue its craft tradition in a globalising economy, while illustrating the construction of place with reference to a particular combination of culture and economy, a theme that is picked up again in the next group of essays.

Constructing Places and Spaces by Culture Contact

Keeping the focus on craft traditions in a globalising economy - in this case textile production - and remaining in the former Eastern Bloc, Savoniakaitė takes the case of emigrants to examine how, in situations of culture contact conditioned by economic change, the interplay of economy and culture can erode and, at the same time, protect cultural traditions by creating in-between spaces where, in this instance, emigrants produce 'heritage' goods to meet a demand in their homeland. While this helps to preserve certain traditional styles, it lets migrants engage creatively with the host society. Textile styles and patterns become signs of belonging elsewhere in space and time, but, if one follows the author's argument, this rooted-ness is looking forward at least as much as backward. Migrants can thus live quasi with one foot in each of two cultural worlds. In the first decade after the end of the Soviet Union, this diversity may have been especially appreciated. Whether the Utopian vision of a postmodern identikit as a solution to problems of assimilation and acculturation will survive the resurgence of xenophobia across Europe remains to be seen.

Fear of the Other, as xenophobia may be translated, has characterised intercultural relations in many borders regions for a long time, and the Polish borders are no exception here, Kennard examines the Euroregions that have been created along these borders in preparation for Poland's accession to the EU to assess how co-operation across a state border, inspired if not exactly forced by economic benefits expected from EU membership, is used to support cultural interchange in areas marked by a long and violent history of ethnic and political conflict. It is worth considering, in this context, the similarities and differences between those regions straddling the border with Germany, and those that connect with other Slavonic countries.

Culture contact of a different kind is the subject of Nogués' discussion of tourism-related policies in Andalusia. Once one of the sun-spots of international tourism, the region has been trying in recent years to re-invent itself as a cultural tourism product. The study explores how the Andalusian territory is being converted into spaces and places where the tourist and the local negotiate new Andalusias, which are a commodified version of the region, but at the same time have the potential for being more than that. To utilise this potential creatively is, Nogués suggests, one of the key challenges for policy makers.

‘Branding’ Culture

As culture is being turned into a commodity for consumption, regions trying to capitalise on their culture and heritage are concerned with developing their specific brand for marketing their product globally. Hale considers the case of Cornwall, a region on the 'Celtic Fringe' of northwest Europe. Tradition in Cornwall means the Celtic past, but also includes an image of the region as a cradle of the industrial revolution. In popular perception, the two images are not easily reconciled. To some extent, this has to do with a different kind of 'branding' - the stigmatising of the Celtic regions and their traditional culture as 'backward', and associated with poverty.

Nic Craith demonstrates this type of branding with specific reference to another Celtic region, Ireland. Her essay shows how stigmatisation of the language in particular went hand in hand with the depopulation of the island through famine and emigration. Whereas 'Irish culture' as a brand has been doing very well in the global market place for some time, this does not extend to 'Irish' as a language. Given the global success of 'Irish' as a brand, the author makes a case for including the language more proactively. Her conclusion highlights what is perhaps the greatest impediment to such a strategy - the everyday use of English, with its connotations of modernity and prosperity, in preference to Irish, associated with poverty and backwardness. Disregard for its linguistic heritage makes Ireland, in the author's view, merely an island off the shore of its cultural 'mainland', that is, Great Britain.

From a development studies perspective, Saville examines the global association of indigenous languages with poverty in contrast to the perceived link between English and prosperity. She reviews the situation in a number of developing countries with regard to language policies and elite attitudes, and looks in detail at the representation of English as a source of social and economic advancement. Hie language issue, both in the Irish/European and in the Third World context,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• List of Contributors
• 1 Culture and Economy: A Brief Introduction
• 2 The Social Economy of Food Poverty in Russia
• 3 Strategies and Tactics of Economic Survival: De-Industrialisation, Work, and Change in an Alpine Mining Community
• 4 Social Markets and the Meaning of Work in Eastern Germany
• 5 Constructing Shareholders: Images of Individual Investors in Stockholm
• 6 Magic and the Market: A Case Study of Warren Buffett and Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway
• 7 Tradition in the Market Place: An Ethnographic Study of a Polish Amber Tradeshow
• 8 Traditional Textiles and Economic Development: Lithuanian Groups in Latvia's Border Regions
• 9 Transboundary Co-Operation as a Vehicle for Cultural Interchange: A Case Study of Poland
• 10 Culture, Transactions, and Profitable Meanings: Tourism in Andalusia
• 11 Creating a Cornish Brand: Discourses of 'Traditionality' in Cornish Economic Regeneration Strategies
• 12 'The Tiger No Longer Speaks Celtic': Economic Conditioning and the Irish Language
• 13 Language and Equity: A Development Perspective
• 14 The EU as Manufacturer of Tradition and Cultural Heritage
• 15 Culture and Economy: Towards an Agenda for Further Research
• Index