International organizations and culture : new horizons for policy advice?

The policy advisory community has recently acquired an interest in culture, a domain that has hitherto been perceived as being both exclusive and marginal, but nowadays seen as increasingly central in political, economic and social terms, both by national governments and international organizations. This paper explores the potentials and limits of this domain as regards policy advisory services at the level of multilateral organizations and for this purpose will focus on the priorities and needs of the “United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization” (UNESCO). The paper also addresses the disjuncture between claims for culture made on the basis of broad anthropological readings and the far narrower, arts-focussed frameworks in which it is generally addressed both nationally and inter-governmentally.