The Cosmopolitan Homo Economicus and the Global Cultural Economy: Remarks from a Postcolonial Perspective

It is commonly asserted that the global creative economy has a great potential to foster economic, social and cultural development in developed and developing countries. This chapter is largely sympathetic to the notion of a fruitful link between social and economic advancement on the one hand, and cultural and creative practices on the other hand. There does however remain a crucial paradox in the claims that are made pertaining to developing countries. Following the increased attention for culture in development thinking it is argued that the cultural and creative economies (CCIs) foster economic and social development. However, there is a simultaneous call for a greater rationalization of the entrepreneurial aspects of this creative economy, which echoes thinking much in line with Western modernization theory. As such, the cultural complexity of societies and communities is by and large neglected when commoditizing culture and creativity through the CCIs. The way in which the international reports on CCIs largely call for rationalization and further economization of the sector worldwide is challenged. Accordingly, an attempt is made to provide an initial theoretical framework, influenced by postcolonial studies, through which greater understanding of the complexity of ‘culture’ in both cultural and creative industries might be achieved.

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