The pandemic that has been going on for over a year now is exacerbating existing political, social and economic crises. While the urgency of the climate emergency might be recognised by four major international negotiations this year, this and other global crises are also causing further polarisation in societies and being exploited by some for cultural manipulation.
These struggles may be understood as cumulativ or related. Reactions might deepen sectorial governance, or, on the other hand, they might open opportunities to re-imagine and reconceive the spatiality, economy and social formation of international relations. Long-term transformations in geopolitical power distribution, in struggles for social equality and thus even in the very project of modernity might be in sight.
What are 'good' cultural relations practices under these circumstances? How do different cultural actors and academic disciplines conceptualise such processes of (re-)ordering? Are new spaces, new alliances, new network formations, new concepts of belonging evolving?
Researchers, practitioners, policy makers and others interested in the above topics and questions are warmly invited to join ICRRA members to discuss international cultural relations under the overarching theme 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World'.
Nikita Dhawan is Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas at TU Dresden. Her publications include: Impossible Speech: On the Politics of Silence and Violence (2007); Decolonizing Enlightenment: Transnational Justice, Human Rights and Democracy in a Postcolonial World (ed., 2014); Global Justice and Desire: Queering Economy (co-ed., 2015); Negotiating Normativity: Postcolonial Appropriations, Contestations and Transformations (co-ed., 2016); Difference that makes no Difference: The Non-Performativity of Intersectionality and Diversity (ed., 2017) and Reimagining the State: Theoretical Challenges and Transformative Possibilities (co-ed., 2019). She received the Käthe Leichter Award in 2017 for outstanding achievements in the pursuit of women's and gender studies and in support of the women's movement and the achievement of gender equality.
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Oby Ezekwesili is the Founder and Chairperson of SPPG (School of Politics, Policy and Governance established by the #FixPoliticsInitiative which she also co-chairs. She is the President of Human Capital África and currently runs the Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI). Dr. Ezekwesili is a former Vice President of the World Bank, Africa Region. She was a Minister of Education and also of Mineral Resources of Nigeria. She is Co-Convener of #BringBackOurGirls Campaign, a group of diverse citizens advocating for the speedy and effective search and rescue of school girls abducted from the secondary school in Chibok on the 14, April 2014, Nigeria. She was one of the co-founders of Transparency International and was one of the pioneer directors of its Global Board in Berlin from 1994 – 1999. Ezekwesili was a Presidential Candidate in the 2019 election in Nigeria.
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Walter D. Mignolo is William H. Wannamaker Professor and Director of the Center for Global Studies and the Humanities at Duke University. He was associated researcher at Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Quito, 2002-2018) and an Honorary Research Associate for CISA (Center for Indian Studies in South Africa), Wits University at Johannesburg (2015-2019). He is a Senior Advisor of DOC (Dialogue of Civilizations) Research Institute, based in Berlin. He received a Doctor Honoris Causa Degree (2016) from the University National of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Honorary Degree (2018) from the University of London-Goldsmith. Among his books related to the topic are: The Darker Side of the Renaissance. Literacy, Territoriality and Colonization (1995); Delinking: The Rhetoric of Modernity, the Logic of Coloniality and the Grammar of Decoloniality (2007); Local Histories/Global Designs: Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges and Border Thinking (2000); The Idea of Latin America (2006); On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analysis, Praxis, co-authored with Catherine Walsh (2018) and The Politics of Decolonial Investigations (scheduled for June of 2021).
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is the General Director of The Festival Academy, a non-profit organisation initiated by the European Festivals Association (EFA). She is also a member of the advisory committee for the Agency of Arts and Heritage in Flanders.
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is the Director of ICR Research, a research consultancy that works for governments, higher education, and multilateral organisations. He worked as a senior policy adviser in the UK Civil Service, advising ministers on a wide range of policy areas.
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is the coordinator of the Post Graduate Programme of the Cultural Policy and Management Department at the Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Amongst other advisory roles, she is a member of UNESCO's Panel of Experts for Cultural Policy and Governance (2011–2022) and the International Advisory Council of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Nesta, UK).
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is the Head of Evidence for the Arts at the British Council. Previously, he worked for Arts Council England. He is a graduate of both the University of Liverpool and the University of Durham and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
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is an academic and consultant in the field of international cultural relations and creative industries. She did her PhD on external language spread policies in Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau at City University London, with a Praxis XXI Scholarship.
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is an academic and consultant in arts and cultural management, cultural policy and international cultural relations. She is an Assistant Professor and former Director of the Arts Management Program at George Mason University, also serving as Director, National Resource Center for Creative Forces®: National Endowment for the Arts' Military Healing Arts Network.
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is Head of the section 'Dialogue and Research Culture and Foreign Policy' at ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen. She is co-initiator of ICRRA (International Cultural Relations Research Alliance) and publishes on fundamental concepts of international relations.
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is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Advanced Study in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) African Peacebuilding Network (APN).
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is Regional Director for Arts and Creative Economy Programmes for British Council in Sub Saharan Africa. A Creative Economy expert, she is a 2010 Future Awards young person of the year nominee, a Fellow of the DEVOS Institute of Arts Management, University of Maryland, and Associate Fellow of the Nigerian Leadership Institute.
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is Head of Policy Insight at the British Council. She is a University of Oslo graduate in social anthropology, human geography and psychology, and has a MSc in Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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is a professor of International Relations and Public/Cultural Diplomacy at Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City. He has a PhD in Political Science from Linnaeus University in Sweden, and is a frequent lecturer on Cultural Relations, Soft power, international images and cultural/public diplomacy.
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is Director Research and Policy Insight at the British Council and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Ulster, and the Open University. Christine was a journalist focusing on politics and civil society in Scotland before she joined the British Council in 2004.
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is Vice Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science, at Queen's University, Canada, and Director of the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative (NACDI). A former Canada–U.S. Fulbright Scholar, her research focusses on the use of art exhibitions in cultural diplomacy.
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is Deputy President and Provost at LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore. An award-winning art writer and academic, he has a PhD in Cultural Policy and Asian Cultural Studies from The University of Melbourne, Australia and studied Shakespeare and postcolonial studies at York University, Canada.
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is a lecturer in Islamic Communication and Broadcasting at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She has a PhD in International Communication from Macquarie University, Australia. Her research interests include intercultural communication, Islamic media and the impact of new media on religious behaviour among teenagers.
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is Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries of King's College London and Visiting Lecturer at the Institut Catholique de Paris, among other roles. As a Research Fellow at the Centre on Public Diplomacy of the University of Southern California, Mafalda undertook primary research focused on EUNIC's 2019–2021 European Spaces of Culture pilot projects.
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is an independent scholar based at Twaweza Communications, Nairobi. Amongst other positions, he serves as Culture Expert at the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM) and is Commissioner of Kiswahili Cross-Border Language Commission at the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), an organ of the African Union.
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is the Inaugural Director of the Soft Power Analysis & Resource Centre at the Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University. Founding Editor of The Journal of International Communication. Professor Chitty was awarded the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2009 'for services to education particularly in the field of international communication as a researcher and academic and to a range of professional associations'.
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is Head of Research in the Research & Policy Insight team at the British Council. He has a PhD in History from the University of London and his work for the British Council is centred around supporting good research practice, enhancing organisational research capacity and promoting knowledge exchange and collaboration.
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is a Brazilian, Berlin-based percussionist, consultant and researcher working across the cultural, creative and development sectors. Holding a MA in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy from Furtwangen University, Germany, Pedro works mainly in African, Latin American and European contexts.
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is a consultant and researcher in cultural and social impact programmes and communication. Dr Magkou is Associate Researcher at University of Côte d'Azur's SIC.Lab. She is an alumnus of the Cultural Diplomacy Platform's Global Cultural Leadership Programme.
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is an independent consultant in international cultural cooperation, network and process governance, based in Berlin. She is very familiar with international cultural cooperation policies. She holds a Master's in Public Policy and in Cultural Sciences.
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is an expert and researcher in culture and creative economy. She holds a PhD in Sociology from University of Porto. Cristina was member of Selection and Monitoring panel of European Capitals of Culture in 2015– 2020.
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is an expert in cultural relations, policy development, international project management, cross cultural creative facilitation and research. She is the co-author of Europe China Cultural Compass for EUNIC and advisor to the EU.
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is a creative facilitator, trans-disciplinary narrative designer, educator, writer and futurist. She focuses on social, environmental and cultural issues, inter-weaving design thinking, imagination, complex systems thinking, pedagogy, crafts, entrepreneurship, visual and performing arts, oral history, ethnography, and research to co-create inclusive and regenerative possibilities.
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is a theatre director and the founder and former executive director of India Foundation for the Arts and the co-founder of Toto Funds the Arts. His writing and talks – on arts entrepreneurship, the creative economy, the role of grant-making foundations, culture and development, intercultural dialogue and the performing arts, for example – have reflected on the insights he has gleaned from his long engagement with the arts and philanthropy.
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is the Founder and President of Inclusartiz Institute in Brazil, non-profit organisations which promotes cultural initiatives to bring art, culture and education closer to all sections of society. She is Member of the Senior Advisory Board of the Brazil Institute-School of Global Affairs, Kings College, London, and member of the Instituto de Consejeros-Administradores, Madrid.
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Mohlahlana is an award-winning TV and radio broadcast journalist. She's a senior news anchor for South Africa's newly launched 24hr channel Newzroom Afrika. In 2014, Cathy was selected as a fellow for US President Barack Obama's Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). She holds a Politics and International Relations degree from Wits university.
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"There is no modernity without #coloniality - #WalterMignolo at our ICRRA Conference
? Register for the upcoming sessions: https://t.co/r2mKFreCQt pic.twitter.com/lf3Yz56SxT ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) (@das_ifa) October 13, 2021
"The future of multilateralism, of capitalism, of work (...) or of the SDGs is now! - we don't have time to waste!" - @obyezeks at our ICRRA Conference
— ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) (@das_ifa) October 14, 2021
"The state is like a pharmakon – it can be both poison and medicine." - #NikitaDhawan at our ICRRA Conference in her talk on Global Ethics and the Imperative to #SaveThePlanet.
— ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) (@das_ifa) October 15, 2021
? https://t.co/r2mKFreCQt pic.twitter.com/5EjQkanjYq
Researchers and practitioners exchange views on questions of international cultural relations through the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance (ICRRA) network. The network sees itself as a bridge builder between practical cultural work, academic reflection, policy advice and the media. It supports the transfer of research-based knowledge into politics and society and promotes evidence-based discourse. Find out more on the ifa website.
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