Legal Perspectives on the Role of Culture In Sustainable Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2010/v13i1a2628Keywords:
sustainable development, role of culture in sustainable development, culture, definition of culture, environmental law, cultural governance, good cultural governanceAbstract
This article introduces some legal perspectives on the role of culture in sustainable development. The authors agree that sustainable development has been designed as an environmental concept but that room exists for the more prominent inclusion of some form(s) of the notion "culture" in the sustainable development equation. It is shown that the fluid nature and meaning of "culture" may require a distinction between the role of "culture" per se and the role of "cultural governance" in the sustainable development context. It is suggested that "cultural governance" as a notion may be more distinct and exact than "culture" itself. The more functional notion of "good cultural governance" is preferred as a benchmark in the sustainable development equation, with the implication that cultural governance occurs in accordance with a certain standard. This standard is briefly considered by looking at the meaning of good cultural governance as a notion that encompasses both cultural governance and good governance generally. The article is set in the South African context but also invokes some law and policy developments internationally, regionally and sub-regionally to depict how issues of culture have been infiltrating the sustainable development discourse and to distil some of the substantive benchmarks for good cultural governance.
Downloads
References
Bibliography
Bennett TW Human Rights
Bennett TW Human Rights and African Customary Law (Juta Cape Town 1999)
Bennett TW Customary Law
Bennett TW Customary Law in South Africa (Juta Lansdowne 2004)
Berendt EA (ed) Metaphors for Learning
Berendt EA (ed) Metaphors for Learning: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (John Benjamins Amsterdam 2008)
Craythorne Municipal Administration
Craythorne DL Municipal Administration: A Handbook (Juta Cape Town 1997)
Du Plessis Constitutional Environmental Right
Du Plessis A Fulfilment of South Africa's Constitutional Environmental Right in the Local Government Sphere (Wolf Legal Publishers Nijmegen 2009)
Du Plessis "South Africa"
Du Plessis W "South Africa" in Blanpain R (ed) International Encyclopaedia of Laws (Kluwer Law International The Hague 2006)
Dugard International Law
Dugard J International Law: A South African Perspective (Juta Cape Town 2005)
Du Plessis and Britz 2007 Journal of South African Law
Du Plessis W and Britz L "The filling station saga: environmental or economic concerns?" 2007 Journal of South African Law 275-276
Du Plessis and Feris 2008 SAJELP
Du Plessis W and Feris L "The dissident Sachs J: a rebellious step in the right direction" 2008 South African Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 157-168
Featherstone Cultural Theory
Featherstone M Cultural Theory and Cultural Change (Sage London 1992)
Ginther et al (eds) Sustainable Development
Ginther K et al (eds) Sustainable Development (Kluwer Academic Boston 1995)
Grundy 1994 African Affairs
Grundy KW "The Politics of South Africa's National Arts Festival: Small Engagements in the Bigger Campaign" 1994 African Affairs 387-409
Hagg "Policy Review Workshop"
Hagg G "Report on the Policy Review Workshop of the Department of Arts and Culture" 6-8 May 2007 Sandton International Convention Centre (May 2007 Commissioned by the Department of Arts and Culture)
Guo Cultural Influences
Guo R Cultural Influences on Economic Analysis Theory and Empirical Evidence (Palgrave Macmillan 2006)
Hawkes The Fourth Pillar
Hawkes J The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability: Culture's Essential Role in Public Planning (Common Ground Publishing Australia 2001)
Garbarino Sociocultural Theory
Garbarino MS Sociocultural Theory in Anthropology: A Short History (Holt, Rinehart & Winston 1977)
Kotzé "Environmental Compliance"
Kotzé LJ "Towards a More Effective Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Regime for South Africa" in Paterson AR and Kotzé LJ (eds) Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Legal Perspectives (Juta Cape Town 2009)
Kroeber and Kluckhohn Culture
Kroeber AL and Kluckhohn C Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions (Vintage Books New York 1952)
Levy and Tapscott (eds) Intergovernmental Relations
Levy N and Tapscott C (eds) Intergovernmental Relations (IDASA Cape Town 2001)
Mafunisa International Review of Administrative Sciences
Mafunisa MJ "The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Good Governance in the Republic of South Africa" 2004 International Review of Administrative Sciences 489.
Moon Administration and Society
Moon MJ "Cultural Governance: A Comparative Study of Three Cultural District" 2001 Administration and Society 432-454
Moore Major Definitions
Moore CA Major Definitions of the Concept of Culture: A Review of the Literature (University of Akron January 1980)
Noorderhaven and Tidjani CCM
Noorderhaven NG and Tidjani B "Culture, Governance, and Economic Performance: An Explorative Study with a Special Focus on Africa" 2001 International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 31-51
Parsons and Shils "Values and Social Systems"
Parsons T and Shils E "Values and Social Systems" in Alexander JC and Seidman S (eds) Culture and Society: Contemporary Debates (Cambridge University Press New York1990) 39-46
Thompson International Sociology
Thompson K "Cultural Studies, Critical Theory and Cultural Governance" 2001 International Sociology 593-605
Towse A Handbook of Cultural Economics
Towse R (ed) A Handbook of Cultural Economics (Edward Elgar Publishing Northampton 2005)
Register of Internet Sources
Bernier 2000 incp-ripc.org
Bernier I List of International Instruments which make Reference to Culture (June 2000 Liaison Bureau), accessible at incp-ripc.org/w-group/wg-cdg/list_e.pdf [accessed on 5 November 2009]
Brundtland 1987 www.un-documents.net
Brundtland GH Our Common Future: The Brundtland Report (1987 World Commission on Environment and Development United Nations) accessible at www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm [accessed on 4 August 2009]
Nurse 2006 www.fao.org
Nurse K Culture as the Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development (June 2006 Prepared for the Commonwealth Secretariat London) accessible at www.fao.org/SARD/common/ecg/2785/en/Cultureas4thPillarSD.pdf [accessed on 4 November 2009]
Rautenbach, Jansen van Rensburg and Pienaar 2003 PER www.puk.ac.za
Rautenbach C, Jansen van Rensburg F and Pienaar GJ "Culture (and Religion) in Constitutional Adjudication" 2003 (1) Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal 1-19 accessible at www.puk.ac.za/opencms/export/PUK/html/fakulteite/regte/per/issues/03craut.pdf [accessed on 3 August 2009]
Schomberg 2002 ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu
Schomberg R "The Objective of Sustainable Development" (Foresight Working Paper Series no1 of the European Commission: Directorate General for Research) accessible at ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/foresight/docs/fores_wp_0210.pdf [accessed on 4 November 2009]
Srinivas 2006 Economic and Political Weekly www.epw.org
Srinivas KR "Unesco: Cultural Diversity Convention" Economic and Political Weekly 2006 (10) accessible at www.epw.org.in [accessed on 15 August 2009]
Throsby 2008 unesdoc.unesco.org
Throsby D "Culture in Sustainable Development: Insights for the Future Implementation of Art 13" (14 January 2008 UNESCO Sydney) accessible at unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001572/157287E.pdf [accessed on 4 November 2009]
UNESCO 1995 unesdoc.unesco.org
"World Commission on Culture and Development Our Creative Diversity" (1995 UNESCO France) accessible at unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001055/105586e.pdf [accessed on 4 November 2009]
Register of Judgments
Bhe v Magistrate, Khayelitsha (Commission for Gender Equality as Amicus Curiae); Shibi v Sithole; South African Human Rights Commission v President of the Republic of South Africa 2005 1 SA 580 (CC)
Fuel Retailers Association of Southern Africa v Director-General Environmental Management, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Mpumalanga Province, and Others 2007 (6) SA 4 (CC)
MEC for Education, KwaZulu-Natal v Pillay 2008 1 SA 474 (CC)
Minister of Defence v Potsane; Legal Soldier (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Defence 2001 11 BCLR 1137 (CC)
Oudekraal Estates (Pty) Ltd v The City of Cape Town (25/08) [2009] ZASCA 85 (3 September 2009)
S v Basson 2005 1 SA 171 (CC)
S v Makwanyane 1995 6 BCLR 665 (CC)
Register of Legislation
Broadcasting Act 4 of 1999
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996
Cultural Affairs Act (House of Assembly) 65 of 1989
Cultural Institutions Act 119 of 1998
Culture Promotion Act 35 of 1983
Group Areas Act 41 of 1950
Heraldry Act 18 of 1962
Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005
Legal Deposit Act 54 of 1997
Library for the Blind Act 91 of 1998
National Archives and Record Service of South Africa Act 43 of 1996
National Arts Council Act 56 of 1997
National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998
National Film and Video Foundation Act 73 of 1997
National Heritage Council Act 11 of 1999
National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999
National Library of South Africa Act 92 of 1998
PAN South African Language Board Act 59 of 1995
Population Registration Act 30 of 1950
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998
South African Geographical Names Council Act 118 of 1998
Register of other documents
DAC Policy (date unknown) www.dac.gov.za
Department of Arts and Culture Arts and Culture Policy Review, accessible at www.dac.gov.za [accessed on 6 November 2009]
DEAT Framework 2008 www.deat.gov.za
Department of Environment and Tourism People-Planet-Prosperity: A National Framework for Sustainable Development in South Africa (July 2008), accessible at www.deat.gov.za [accessed on 29 September 2009]
GATS (date unknown) www.wto.org
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) accessible at www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/26-gats_01_e.htm [accessed on 4 November 2009]
SADC Protocol (date unknown) www.sadc.int
Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport, accessible at www.sadc.int/english/documents/legal/protocols/culture_information_and_sport.php#preamble [accessed on 29 September 2009]
SADC Treaty (date unknown) www.sadc.int
Treaty of the Southern African Development Community (SADC Treaty) (date unknown) as amended, and accessible at www.sadc.int [accessed on 26 September 2009
UN International Covenant (date unknown) www.hrweb.org
United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, accessible at www.hrweb.org/legal/cpr.html [accessed on 7 December 2009]
UN Economic and Social Commission (date unknown) www.unescap.org
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific "What is Good Governance?" accessible at www.unescap.org/pdd/prs/projectactivities/ongoing/gg/governance.asp [accessed on 26 September 2009]
White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage of 1996, accessible at www.dac.gov.za/white_paper.htm [accessed on 17 August 2009)]
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Anél du Plessis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
.png){kind=spacer}