Linking the
Foreign Trade Policy
Between the
Cultural Exception And
Education
Prepared by:
- Rachel Cooper
- Eastern Michigan
University Masters
Candidate
"Cultural
Diversity" A Trade War
The Cultural Exception is
more or less the act in, which
includes France and the
European Union to protect and
to preserve the cultural goods
and services in international
trade. France has the
intention to maintain the
diverse tradition which makes
up the "cultural
patrimony of mankind"
(Anthony J. Liehm, The
Cultural Exception. Why? ) It
is important to realize that
France wants free circulation
hut yet they have the need to
endure that all cultures will
enjoy equal dignity without
losing it's quality while
producing multimedia by the
mass's.
GATT and WTO play a major
role in the trade war of the
cultural exception. France is
simply asking for protection
against the invasion of U.S.
programs. The French are
working on preserving cultural
diversity, not just form the
cultural and social point to
view but also the economic
point of view.
The phrase Cultural
Exception started in 1994 at a
round of multilateral
negotiations ending in
Marrakech. It means that the
community of Europe and for
the most part of the WTO
member-states (113) is
refusing the liberalization of
the audiovisual sector that
the U.S. thrives to have some
control over. The majority of
the European countries believe
that these precious
multi-media goods are not to
be freely traded. They must be
thought of at a higher lever
than that of what the U.S.
perceives them to be. The
French believe it is a
necessity to preserve the
goodness in order to keep the
high quality of the
development and maintenance of
the audio-visual policy. When
outside technology and
industrial development enter
this sector it could be
difficult to take-on and
handle these new services that
will be offered. Above all
France feels threatened by the
free trade and they feel
that" preserving the
integrity and richness of the
French language are key
elements in order to feel
comfortable in a changing
world." (French -
American Business Council,
11-24-99). The French have
aimed their culture and art at
a certain elite group from the
beginning of time and the
European mass culture will
never be aimed at everybody.
The original elitist culture
constitutes the backbone of
the European cultural
tradition. Artist are refusing
for their works of art to be
"merchandises" (The
Cultural Community is Afraid
of the MIA, Marie - Eve Guerin),
and they do not want the
notion of Authors Rights
replaced by copyright laws.
Artists fear their cultural
identities will begin to
disappear little by little,
throughout the world.
The American view is
completely contrasted right
from the beginning of time.
Our culture started in a much
different way than the French.
Ours has always been aimed at
a popular audience, to the
mass's, including immigrants
from all over the world. We
have "a tradition of a
mass culture unique in the
world" (The Cultural
Exception - Why? Anthony J.
Leire), aimed at everybody
with an easy comprehension for
all. We have a mainstream of
multimedia appreciated
worldwide. We posses no
inferiority which the French
hold on to tightly. We want
maximum liberalization and we
believe that the exceptions of
a cultural diversity to the
GATT agreements are vital for
the true survival of European
cultures. We yearn to learn
from other cultures and work
together in order to make this
world a more knowledgeable
place
When we
compare and contrast what the
Americans have verses what the
French have in the multimedia
sector we have a number of
differences. First, the
European audio visual
productions originating in
their own cultures do not
stand a chance to conquer more
than a marginal share in the
U.S. market. Second, they are
not able to live off of the
world market therefor the
sector must be subsidized.
Third, the Europeans are
unable to produce films and
television programs that are
able to appeal to the U.S.
market, and last the French
elite culture was always
subsidized and we have no need
for such a thing.
In conclusion the Cultural
Diversity is an ongoing battle
in which we, the Americans
will not give up. We want our
economy to be healthy and grow
from the help of others. In
other words we welcome others
to join forces with us. The
French feel the threat of
losing their culture is shared
by the mass. Not only do they
believe that it will harm
their culture and their
economy, but their language as
well. They refuse to let go of
what they hold to so dearly,
without the protection that
they feel is necessary in
order to preserve their
culture. It is expected that
the audio-visual media will
play the role of the most
important dominant sector of
art and culture. That is why
we deal with this issue so
carefully and put so much time
into trying to perfect what it
takes to have the French join
forces with us in the sector
of multimedia.
Comparing
and Contrasting the Foreign
Trade of
"Cultural
Diversity"
and
"Education"
In comparing "Cultural
Diversity" with the U.S.
trade policy on education I
have found that the French are
taking a strong stand against
the two. In "Cultural
Diversity" the French
feel threatened that their
multimedia industry will begin
to have not only less quality
but it needs to be protected
from the harsh elements of the
"mass" in order to
preserve the French values,
cultures, and most important,
their language. The French
have a strong need to preserve
the great pride and integrity
they have within their
language. On education, France
believes that higher education
is currently at risk of being
taken over because of the many
branches of American
universities going up in
Europe and once again,
threatens the mere quality.
The French believe this would
be a catastrophic event to be
dominated by the U.S. system
of education. They want to
plan a counterattack.
On the other hand the
American position believes
that the free trade in both
"Cultural Diversity"
and "Education"
would only create excellent
opportunities for the
prosperity and growth in our
economy. We believe that
education is a critical
component in providing
economic stability and
vitality in the 21st century.
The Americans realize that the
trades in services are the
"engine of growth"
and are a "critical
factor" for the
competitive services. We want
maximum liberalization in both
multimedia and education. By
doing this we think it will
raise the quality of life by
allowing other countries as
well, greater access to
services. The Americans
contrast the French Belief in
education by believing that
students are able to explore
more varieties of education in
our system rather than being
forced to stick with only one
right from the beginning as
the French do. We stand strong
by stressing the belief in
teaching contrasting with the
French tradition of
researching.
In conclusion the U.S.
firmly stands by the idea of
maximizing free trade in order
to raise the quality of these
two products and learn from
other cultures by working
together The French believe
that free trade with two
sectors will lower the quality
and standard. They further
more believe that their
language is the largest threat
if the two are liberalized.
They want to keep
"Cultural Diversity"
and "Education" part
of their elite society of
culture and be independent
whereas the Americans have the
strong urge to work with
others and benefits from the
ideas of foreign idea's.
The Links
In comparing the free trade
in education and multi-media
the French are taking a strong
stand by refusing to let go of
the cherished values and
produce them to the mass. We
are able to link Cultural
Diversity with education and
training because colleges can
teach, have exams, and grant
degrees via Internet. This
needs to be done through
multimedia. We are also able
to offer more efficient
distance education and we can
make it more easily
deliverable electronically. We
want to be able to exchange
advanced health care directly
to homes or clinics by way of
telemedicine. So you see, one
is strongly leaning on the
other. Without the newest
technology in the multimedia
sector we are unable to use
the newest forms of teaching
France feels that these two
will lower the quality and
eventually cause a diminishing
of their language. If they
produce for "the
mass" it loses its
specialty that's created for
the elitist in the two
sectors.
The United States is
desperately fighting for what
the country believes is best
for not only our country, but
many others as well. The
benefits are endless. Growth
in the economy, growth in
cultural knowledge, advances
in education and medicine, and
even creating more jobs for a
brighter future in the 21st
century.
Foreign
Trade Policy: Education
The Americans have recently
been fighting for the
liberalization on education.
By doing so, this act
"has the ability to
create excellent opportunities
for prosperity and growth in
our nation." (The Road
from Seattle, 11-4-99) We
believe that it will provide
an important foundation for
progress for the multilateral
trading system and it's an
"important milestone
toward a more open, more
constructive trade
relationship between the U.S.
and the European Union."
By providing free trade on
education we will be able to
help the world's most advanced
hospitals and universities
offer health care and
education on-line. Colleges
will also be able to teach,
have exams, and offer degrees
via Internet.
From the American point of
view as Ambassador David Aaron
stated on Oct. 21, 99, he
agrees that foreign trade
policy on education is "a
critical component in
providing economic
stability." He further
stated that it is "an
engine of growth, and is a
critical factor to the
competitive services."
The basic line is that we want
maximum liberalization once
again. By doing so this
"will raise the quality
of life by giving countries
greater access to
services" Toward Seattle:
The Next Round, 10-19-99). We
believe it is a critical
component in the 21~ century
and that our style of
education is more effective
and therefore should be passed
on to Europe. We agree with
the theory that, teaching
should be stressed rather than
the traditional French way of
research. We also believe that
students are able to explore a
vast array of majors instead
of having to choose only one
in the start of their
education. We also oppose the
European idea of the large
lecture-hall approach to
teaching. We want to work
together with other cultures
in order to learn new ways for
improvement in our own
education system. We want to
be able to offer our unique
style of education to other
countries so they are able to
benefit from us.
The French point of view
differs quit a bit from the
American view. France believes
that higher education is at
risk of being dominated
because of the many U.S.
branches popping up throughout
Europe. They believe that by
having a free trade agreement
this would only lead to
"a standardized world,
one teaching, one
thinking." (Chronicle
11-29-99). Europeans are
currently trying to come up
with a counterattack which
could possible include yet
another battle, to restrain
from distance - learning
programs across national
boarders. They also believe
that it would be "a
catastrophic event to open a
free trade agreement."
(Christian Science Monitor).
They believe that it would
lesser the value and quality
of their education. They also
feel the threat of their
language diminishing, just as
they fear it would with the
Cultural Diversity. They want
to keep it an elite part of
their society of culture and
keep education independent.
All in all, once again we
are fighting another battle,
which seems to be stagnant.
One that neither party wants
to compromise and each side
feels strongly about. We
believe that our style of
education should be more
accessible and offered to the
"mass" just the same
as the ongoing issue with the
cultural exception. The French
once again feel the need to
protect and to preserve what
they have worked so hard in
achieving, their high standard
of education.
Date Updated: March 27, 2007
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