The Expediency
of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global
Era (Post-Contemporary Interventions)
by George Yúdice
Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 2004
480 pp., illus, 27 b/w. Trade, $84.95;
paper, $23.95
ISBN: 0-8223-3180-2; ISBN: 0-8223-3168-3.
Reviewed by John Knight
User-Lab
Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
John.knight@uce.ac.uk
George Yúdice is a Professor
at New York University. The Expediency
of Culture is part of the Duke University
Press’s Cultural Studies Series.
The book is a "pioneering theorization
of the changing role of culture in an
increasingly globalized work". The author
"challenges Gramscian notion of cultural
struggle for hegemony" arguing that "cultural
agency . . . is negotiated within globalized
contexts dominated by the active management
and administration of culture". The book
has nine sections and is accompanied with
copious notes and references. The first
chapter describes how:
"Culture is increasingly wielded as a
resource for both socio-political and
economic amelioration, that is, for increasing
participation in this era of waning political
involvement . . . conflicts over citizenship
and the rise of . . . ‘cultural capitalism’".
He identifies forces of control (e.g Intellectual
Property Rights) and new economic offerings
or "symbolic goods" (e.g tourism, music
and cinema) in cultural capitalism that
cross traditional commodity relations.
He notes that this has a direct impact
on the arts and cites a National Endowment
for the Arts report that concludes:
"No longer restricted solely to the sanctioned
arenas of culture, the arts would be literally
suffused throughout civic structure, finding
a home in a variety of community services
and economic development activities .
. . all serving to highlight the utilitarian
aspects of the arts in contemporary society".
(p. 11)
The new role for the arts focuses on solving
social problems where it can "enhance
education, salve racial strife, help reverse
urban blight through cultural tourism,
create jobs, reduce crime and perhaps
even make a profit". (p. 12). While his
examples are concentrated in the Americas,
he notes Bilboa and Cool Britannia as
European examples.
The second chapter introduces some unlikely
advocates of expedient culture including
Richard Nixon. The author’s argument
goes beyond cultural imperialism and suggests
that political patronage is a double edged
sword. On the one hand, it dissolves political
activism but also opens up culture to
overt politicisation. Chapter three looks
at globalisation and culture in Latin
America and focuses on examples from Mexico.
Taking an anthropological approach, the
author looks at cultural citizenship and
the notion of performativity. This idea
means that there is a human need to perform
acts (including speech) that enforce and
communicate norms. As human a characteristic,
performativity can be carried out by the
state, individuals, and groups. The author
describes a number of citizen action initiatives
such as "Viva Rio". Such initiatives act
as a bridge between citizens, state, and
private spheres. In order to do this,
they have to negotiate with other stakeholders,
including the media that often determine
the scope and direction of such interventions.
On the one hand, they help construct the
process of building a civil society and
democratisation but also facilitate the
state’s retreat from social programmes.
Yúdice worries that rather than
co-opting dissent, projects run "the risk
of . . . [leaving] little space for experiences
that do not fit an NGOized depiction of
development, worth and self esteem" (p.
156).
Chapter six looks at consumption and citizenship,
and Chapter seven returns to the local
consequences of the expediency of culture.
Yúdice moves from the Barrios to
Miami and notes a Bilboa-like renaissance
(a term missing from his critique) of
the "New Miami" based on Miami Sound Machine,
Miami Vice and the renovation of the Art
Deco District" (p 199). "The synergy of
all this activity makes [it] the most
attractive headquarters location for most
dot.coms seeking to break into Latin American
markets" (p. 201). He notes how transculturism
adds value and promotes the "cultural
industries" as dynamos of economic growth.
Chapter eight looks at the role of free
trade on culture. He notes how "the Europeans
have goods as commodities subject to the
same kinds of trade conditions as cars
and clothing" (p. 235).
The final chapter develops the scope of
the cultural industries to consider art
production and consumption. The author
looks at the "Insite" project that "belongs
to a new genre of exhibitions that . .
. [are} developed over weeks and months
in specific sites and interaction with
local public, communities, institutions
and corporations . . . that manage cultural
capital" (p. 295). His conclusion is apposite
and brings the study up to date by looking
at the cultural significance of September
11th. This book takes a broad
sweep at understanding new cultural forms.
It accounts for local and global changes
and suggests an instrumental role for
the arts in the future. In switching between
such a diverse set of issues, however,
the narrative thread sometimes weakens.
