G5 Doctoral dissertation (article)
Governance of urban culture in the era of globalization : an analysis of international policy discourses and cosmopolitan case-examples (2023)
Kaupunkikulttuurin hallinta globalisaation aikakaudella : kansainvälisten politiikkadiskurssien ja kosmopoliittisten tapausesimerkkien analyysi

Mohammed, S. B. (2023). Governance of urban culture in the era of globalization : an analysis of international policy discourses and cosmopolitan case-examples [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Jyväskylä. JYU dissertations, 632. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9542-3

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Mohammed, Saeed Bin

eISBN: 978-951-39-9542-3

Journal or series: JYU dissertations

eISSN: 2489-9003

Publication year: 2023

Number in series: 632

Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (92 sivua, 69 sivua useina numerointijaksoina, 4 numeroimatonta sivua)

Publisher: University of Jyväskylä

Place of Publication: Jyväskylä

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: English

Persistent website address: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9542-3

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Abstract

The dissertation focuses on urban cultures and globalization in modern cosmopolitan cities. In this regard, it explores the influence of international institutions on urban cultural policy governance. The study’s objective is therefore to examine how cities and institutions of global governance strive to govern and organize culture within cosmopolitan urban settings. In this context, the research is conducted in two different settings: international organizations, such as UNESCO and UN-Habitat, as well as local urban settings and policies, such as those in Sydney and Helsinki. In this research, the regulation of urban cultures is put into the context of Foucauldian governmentality and cosmopolitanism. This is done so that the importance of global policies and directives and their effect on urban socio-cultural policymaking can be determined. Specifically, governmentality examines the various forms of cultural governance. Cosmopolitanism was also used to understand and evaluate the complex cultural nature of urban policy and government. In the context of this study, cosmopolitanism is linked to one-worldism and the universality of identity, which is the idea that people of all races, ethnicities, and origins can live together in cities. This dissertation comprises four peer-reviewed articles. The study demonstrates that ideology plays a significant role in how the United Nations operates, as well as in how diversity and cultural policy are perceived and implemented in cities. A key finding of this study was the contradictory perceptions of urban cultural policy in Sydney and Helsinki compared to those stated by the United Nations, and the way cosmopolitanism appears as both ideology and rationality for city governance. The results show that urban culture is very important for finding new ways to think about the past in the present and for recognizing the diversity and differences of urban communities. Throughout the dissertation, it has been made clear that one of the most important parts of UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda principle of “leaving no one behind” is the governance of differences and diversity. In conclusion, the thesis argues that cultural policies in cities like Sydney and Helsinki promote tolerance among residents by recognizing and respecting cultures that differ from their own.

Keywords: urban culture; cultural administration; towns and cities; culture; multiculturalism; cosmopolitanism; globalisation; doctoral dissertations

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023