ABSTRACT
The sociologist differentiated between culture as process—the cultivation of something—and culture as “a thing in itself.” Raymond Williams’s contribution to the topic at hand comes from his emphasis on the historical development of understandings and meanings of the word ‘culture,’ and how, at a certain point, it became invested with a great deal of social and political importance. Cultural diplomacy is generally separated from public diplomacy, which covers a whole set of other activities related to promoting state interests abroad. For some, cultural relations, covering all cross-border interactions, therefore encompasses cultural diplomacy as no more than a subset of activities. An expanded interpretation of ‘diplomats’ and ‘ambassadors’ is required that effectively removes the cultural relations/cultural diplomacy dichotomy entirely. The state, as some kind of a fixed political-territorial institution, should not dominate the interpretation of cultural diplomacy, as other actors have been involved, and continue to be involved.
