Genesis and evolution of the concepts of culture and diversity since the WTO agreements (1994) to the UNESCO Convention on cultural diversity (2005)

The passing of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2005 reached a milestone in the field of cultural policies. However, defining culture and diversity - fundamental concepts for the implementation of public policies in this sector - entails difficulties of conceptual nature (What is culture? How to delimit it for applying objective and accountable public policies?) and difficulties of political nature (How can we achieve consensus between different countries, traditions and interests?). The present article analyses the evolution of the works of the involved international organizations in this sensitive issue, from the WTO agreements (1994) to the passing of the Convention (2005).