Why not take seriously the claim that Harry Potter's world intertwines with our own? In this timely yet otherworldly volume, more than a dozen scholars of international relations join hands to demonstrate how this well-loved artifact of popular culture reflects and shapes our own lifeworld. A wide range of historical and sociological sources shows how Harry's world contains aspects of our own. Practices such as quidditch dovetail quite clearly with 'muggle' sports, and the very British-ness of the books has, in translation into languages such as Turkish and Arabic, been transformed to reflect these unique cultures. Chapters on the political economy of the franchise as well as the scholarly problems of studying popular culture frame what is essentially a highly info-taining read.

Why not take seriously the claim that Harry Potter's world intertwines with our own? In this timely yet otherworldly volume, more than a dozen scholars of international relations join hands to demonstrate how this well-loved artifact of popular culture reflects and shapes our own lifeworld. A wide range of historical and sociological sources shows how Harry's world contains aspects of our own. Practices such as quidditch dovetail quite clearly with "muggle" sports, and the very British-ness of the books has, in translation into languages such as Turkish and Arabic, been transformed to reflect these unique cultures. Chapters on the political economy of the franchise as well as the scholarly problems of studying popular culture frame what is essentially a highly info-taining read.

Governments that seek to liberalize trade can find that doing so is often in tension with their desire to achieve the objectives of cultural policy. This is because measures like local content requirements can seem like discriminatory practices when viewed through the lens of trade liberalization. This tension has prompted a long-standing debate, with great variation in how countries have approached it. Trade and Culture: The Ongoing Debate explores this variation across geographic space. It also seeks to explain the evolution in these various policies over time. Policies are not static, largely due to domestic politics, shifts in the international trading system and technological developments. The chapters in this volume explore the different approaches to the trade and culture debate and provide an up-to-date look at current versions of these policies in Canada, the European Union, South Africa, Latin America, South Korea, the United States and China. This book will be of great value to scholars and researchers interested in cultural policies and the politics of international trade. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Cultural Policy.

Governments that seek to liberalize trade can find that doing so is often in tension with their desire to achieve the objectives of cultural policy. This is because measures like local content requirements can seem like discriminatory practices when viewed through the lens of trade liberalization. This tension has prompted a long-standing debate, with great variation in how countries have approached it. Trade and Culture: The Ongoing Debate explores this variation across geographic space. It also seeks to explain the evolution in these various policies over time. Policies are not static, largely due to domestic politics, shifts in the international trading system and technological developments. The chapters in this volume explore the different approaches to the trade and culture debate and provide an up-to-date look at current versions of these policies in Canada, the European Union, South Africa, Latin America, South Korea, the United States and China. This book will be of great value to scholars and researchers interested in cultural policies and the politics of international trade. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Cultural Policy.

The so-called culture industries film, television and radio broadcasting, periodical and book publishing, video and sound recording are noteworthy exceptions to the rhetorical commitment of Western countries to free trade as a major goal. These exceptions threatened to derail such high-profile negotiations as NAFTA and its predecessor, the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement, as well as the Uruguay Round of the GATT.

Conventional wisdom did not foresee trouble from this source, because these established industries are not commercial national champions, nor are they particularly large providers of jobs. As Patricia M. Goff shows, the standard trade literature considers the monetary value but doesn't recognize the symbolic importance of cultural production. In Limits to Liberalization, she traces the interplay between the commercial and the cultural. Governments that want to expand free trade may simultaneously resist liberalization in the culture industries (and elsewhere, including agriculture and health care).

Goff traces the rationale for "cultural protectionism" in the trade policies of Canada, France, and the European Union. The result is a larger understanding of the forces that shape international trade agreements and a book that speaks to current theoretical concerns about national identity as it plays out in politics and international relations."