Political Analysis On The Principle Of French "Cultural Exception"

The debate on "Cultural Exception" has lasted since The Uruguay Round multilateral negotiations on the GATT in 1993. The debate represents the confrontations between the American cultural policy model and French cultural policy model, whereas it actually indicates the dissension between two sides on the problem that whether the government should intervene cultural affairs. The French government insisted on the principle of "Cultural Exception" during the world trade negotiations, and held the view that cultural products especially films and audiovisual products should be different from the general goods and be excluded from the free market system, therefore, governments have the right to interfere.Taking the "Cultural Exception" as an entry point, using literature research as the main research method, this dissertation deeply analyses the political tradition of French cultural policy. "Cultural Exception" was jointly promoted by the French government, public opinion, the cultural elite and the EU. French insistence of the principle of "cultural exception", the pursuit of "cultural diversity", to some extent, reflects the French cultural policy logic, which can be summed up in four aspects. First, the government has the obligation and shall have the power to intervene on the culture; Second, Government should protect the independence of French culture to boycott American threats; Third, Culture has the social value so that it should not be dominated by the market; Fourth, France insists to pursue "Cultural Diversity" in order to protect the ethnic culture.In the dissertation, through further analysis, summary is drawn as following. The tacit cooperation in promoting "Cultural Exception" among those factors resulted from the political tradition of the state interventionism, independent foreign policy,the egalitarian and nationalism. The effects of "Cultural Exception" principle were:protection of the French film and Audio-visual industry, promotion of the French culture, Enhancement of the political and diplomatic influence of France. While, "Cultural Exception" was faced with many challenges as it had limitation that it was unable to truly develop culture. According to the experience and lessons of France in practicing "Cultural Exception" and China’s national conditions, this dissertation puts forward some significant advices on Chinese cultural policy.