Cities, museums and soft power
"'Soft power' emerged as a concept in the late twentieth century to describe international relations based not on military or economic strength, but on influence. While the resources of 'hard power' are tangible--force and finance--soft power resources include ideas, knowled...
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| Other Authors / Creators: | Lord, Gail Dexter, 1946- Blankenberg, Ngaire. |
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Imprint: | Washington, D.C. : AAM Press, [2015] |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Available in ProQuest Ebook Central - Academic Complete. |
| Summary: | "'Soft power' emerged as a concept in the late twentieth century to describe international relations based not on military or economic strength, but on influence. While the resources of 'hard power' are tangible--force and finance--soft power resources include ideas, knowledge, values, and culture, as well as the ability to persuade. This volume discusses soft power from the vantage point of museums and demonstrates how they are quietly changing the world. With contributions by thirteen experts from ten countries, Cities, Museums and Soft Power reveals the world's 80,000 museums to be sleeping giants. Two major characteristics of soft power--the rise of cities and the role of civil society--are pushing museums from the margins toward the center as these institutions serve as education hubs, employers, magnets for creative industries, and engines of economic development. Meanwhile, the growth of technological networks and connectivity has enabled this soft power to spread even farther and deeper across the Internet and groups of people. Whether cozy and local or internationally renowned, museums possess a cultural strength that extends far beyond their walls "-- Museum planners Gail Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg demonstrate how museums and cities are using their soft power to address some of the most important issues of our time.Soft power is the exercise of influence through attraction, persuasion, and agenda-setting rather than military or economic coercion.Thirteen of the world's leading museum and cultural experts from six continents explore the many facets of soft power in cities and museums to include: how it amplifies civic discourse, accelerates cultural change, and contributes to contextual intelligence among the great diversity of city dwellers, visitors, and policy makers. The authors urge city governments to embrace museums which so often are the signifiers of their cities, increasing real estate values while attracting investment, tourists, and creative workers. Lord and Blankenberg propose 32 practical strategies for museums and cities to activate their soft power and create thriving and sustainable communities.<br> <br> <br> <br> Follow the link below to watch co-author Gail Lord speaking about soft power on The Agenda, a popular public affairs program on TVO, a leading educational television broadcaster http://tvo.org/video/programs/the-agenda-with-steve-paikin/a-cultural-sleeping-giant .<br> <br> <br> <br> To Read More: http://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/shared-values/how-museums-help-cities-realize-their-soft-power |
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| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-251) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781442276772 (online) |
| Author Notes: | Ngaire Blankenburg is a principal consultant at Lord Cultural Resources. She has been a youth worker, jazz poet, cartoonist, documentary maker and television producer. She directed the award-winning documentary Morris Fynn Goes Native (SABC), was co-director of Nkosi's Mission (SABC/BBC) and is co-founder of the Museum of AIDS in Africa. She has advised museum and cultural clients in Washington, DC; Patna, India; Dhahran, Dubai; Beijing, China; and Sydney. Ngaire grew up in Winnipeg, Harare, and Christchurch, and has lived and worked in Johannesburg, Toronto, Paris and Barcelona. |