Global Journal of Human Social Science, E: Economics, Volume 21 Issue 5

Figure 1: The Main Concepts Evolution of Culture Economics a) Culture Defining culture was a debatable issue 1 . In the sixteenth-century, culture was considered as enlightenment of society's mind and intellec t 2 . Yet, in the nineteenth century, the “culture” term had been used in a broader sense, describing intellectual and spiritual development of society's civilization 3 Some definitions of “culture” were so narrow as to be restrictive in light of phenomena description. While other definitions were broader, where “cultural” has two broader definitions: first is the anthropological or sociological framework, that describes “culture” as a set of attitudes, beliefs, mores, customs, values, and practices which are common to any group, this group may be defined in terms of politics, geography, religion, ethnicity or some other characteristics . 4 1 For instance, culture was described as “one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language.” Borofsky also described culture as “akin to trying to engage the wind.” So, “Culture” was a word employed in various senses in use, but without generally agreed core meaning. For social science, “Culture” was related to concepts of humanities and social sciences, but it was deployed without precise definition (Throsby, 2001). 2 Such use of “culture" meaning is still in practice, where we refer to someone who is having well knowledge in arts as a “cultured” or “cultivated.” And also, the noun “culture” is used without qualification, denoting products and practices of “high” arts ( Throsby, 2001). 3 The culture definition during this period focused on these characteristics for societies, such as nation- states. So, this humanistic interpretation of culture was set to become more expressed for the society's life and arts (Throsby, 2001). 4 For example, Mexican culture, Basque culture, Jewish culture, Asian culture, feminist culture, corporate culture, youth culture, and so on. The characteristics which define the group may be established in the forms of signs, symbols, texts, language, artifacts, oral and written tradition, or by other means. . The second is functional definition; stated that “culture” has functional orientation, denoting certain activities performed by people, and the products of these activities, which are related to intellectual, moral and artistic aspects of human life. According to this definition, “culture” is related to activities that are devoted to the enlightenment of mind, rather than the acquisition of purely technical skills. The definition is more probably in “cultural goods,” “cultural institutions,” “cultural industries” or the “cultural sector of the economy” . 5 According to the functional definition; we can determine cultural activities as follows: the arts as traditionally defined: music, literature, poetry, dance, drama, visual art, ..etc. In addition, activities such as film- making, story-telling, festivals, journalism, publishing, television and radio, and some aspects of design For our study, we will depend on the functional definition. 6 Recently, the key role of the cultural sector has been emphasized and recognized for its importance in economic field s (Throsby, 2001). 7 5 For more accuracy to the second definition, the notion contained in the “culture” term could be derived from three suggested characteristics of the concerned activities, these characteristics are: (i) activities involve some form of creativity in their production. (ii) activities concerned with generation and communication of symbolic meaning, and (iii) activities that their output embodies some form of intellectual property. Yet, there have been debates among cultural economists about the classification of “culture goods,” which are differentiated from “ordinary economic goods.” (Throsby, 2001). 6 Yet, an activity such as scientific innovation would not be involved in this definition because it is considered utilitarian rather than communicate the meaning. Moreover, road signs may give symbolic meaning but not considered cultural products. Organized sports festivals are ambiguous; some economists may find difficulties in accepting it as a cultural activity. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that sport is an element of culture, which is a custom expressing shared values and as means of emphasizing group identity (Throsby, 2001). 7 The 2006 KEA report; addressed The Economy of Culture in Europe, aimed to shed light on the culture sector’s importance by showing how culture leads to economic and social development driven by innovation and cohesion. The UN report (2010) also referred that: “adequately nurtured, creativity fuels culture infuses a human-centered development and constitutes the key ingredient for job creation, innovation and trade while contributing to social inclusion, cultural diversity and environmental sustainability.” This discussion revealed how expressive value is concentrated in the core creative fields, realizing how it extended to creative industries and the economy (KEA, 2006). . The researchers' interests in this field focused on measuring the socio-economic performance of the cultural sector. Furthermore, public perception continued to view the arts as a matter of enlightenment or entertainment, which may be led to a marginalized view of the sector in terms of its economic contribution, and thus limited the public view analysis. This limited view may explain the lack of statistical tools available to measure the economic contribution of the cultural sector (KEA, 2006). Volume XXI Issue V Version I 22 ( E ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2021 © 2021 Global Journals Economic Contribution of Cultural Industries: Evidence from Some Selected Countries Source: by the researcher based on: Canadian Heritage. (2013), The Creative Economy: Key Concepts and Literature Review Highlights, Edited by the Policy Research Group. Canada. May. Available at: https://cch.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/inline/ documents/creative-economy-synthesis_201305.pdf Arts Culture Cultural Industry Cultural Economy Creative Industries Creative Economy