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REPRESENTING CULTURAL DIPLOMACY
Soft Power, Cosmopolitan Constructivism and
Nation Branding in Sweden and Mexico
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BY CÉSAR VILLANUEVA RIVAS
VÄXJÖ UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2007
ISBN: 978-91-7636-560-1
Contact: [email protected] or [email protected]
“The progress of Diplomatic Theory has been from the narrow conception of ex-
clusive tribal rights to the wider conception of inclusive common interests”
Sir Harold Nicolson
1
Abstract
Villanueva, César (2007) Representing Cultural Diplomacy: Soft Power, Cos-
mopolitan Constructivism and Nation Branding in Mexico and Sweden .Acta
Wexionensia No. ???. ISSN: 1404-4307, ISBN: 978-91-7636-560-1. Written in
English.
This study aims at understanding how representational theories can substantiate
the field of Cultural Diplomacy by looking at three models: Cosmopolitan Con-
structivism, Nation Branding and Soft Power. The task is to provide a theoretical
backbone to understand, reformulate and also develop the field of Cultural Di-
plomacy by analyzing and comparing the three main representational models al-
together. Using Hanna F. Pitkin’s discussion on political representation as a
background, the author analyses the pertinence of these ideas in the form of con-
temporary discourses of Cultural Diplomacy. The main issues these representa-
tional models address have to do with how culture is represented abroad by di-
plomacies in terms of contents and discursivity, paying particular attention to the
identity-alterity relations between the cultural-real and the represented-referent.
The main theoretical original contribution of the book lies in setting up an
agenda for analyzing Cosmopolitan Constructivism and its sources: multilateral
diplomacy, cosmopolitan theory and constructivist politics.
In order to anchor these debates in specific realities, the author studies concrete
aspects of Mexican and Swedish Cultural Diplomacies during the nineties and
early millennium, using them as expository cases that illustrate the theoretical
apparatus. Two specific cases are chosen to illustrate the political templates un-
derlying concepts of representation: the idea of Soft-Power in Mexico through
the 1990-1992 international exhibition “Mexico Splendors of Thirty Centuries”
and the idea of “Nation-Branding” as set up by the Swedish Cultural Diplomatic
apparatus to respond to global pressures in the early millennium. In the exposi-
tory cases, the book shows that Mexico and Sweden have oscillating values be-
tween a form of Cosmopolitan Constructivism and Soft Power, with an emerging
Nation Branding presence in their cultural diplomacies.
The conclusion of this study shows that Cultural Diplomacy is a field that, in
spite of its relative impact inside the foreign ministries, can help understand the
processes of constructing a cultural-national identity abroad in relation to the
puzzling representations of alterities in a global world. In sum, this thesis shows
the symbolic potential of nations, in Cultural Diplomacy terms, to tell their own
stories to the world and, concurrently, pay attention to what others have to ex-
press about themselves.
Key words: Representational Theory, Cultural Diplomacy, Cosmopolitan Con-
structivism, Soft Power, Nation Branding, Mexican identity, Swedish identity.
2
Acknowledgments
T
his work is indebted to a number of people, organizations and institu-
tions. My first thanks go to professors Tom Bryder and Stanley Katz.
They have been inspirational forces in my work, giving me support and
advice in such a novel topic. They have been my main supervisors in this thesis
and also excellent advisors throughout my career as a doctoral student. Tom and
Stanley encouraged me to join international conferences, present and discuss pa-
pers in seminars, and opened opportunities for me to spend valuable time in their
own institutions, in Copenhagen and Princeton. They not only believed in my
work and made intelligent comments on my text, but also took the time to speak
to me in a more informal way, caring about my daily whereabouts as an interna-
tional student, opening a space for empathy and understanding, in spite of their
own busy professional and personal agendas. At times we had wonderful visits to
art museums, where we strolled, pondered and discussed aesthetics and artistic
trends, enjoying a common passion that complemented our discussions in poli-
tics, history and diplomacy. For their intellectual and personal inspiration to me,
this book is dedicated to them.
Many of my colleagues at the School of Social Sciences have made this work
possible. Betty Rodhin, Fredrik Bynander and Krister Håkansson were pivotal in
my decision to come to Sweden to study political science, by giving me all de-
tails necessary to understand the academic system, but more importantly, the cul-
tural milieu. They paid several visits to Mexico City, teaching, researching and
on vacation, allowing me to enjoy time with them every time. They really en-
sured that I had a good start in Växjö, opening the doors of their homes to me
and sharing with me their own contacts and introducing me to the people I
needed to know in order to survive at the beginning of my studies. Along with
these friends, I had the good fortune to hold a teaching position at Universidad
Iberoamericana where Ambassadors Agustin Gutiérrez Canet and Martha Bárce-
nas Coqui also held senior positions in the Department of International Affairs.
They gave me all support and advice necessary to continue with my cultural in-
terests in IR and later, kindly invited me to join successive summer courses in
Sweden as a teacher. In this, many of my Swedish and Mexican friends taught an
unforgettable inter-institutional course named “International Relations and Cul-
ture” from where many of the ideas for this book were first sketched. In a happy
turn of fate, Martha Barcenas Coqui and Agustín Gutierrez Canet were later
posted in Finland and Denmark where they enjoy their lives in the diplomatic
service, and have me as to visit from time to time.
Växjö University has been a place where friendships have flourished. I feel grati-
tude to my first professors at the department of Political Science, Lennart Berg-
3
felt, Lena Ageval and Stefan Höjelid, who made me part of the group from the
start and listened attentively to my suggestions, making sure I was included in
their plans. Professor Lennart Lundquist from Lund University was also alert and
interested in my progress and read the thesis prospectus and some papers I pre-
sented in our political science seminar. In a cold winter of 2003, when I had just
joined the program, the “PhD student gang” gave me a welcome gathering at the
famous local Växjö Bishop Arms and I still remember their presence very dearly
from that day: Anne Haglund, Fredrik Bynander, Torgny Klasson, Daniel and
Charlotte Silander, Rebecka Ulfgard, Martin Nilsson, Karl Loxbo, Ulf Petäjä,
Alexander Rodhin and Björn Idlinge. All of them have integrated me in their
own ways through the years, not only making me feel at home but also putting
searching questions about my research. They all made a lucid bright pack of
good critics who listened to me and showed empathy in good and bad times. All
my gratitude to them.
Later on, new faces joined the department, people with whom I have shared aca-
demic concerns and spent some time. They, for the most part have either won-
dered what my research was all about, or why my Swedish language skills were
so bad: Magnus Hagevi, Karin Olsson, Tobias Bromander, Johanna Jormfeldt,
Otto Petterson, Erik Wångmar, Elin Hellquist, Marcus Ohlström, Stefan
Lindkvist and Staffan Andersson. A big fraternal thanks to all of them.
Another exciting circle of friends in other departments from whom I also learnt a
lot was that made up by Catarina Gaunitz, Elisabet Wartoft, Cecilia Brandel,
Hans Andrén, Christer Persson, Glenn Sjöstrand, Anna and Stefan Lund, Hans
and Marcela Lundberg, Kristina Möller, Manuela Aguilar, Sara and Marie Den-
ward, Jaime Campos, Osvaldo Salas, Dante Alarcón, Sandra Carranza, Lotta
Skoglund, and Ingela Åberg. With all of them, I shared a continuous dialogue
and spent some so much needed leisure time, dining out, travelling to places,
chatting, drinking or dancing some salsa tones. A warm collective thanks to all
of them.
Other good colleagues and teachers showed interest and shared comments with
me on the corridors or over a cup of coffee. I truly appreciated their efforts to
connect with me at some level: Lars Zanderin, Svante Lundberg, Ola Agevall,
Hans Lindberg, Dennis Frank, Linnea Sandstedt, Anna Maria Sandstrand, Malin
Hjorth, Eva Lundberg, Joacim Martinsson, Mats Trondman, Dino Viscovi, An-
ders Nilsson, Håkan Sandström, Marcus Janesson, Abdul Mohamed, Andrejs
Ozolins, Bengt-Åke Gustafsson, Peter Hultgren, Cecilia Jonsson, Joacim Lars-
son, Dan Maspers and Dan Sturesson.
Special mention goes to professors Gunnar Olofsson, Mats Sjölin, Emil Ud-
hammar, the dean Thorbjörn Nilsson and vice-deans Björn Idlinge and Martin
Nilsson (in their administrative roles) who in one way or another, showed inter-
est in my academic and professional needs, and supported me from their institu-
tional roles to expand my academic perspectives. For example, Martin gave me
support to teach the international course “Perspectives of Globalization” and
“Arts and Democracy” over a period of three years, for which I gained not only
teaching experience, but also a few extra coins to make ends meet given my
4
rather limited stipend from Mexico as an international student. At the end of my
stay, Mats and Emil made valuable suggestions helping to improve the final ma-
nuscript of my thesis. Stefan Höjelid has been my Swedish “Virgil” in my trip
through Hell and Purgatory in the last bureaucratic stages of the thesis. My rec-
ognition also goes to Catarina Gaunitz who has made the last administrative pa-
per work for me before the defence of the thesis. I also want to mention some
wonderful people working in the administration of the institution who made my
days in Växjö much easier and brighter: Solvay Hedberg, Margareta Wikström,
Pär-Arne Rosén, Johanna Sturesson, Charlotte Wikell Sjöberg, Margareta Ar-
vidsson, Cecilia Brandel, Birgitta Smith. They were frequently present in my du-
ties, either helping me with booking rooms, preparing budgets or administering
the final grades to my students. From the University coffee shop, Johanna
Andersson, Mia Sturesson and Anna Tuneskog-Olsberg got the some of the best
coffees in town, always with a proverbial smile.
Many people in Stockholm and Uppsala have been critical in getting information
to me so that I could have the necessary references for my topic. Fredrik Wet-
terqvist is not only a top class Swedish diplomat, but also a wonderful person.
He gave me a number of interviews, pointed me towards the right people for
contacts, opened the doors of his house to me, and invited me for lunch (not a
minor thing these days). His wife Åsa is a wonderful singer at the famous Upp-
sala Allmänna Sången choir that I have been listening during the last two years
with admiration. At the Foreign Ministry, Anette Jakobsson, Patrik Svensson,
Maja Bentzer were interested in my project and gave me part of their time to
gain knowledge of their activities. From the Swedish Institute, Hans Lepp gave
me good suggestions to carry on my work, especially in the Swedish part. Åsa
Lundmark was direct, clear and generous. Per Svensson and Gudrun Vahlquist
from the Council of Culture gave me thoughts to advance my Swedish materials
in a richer perspective.
In Mexico City, my colleagues from the National University of Mexico (UNAM)
always showed their appreciation to me by keeping a distance course over the
years under my responsibility, and making sure I was never totally gone: Lilia
Jimenez, Carlos Uscanga, César Delgado and Consuelo Dávila, Irene and Nor-
berto Nava, and the lovely secretary Juanita. At Universidad Iberoamericana
(UIA), I always got support from Agustín Gutiérrez Canet, Alejandro Anaya,
Cristina Barrón and the brilliant secretaries Amalia and Lourdes. From the Na-
tional Institute of Fine Arts (INBA), my thanks go to Alejandro Vega, Jesús
Miránda, Roberto Gómez Soto Othón Téllez, Jesús Taylor, María Luisa Frutos
and Gonzálo Rodríguez who have supported me over the years. Double thanks to
Roberto for accepting the task of designing the jacket for this book.
My many thanks go to Ernesto Sosa from the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Re-
lations, who gave a couple of rather explicit interviews on the subject of cultural
diplomacy, to later extend an invitation for me to teach at the Matías Romero
School of Diplomacy, which also led to the writing of a couple of chapters for
Mexican books. Porfirio Thierry Muñoz Ledo and Jessica Cascante gave me
some hints on how to approach the Mexican case. Silvia Molina opened the do-
5
ors of her house to me for a wonderful long conversation on the subject. Martha
Bárcenas and Agustín Gutierrez-Canet were also very professional presenting
their ideas on diplomacy and culture to me in a rather pragmatic way, and they
are actually some of the most enthusiastic diplomats genuinely interested in rep-
resenting Mexican culture abroad that I know of. Daniel Leyva from the National
Institute of Fine Arts and Jaime Nualart from the National Council of Culture
and Arts were enthusiastic and kind to me as a PhD student. Jorge Alberto Lo-
zoya and Gerardo Estrada are not only exceptionally experienced cultural diplo-
mats, but also top intellectuals who gave me a generous amount of time in their
agendas for several interviews and phone exchanges. Thanks also go to Leticia
Luna and Irma Sánchez from the “Genaro Estrada” historic and diplomatic ar-
chives, from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs in Mexico.
Many institutions cooperated to make this last transition possible. I got a student
scholarship from the Mexican National Science and Technology Foundation
(CONACYT) to carry on my doctoral studies in Sweden. The School of Social
Science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) paid for a
one-way air ticket for me to come to Sweden at the beginning of my studies. The
School of Social Sciences at Växjö University supported me offering me an of-
fice to work, a stipend for books and travels and all the academic support neces-
sary to finish my work. The Research Committee of the School of Social Sci-
ences allocated funds throughout my stay so that I could participate in confer-
ences, do some archive and interview research, and visit some institutions to gain
first hand knowledge of the things I write about in this book. The research
Committee made it also possible to have Stanley Katz visiting the university and
participating as an opponent in my last seminar, during the fall 2006. The de-
partment of Political Science at Växjö University also helped me out to get some
assistance in translating official documents from Swedish into English, and
Stefan Lindquist made a great difference. They also provided me with the funds
to get the professional English proofreading of the book for which I also thank
David Ratford for his superb job. And last, but not least, this book is produced
under the financial support of Växjö University Press having the determined and
kind editorial support of Kerstin Brodén. During my last year, when my Mexican
funds dried up, the Dean Thorbjörn Nilsson offered me a contract to help me fin-
ish my studies, in combination with a grant we had just been given from the
Swedish Science Foundation (Vetenskaprådet), via an invitation from Marie
Denward from the Interactive Institute, which also gave me the opportunity to do
advanced research in the field of contemporary arts in both Mexico and Sweden.
I warmly thank people who took the time to read my draft and gave me concrete
comments, either on the whole or on parts of it. Norbert Götz was an early sup-
porter after reading a paper I wrote for a Maastricht conference in 2004. Manuela
Aguilar was good in asking for more clarity and simplification. Christer Persson
pointed at the necessity to reach a “final reasoning stage” as a PhD thesis in my
work. Anna Lund made me reflect on the “cultural part” of my work more care-
fully. Glenn Sjöstrand supported me in my reading of the identity and Swedish
sections with rich comments. Hans Lundberg made encouraging remarks and
posed questions in the “discourse” part. Karl Loxbo was an excellent intellectual
6
sparring-partner who made me feel the thesis could actually fly. Fredrik By-
nander gave a generous IR “critical look” at my thesis, posing a few interroga-
tions along the way. Karina Olivares is one of the most passionate discussants on
the topic and gave me constructive comments. Rebecka Ulfgard read the manu-
script in detail giving me some “elemental lessons” on how to conclude a doc-
toral thesis in political science in Sweden. A disclosure to all of them and my
advisors: as in all cases, responsibility for the book belongs entirely to me.
Last but not least, my mother Ofelia and my brother Daniel deserve all my grati-
tude for being so patient with me throughout the years. My nephew Carlitos is
my pride. Lucía gave me the confidence to take on this journey and was a sup-
porting partner through these years. My apologies to some of the close relatives
who have noticed my “absence” from the family circles in recent years, specially
my aunties Lucila, Martha V., Eda, Genoveva (an the extended Moncada fam-
ily), my uncles Enrique, Flavio and Rafael. My second family in Tacoma Wash-
ington, Helen and Stanley are always remembered with joy and thankfulness.
Rebecka is a ray of light, and has given me the strength and solace in this last
stage of the thesis. My father passed away a few years ago, but my gratitude to
him always remains intact.
In retrospect, it was a brave decision to come from Mexico to study a doctoral
program in Sweden. Everyday life was a challenge: climate (yes, it is cold up
here!), food, friends, distances and trying to make sense of the Scandinavian
temperament. In spite of my relative knowledge about the Swedish graduate
educational system at the time, my decision was also naïf. There are very few in-
tellectual connections between the two countries and their political science tradi-
tions differ enormously. It was a difficult task to make sense of the many differ-
ent aspects of Swedish academia: language, references, theoretical styles, meth-
ods, teaching and criticism. Yet, no matter how complicated, this was the best
decision I ever made. Swedish research in the field is quite international and
visible, with top of the line professors, great infrastructure and publications
flourishing. Sweden’s political science tradition has a well deserved reputation.
On the other hand, it is a difficult space to penetrate as an outsider. There is not
enough international diversity inside the departments, and in my experience there
was much “blind” self-confidence and self-reassurance. The Anglo-Saxon tradi-
tion is the main navigational compass, for good or ill. In sum, the differences be-
tween my Mexican references and the Swedish ones were greater that what I ex-
pected. To my surprise, I soon realized that this book makes me the first Mexi-
can PhD in Political Science ever to graduate from a Swedish (and probably a
Scandinavian) university. I am not sure that there are any other foreign interna-
tional students, especially from outside Europe, writing PhD theses in Political
Science in Sweden. But I doubt it. At the same time, I do not know of any Swede
taking or having taken a full PhD in our discipline outside the “comfort zone.”
This might be a symptom of domestic isolation or simply unidirectional interna-
tionalization. Since this thesis is about mutual understanding and cosmopolitan
values, this personal concern is justified. International cooperation and exchange
in graduate education and research is needed, in my opinion, if Swedish Political
Science is to move beyond itself in the years to come.
7
8
Contents
Acknowledgments
Contents
Figures
Illustrations and Pictures
Abbreviations
INTRODUCTION 17
Cultural Diplomacy and Holbein’s The Ambassadors 17
The Main Research Riddle(s) 20
What is the Fuss over Cultural Diplomacy? 20
Cultural Diplomacy Representations: SP-CC-NB 22
Method: On the Construction of Representation 23
Swedish and Mexican Cultural Diplomacies 25
Aim, Delimitations and Disposition 27
Organization of the Thesis 28
Final Note: How to Relate to this Study 30
CHAPTER ONE: Representing Cultural Diplomacy 31
Introduction 31
1.1. Addressing “Cultural Diplomacy” Representations 32
1.1.1. The Restrictive “E-P-A” Triad 32
1.1.2. The Cultural Attaché 34
1.1.3. Constructing Cultural Diplomacy in Discourse 36
a) Instrumentality 37
b) Securitization 39
c) Spatiality 40
d) The Directionality 42
e) The Private/Public divide 43
1.2. Diplomacy: The Public and Representations 45
1.2.1 Public Diplomacy in Discourse 46
1.2.2. Difference between Public and Cultural Diplomacy 47
1.2.3. Public Diplomacy in Sweden and Mexico 49
1.3. Representing Cultural Diplomacy: Soft Power, Nation Branding
and Cosmopolitan Constructivism in Discourse 50
1.3.1 Soft-Power 51
1.3.2. Nation-Branding 53
1.3.3. Cosmopolitan Constructivism 55
1.4. Conclusion 60
9
