Why development needs culture

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to account for and to justify the UN's recent appeal to “all Member States, intergovernmental bodies, organizations of the United Nations system and relevant non‐governmental organizations […] to ensure a more visible and effective integration and mainstreaming of culture in development policies and strategies at all levels”.Design/methodology/approach – The paper delves into the history of ideas leading up to the UN's belated recognition of culture's influence (a full ten years into the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)). It shows how the post‐Second World War intuitions embraced in UNESCO's Constitution matured in the course of the nation‐building and decolonization processes that have given way to today's context of advanced globalization.Findings – Against that background, rising international awareness of the issues involved in the environment‐development nexus conspired with growing concern for the safeguarding of world heritage and cult...