TY - JOUR

T1 - Cultural diplomacy in Qatar

T2 - between ‘virtual enlargement’, national identity construction and elite legitimation

AU - Eggeling, Kristin Anabel

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - This paper analyses how the government of Qatar has over the last years used practices of cultural diplomacy to enhance its standing abroad, and consolidate its legitimacy at home. Looking in particular at key initiatives of international collaboration of the Qatar Foundation and Qatar Museums, I argue that the Qatari government strategically uses cultural diplomacy to first produce and then disseminate an elite identity narrative of Qatar being a cohesive, future-oriented and rightfully engaged player in international affairs both inside and outside the state. To develop this argument, the analysis builds on observation during fieldwork in Doha between 2015 and 2016, and is enriched by a textual analysis of primary and secondary sources. As a timely contribution, the paper moreover shows that even in the light of considerable economic downturn, where budgets are cut and state-projects downsized, official narratives about Qatar’s global cultural ambitions have so far remained largely unchanged.

AB - This paper analyses how the government of Qatar has over the last years used practices of cultural diplomacy to enhance its standing abroad, and consolidate its legitimacy at home. Looking in particular at key initiatives of international collaboration of the Qatar Foundation and Qatar Museums, I argue that the Qatari government strategically uses cultural diplomacy to first produce and then disseminate an elite identity narrative of Qatar being a cohesive, future-oriented and rightfully engaged player in international affairs both inside and outside the state. To develop this argument, the analysis builds on observation during fieldwork in Doha between 2015 and 2016, and is enriched by a textual analysis of primary and secondary sources. As a timely contribution, the paper moreover shows that even in the light of considerable economic downturn, where budgets are cut and state-projects downsized, official narratives about Qatar’s global cultural ambitions have so far remained largely unchanged.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Cultural Diplomacy

KW - National Identity

KW - Legitimation

KW - Qatar

KW - Virtual Enlargement

U2 - 10.1080/10286632.2017.1308505

DO - 10.1080/10286632.2017.1308505

M3 - Journal article

VL - 23

SP - 717

EP - 731

JO - International Journal of Cultural Policy

JF - International Journal of Cultural Policy

SN - 1028-6632

IS - 6

ER -