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[-] Cultural Circle
Jeffrey Sturchio
Yusuf Hamied
Wan Yan Hai
Harvey McGrath
Gary Hattem
Edwin Cameron
Lamido Sanusi
Martin Taylor
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| | circles > | | | | Cultural Circle | | | Mission
Zamyn's Cultural Circle is a forum for the debate and dissemination of ideas. We aim to use these ideas to explore, question and deepen relationships between business and culture. The Cultural Circle is an active ground-level forum that identifies new opportunities for cultural transformation by building dynamic relationships between the corporate and cultural sectors. It is a space where the private sector and civil society's key constituencies can forge common ground, build open approaches and innovative answers to global challenges that go beyond conventional and top-down solutions.
In today's world we are faced with an increasing number of "problems without passports" that require all of our efforts to solve.
Context
Kofi Annan's poignant observation highlights the interconnectedness of the world's regions, and the interdependency of local, public and private constituencies in meeting global needs. The lines of connection between the 1st world and emerging and developing markets, in particular, present a complexity of relationships that will be explored by Zamyn through the framework of its Cultural Circle. With the rise of nations such as Brazil, Russia, India and China within the global economy not only as politically stable sites of corporate investment but as potential competitors to the West's core economies, we are witnessing a dynamic shift in the centre-periphery pole. Despite phenomenal economic growth, driven by a global growth in middle classes, many central and emerging markets have had to deal with an even more intense impoverishment of their poorest communities. Economic shifts in the emerging and developing economies have revealed dynamism in new markets at the cost of human rights abuses, authoratative government rule and inter-community struggles. These issues are heightened by different cultural approaches to business that often highlight conflicting values between business and local society, and across business practice, particularly in the case of international and conglomerate corporations.
Aims
Thomas G. Weiss defined global governence as the 'collective efforts to identify, understand, or address worldwide problems that go beyond the capacity of individual states to solve.' Zamyn recognises that the role of global corporations alongside civic organisations, as agents for cultural and social interaction, will be integral to building capacity for improved global governance. The worldwide integration of different cultures and economic markets presents a myriad of challenges and opportunities for advocators and enablers. The Cultural Circle will act as a space for this composite of relations, through which collective opportunities to achieve social good might be identified and realised. This may well take a number of different forms. Zamyn feels that a variety of collaborators, perhaps when necessary with one's 'natural antagonists', perceived or actual, might provide the basis for useful socio-cultural transformations. The circle's stimulus lies in developing collaborations and open processes, creating goals and objectives that are co-originated, and building genuine connections.
The Cultural Circle brings together visionary business leaders and socio-cultural stakeholders to challenege and jointly transform the existing relationships between corporate activity and culture, by illuminating the interdependency that exists between these two very different environments.
The role of circle members will be to bridge the distinct lexicons of 'business' and 'culture' by promoting a greater awareness of the issues pertinent to understanding the cultural interfaces and communication between centre and periphery, and the lines of reciprocal dependency that link the world's different regions. The circle will explore key issues such as the shifting dynamic of the periphery's relation to the centre, the impact of human rights and local politics on corporate activity, and the challenges of these influences for effective global governance. By questioning the accepted dichotomies between global and local, public and private, corporate and social, in favour of a wider recognition of the intricate interplay between them, corporate and civic organisations can be better placed to identify 'common ground' to build alliances that go beyond 'public-private' divisions.
As catalysts for globalisation, Zamyn envisages that corporations in collaboration with socio-cultural stakeholders will identify and lead innovative opportunities for cultural development. Through collaboration they have the capacity to support existing, and bring about new 'cultural configurations' with a strong focus on cultural leadership and enhanced cultural values across public and private sectors.
Circle Members
Edwin Cameron
Supreme Court Judge, South Africa
Yusuf Hamied
Chairman and Managing Director of Cipla Ltd
Gary Hattem
Managing Director, Deutsche Bank
Harvey McGrath
Chairman, London First
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
Economist and writer on Islamic affairs
Jeffrey Sturchio
Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Merck
Martin Taylor
Chairman of Syngenta AG
Wan Yan Hai
AIDS Activist and Independent Researcher
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Zamyn, South Building, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
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