Purple economy

The purple economy is that part of the economy which contributes to sustainable development by promoting the cultural potential of goods and services.

“The purple economy refers to taking account of cultural aspects in economics. It designates an economy that adapts to the human diversity in globalization and that relies on the cultural dimension to give value to goods and services.”[1] These two trends, one vertical and one horizontal, feed one another. In fact the growth in the cultural component attached to products is linked to each territory’s cultural vitality.

Scope

The purple economy is multidisciplinary, in that it enriches all goods and services by capitalizing on the cultural dimension inherent to every sector.

If differs from the cultural economy, which is sector-based.

In June 2013, the conclusions of a first inter-institutional working group on the purple economy, formed of experts from UNESCO, the OECD, the International Organisation of La Francophonie, French ministries, various companies and civil society. That document underscored the impact of the phenomenon of culturalization, which now affects the entire economy, with follow-on effects on employment and training. The report differentiates between purple jobs and purplifying professions: the former are directly linked to the cultural environment by their very purpose (like town planners and developers), while the latter are merely caused to transform under the effect of culturalization (such as positions in human resources or in marketing and communications).[2]

Origin

The term first appeared in 2011, in France, in a manifest[3] published on Le Monde.fr. The signatories[4] included the board members of the association Diversum,[5] which organized the first International Purple Economy Forum under the patronage of UNESCO, the European Parliament and the European Commission.[6]

Connection to sustainable development

The three components of a sustainable economy

The purple economy emphasizes the presence of externalities: the cultural environment from which agents draw and on which, in return, they leave their own footprints is a global public good. As a result, the purple economy sees culture as a sustainable development issue.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Le Journal des Arts
  2. ↑ Conclusions of the first inter-institutional working group on the purple economy
  3. ↑ Le Monde.fr
  4. ↑ Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Bruno Bourg-Broc, Bernard Cerquiglini, Gilles Ciment, Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam, José Luís Dicenta Ballester, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, Mercedes Erra, Pierre-Antoine Gailly, Jérôme Gouadain, Claudie Haigneré, Jean-Hervé Lorenzi, Jean Musitelli, Alain-Dominique Perrin, Odile Quintin, Bernard Ramanantsoa, Jean-François Rial, Pierre Simon
  5. ↑ Bernard Cerquiglini, Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam, Jérôme Gouadain, Jean-Hervé Lorenzi, Jean Musitelli, Odile Quintin, Pierre Simon, source http://www.diversum.net/fichiers/File/Asso_diversum_10-05-2010_en.pdf
  6. ↑ Website of the International Purple Economy Forum