(Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, 2014) Pyrkosz, Damian S.
The paper deals with the issue of the role of culture as an element of the sustainable development paradigm. However culture as an element of economic analysis of development had been underestimated for a long time, the rise of the paradigm of sustainable development made a window of opportunity for culture in this context. As the shift from the industrial to sustainable model necessitated change of the values pursued, culture has made its way to the development policy due to its integrative approach to economic, social and natural systems. In this context the paper aims to firstly present a brief outline of the landmarks in economic writings and the authors that drew attention to the value of cultural aspects in economic analysis. Then it goes on to identify characteristics of sustainable development that made it possible to naturally fit cultural considerations into the paradigm framework. Finally, the paper identifies a set of traits for culturally sustainable development and supports them with examples verifying the role of culture in economic development with a special focus to the European Union countries. The paper concludes with a critical account of features that make it difficult to include culture into the development analysis that have its roots either in the history of economic thought, cultural or psychological considerations.
