One of the founding goals of the Coalitions has been to take a stand against the homogenizing nature of the dominant culture. The movement was born in France during the late nineties, when the French deiced to take actions against what they perceived to be the weakening of their own language and culture in face of the invasion of American movies and music. From there the movement spread and led to the creation of the Committee for Cultural Diversity intended to challenge the dominance of the WTO in matters related to culture.

Back then, the countries that traditionally dominated the production of mass cultural goods were the only source of creative material that had global reach. Meanwhile, underdeveloped and developing countries, the usual importers of cultural goods, were deprived of the opportunity to create and export culture without submitting to the homogenization enforced by the dominant cultural models.

The movement grew thru the exchange of ideas and the need to diversify in order to bring to life the cultural expressions of each community. In the words of the President of the Brazilian Coalition: “Homogenization in terms of culture is synonymous with death, due to the lack of creative energy. The more we diversify and decentralize culture the easier will be the exchange of ideas and the strengthening of the many identities.”