To unicode or bust

gistfile1.py

# From "Unicode in Python, Completely Demystified" by Kumar McMillan.
# http://farmdev.com/talks/unicode/

def to_unicode_or_bust(
        obj, encoding='utf-8'):
    if isinstance(obj, basestring):
        if not isinstance(obj, unicode):
            obj = unicode(obj, encoding)
    return obj



>>> to_unicode_or_bust(ivan_uni)
u'Ivan Krsti\u0107'
>>> to_unicode_or_bust(ivan_utf8)
u'Ivan Krsti\u0107'
>>> to_unicode_or_bust(1234)
1234