Cultural democracy: an ecological and capabilities approach

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there has been sustained critique of the conceptual and normative foundations of UK cultural policy – the paternalism of ‘excellence and access’ and the neoliberal logic of ‘creative industries’. Whilst these critiques are well established, there is little work offering alternative foundations. This paper makes a contribution to this task. It does so in three ways. Firstly, by identifying ‘cultural democracy’ as a key discourse offering a counter-formulation of what the aims of cultural policy could and should be, and analysing uses of this term, it highlights the need to more effectively conceptualize cultural opportunity. Secondly, drawing on research with one UK-based initiative, Get Creative, the paper identifies a particularly consequential aspect of cultural opportunity: its ecological nature. Thirdly, it shows that the capabilities approach to human development provides ideas with the potential to help build new conceptual and normative foundations for cultural policy. Proposing a distinctive account of cultural democracy characterized by systemic support for cultural capabilities, the paper concludes by indicating the implications this may have for research, policy and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Capabilities approach
• cultural democracy
• cultural ecosystems
• creative industries
• participation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Hesmondhalgh et al. (2015a) rightly point out that ‘neoliberal’ is too crude a label with which to characterize the multiple aspects of recent UK cultural policy, whilst recognizing that McGuigan’s (2005) polemical use of the term is valuable in its provocation to explore ‘the consequences of cultural policies that were profoundly shaped by economistic conceptions of the good.’ (2015a, 110).

2. ‘Socio-economic phenomena’ is an umbrella term used by Fleetwood (2016) to embrace a wide range of ‘structures’ and ‘institutions’, including, inter alia, agreements, codes, conventions, customs, directives, guidelines, institutions, laws, mores, networks, norms, obligations, precedents, procedures, regulations, responsibilities, rituals, rules, routines, scripts, social structures, standards and templates.

3. ‘High’, ‘popular’, ‘common’, ‘sub-’ culture, etc., are all then to be understood in terms of the choices people make in the light of the freedoms they enjoy (or not) to give form and value to their experiences, and together comprise ‘culture’, writ large.

4. Moreover, ‘cultural participation’ needs to be extended to embrace how individuals and groups of people decide what cultural objects and events are supported. In this sense, ‘participation’ – understood as a devolved form of decision-making process concerning ‘who decides’ and ‘what is decided’ (Alkire 2002, 127) – should also be seen as part of what culture is.

5. We are currently undertaking research of this kind, examining cultural ecosystems in the context of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places scheme. Drawing on that research (see, also, Wilson and Gross 2017), we are in the process of developing publications specifically addressing the implications of ecological perspectives for the development – and evaluation – of the many ‘place-based’ approaches to cultural policy currently emerging in the UK and internationally.

6. Sometimes referred to as the ‘capability approach’.

Additional information

Funding

The Get Creative Research Project was funded jointly by BBC Arts and the King’s College London Cultural Institute.

Notes on contributors

Jonathan Gross

Jonathan Gross is a Teaching Fellow and Researcher in the department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries (CMCI), King’s College London, where his research addresses questions of cultural participation and policy. He has previously held research and teaching positions at the universities of Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield.

Nick Wilson

Nick Wilson is Professor of Culture & Creativity at CMCI, King’s College London. His research and teaching focuses on culture, creativity and the relationship between them. Nick is author of The Art of Re-enchantment: Making Early Music in the Modern Age (2014, OUP), co-editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Creativity at Work (2018) and currently writing a realist theory of art, experience and human flourishing.