Spatializing authoritarian neoliberalism by way of cultural politics: City, nation and the European Union in Gdańsk’s politics of cultural policy formation

Thomas Borén,Craig Young,Patrycja Grzyś

doi:10.1177/2399654420965239

Thomas Borén, Craig Young + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/2399654420965239

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Abstract

This paper develops perspectives which seek to spatialize authoritarian neoliberalism through arguing for greater engagement with the politics of urban cultural policy formation in the neglected context of post-socialist East and Central Europe. Through analyzing the politics of urban cultural policy-making in Gdańsk, Poland, the paper spatializes authoritarian neoliberalism by exploring how relations between the urban and the national, and between the urban and the supranational, shape urban cultural policy, drawing upon literatures on political economy, policy mobilities, cultural policy research, and the concepts of authoritarian neoliberalism and the relational-territorial nexus. Gdańsk is a liberally run city, strongly aligned with the European Union (EU), opposed to the authoritarian neoliberal national level politics in Poland. The paper analyses urban-national tensions and relationships between Gdańsk and the EU to unpack the contested spatial nature of authoritarian neoliberalism.

Highlights

Recent years have witnessed a recasting of the political geography of Europe
In this paper we have used a focus on the politics of urban cultural policy formation in the neglected context of post-socialist East and Central Europe as one lens through which to contribute to the larger project of spatializing authoritarian neoliberalism. We have done this through an analysis of a case where a city is opposing authoritarian neoliberalist politics and resisting coercion, but aligning itself with a supra-national organisation, the European Union (EU)
We contribute to spatializing authoritarian neoliberalism by undertaking a multi-scalar analysis of the politics surrounding urban cultural policy formation using the concept of policy formation taking place within a relational-territorial nexus

Summary

Introduction

Recent years have witnessed a recasting of the political geography of Europe. In particular, national politics in many European contexts has undergone a marked shift to the Right, producing various examples of what is increasingly termed ‘authoritarian neoliberalism’ (Bruff and Tansel, 2019). The example of the museum reveals the tensions around cultural policy between opposing sides in the political conflict and highlights the role of coercion (only the ‘right’ narrative from the point of view of the state is allowed) and the readiness to use doubtful, albeit formally legal, methods (the ‘merging’) to push through the will of the national government (cf Di Giovanni, 2017; Tansel, 2017b).

Results

Conclusion