The Marketing of Diversity and the Esthetization of the Difference: The Cultural Expressions of Ethnic Minorities Put to the Test of New Urban Cultural Policies

Abstract

In London and Lyon, urban cultural movements rooted in racism and segregation such as the Notting Hill carnival and hip-hop dance have been progressively converted into events designed and organized for the benefit of the city's social and economic development. In a context where neoliberal and managerial models inspired by market-driven regulation are a growing reference in matters of public action, this article show that the celebration of the artistic qualities of such cultural practices associated with ethnic minorities comes with their esthetization, a process that tends to erase the differences between populations and to attenuate the emotional and affective discrepancies. Relying on some 30 semi-open interviews conducted between 2000 and 2005 with volunteer militants, artists, and professionals in charge of the organization of the Notting Hill carnival in London and of the Défilé de la Biennale de la danse in Lyon, as well as on the participating observation of the preparation and execution of these two events, I argue that the culture professionals play a crucial role in the functional rapprochement between the urban elites and the ethnic minorities.