Cultural Policy Studies Research Articles

Mediations of cultural policymaking during COVID-19: British newspaper reporting of the Culture Recovery Fund

ABSTRACT At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, cultural policymaking frequently came to the fore in media debates about the impact of the crisis and measures to alleviate it. In this article, we present evidence of how newspaper coverage of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) identified and framed competing perceptions of the relative utility of policymaking in this context, while also problematising familiar assumptions about the CCIs among policymakers, journalists and (arguably) the public. Specifically, we analysed British news and editorial items (n.4,162) published from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. It offers a novel investigation into the ways in which media and policy rhetoric overlap, interact and influence each other. In doing so, this article contributes a unique perspective to the study and practice of cultural policy, bringing to light the typically underexplored role of the news media in shaping the narratives driving cultural policy deliberation and action.

Культурная политика тюркоязычных стран Центральной Азии

The paper presents the results of a study of the modern cultural policy of the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia. Having studied the regulatory framework of the countries of Central Asia regarding the issues of cultural construction and language policy, the author identifies the achievements and problem areas of the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia in the development of education, theatrical art, museum and library work. The study used interdisciplinary and cultural approaches and methods of content analysis of legal documents, official websites of various ministries of the countries under study, statistical and archival documents that are in the public domain. The theoretical basis of the study was the scientific works of domestic and foreign authors: Borishpolets K. P., Vakhtina N. B., Raikova G. A., Saparova N. D., Tsai I. K., Khalmuradov R. I., Tsyryapkina Yu. N., et al. The empirical basis of the study was personal observations obtained in Kazakhstan in connection with conducting master classes and working as a member of the jury of student competitions, interviews with students from Central Asian countries studying at the Adyghe State University, as well as materials from the Internet resources of the countries of Central Asia.

Cultural Policy of Ukraine and the European Union: Conformity of the Contents and Implementation Perspectives

The purpose of the article is to analyse the peculiarities of domestic cultural policy in the conditions of European integration. The methodology of the research includes the scientific and theoretical approach to the study of cultural policy and the method of analysis and synthesis. The historical-comparative method made it possible to identify the distinctive features of the legislation of Ukraine and the EU regarding the regulation of relations in the socio-cultural sphere. Methods of observation, information gathering, descriptive and generalisation methods allowed us to find out the level of compliance between the cultural strategies in Ukraine with the cultural practices of the European countries. The scientific novelty. For the first time culture and its practical implementation is considered as a tool for the formation and implementation of value-meaning needs of a person, citizen, and an ethnic group, as a carrier of retrospective symbols, images, and stylistic catalysts. Conclusions. Generated and coordinated by the European Commission and the Council of Europe Work Plans for Culture initiative should be considered a stylistically semantic initiative that takes into account global, state, and strategic-political changes in the EU cultural sector. The cultural diversity of the EU member states is ensured by maintaining the priority of national cultural component of an individual state on the basis of strategy making, proportionality, subsidiarity, and continuous cooperation. Nowadays, the normative provision of culture as a tool for the implementation of value-orientational needs of a person acquires relevance for the state-building processes of the Europeanisation of Ukraine. Such a strategy indicates the connection between a citizen of Ukraine, the culture of the state and the national ethnic group that is the carrier of defining and formative symbols, images, and worldview values.
 Key words: cultural policy, EU experience, cultural front, image and development qualification, culturalogical policy.

Democratizing opera. Accessibility to opera in the digital age among Swedish-speaking Finns

ABSTRACT This paper builds on recent debates within cultural policy and cultural studies, arguing that questions of cultural meaning-making processes need to be taken into account when assessing accessibility issues discussed in current academic and political contexts. Approaching opera as a cultural phenomenon in the context of a minority culture, the paper focuses on the alleged democratization process entailed by digitalization. Departing from the division between the democratization of culture, referring to the dissemination of cultural works to those lacking access, and cultural democracy, in short, to value the subjective judgement of taste, the paper aims to investigate the connections between the meaning of opera and the cultural context in which this meaning is conceptualized. The opera culture among the Swedish-speaking Finns, a small, heterogeneous language minority, is used as a case study. The paper concludes that as long as the cultural meaning of opera is to stand for valuable, high culture, attempts to democratize opera will lead to new renegotiations between the high and the common. Understanding such connections between cultural policies concerning digital accessibility and cultural meaning is especially important in the post-pandemic era.

Italian cultural policy: conclusions for Russia

The article analyses current public management and funding practices of cultural organisations in Italy by using comparative and statistical analysis. The structure of the sector’s governing bodies and approaches to budgeting for culture at national level have been explored. Trends in decreasing funding from provincial, regional and local budgets have been identified. The status, legislative and institutional conditions for the emergence of Italy’s unique multichannel cultural financing system have been described. An analysis of the Italian museum system’s reform has been presented. The activities of private opera foundations have been discussed in detail. The main similarities between Russian and Italian cultural policies have been described. These are the drive to expand the boundaries and activities associated with the cultural sector, the significant burden on local and regional authorities in the field of cultural heritage preservation, the “quantitative approach” and the application of financial performance indicators to assess cultural organisations performance.The article’s scientific novelty lies in the complex approach to the study of Italian cultural policy using the criteria proposed by D. Montias and A. I. Glagolev, and in the study of the activities of Italian opera foundations and museums, which had not previously been sufficiently covered in the Russian and foreign literature. The prospect of the topic, the practical significance and relevance of the research are due to the need to implement regulations in Russia which set a course for the creation of a multi-channel system of funding and a broad understanding of the cultural sector, and ensuring inter-agency and inter-regional cooperation between the authorities in the implementation of cultural policy.The article analyses a wide range of financial support mechanisms for culture, most of which are named in the “Strategy of State Cultural Policy of Russia as Targets by 2030”, while Italy has accumulated considerable experience in this area for several decades.

State cultural policy as a factor of civil society development in the context of European integration processes

The purpose of the article is to study the trinity and interactions of European integration clusters, state cultural policy, and civil society. The methodology is based on the integrated use of general scientific and special-applied methods, namely: analysis and synthesis, abstraction and concretization, analogy, and comparison. A special culturological method, ie the method of culturological determination made it possible to consider the influence of cultural factors on the formation of a socio-cultural, civic environment. The use of empirical level methods allowed us to form a holistic picture of the organization of European integration cultural practices in the Rivne region, observing the activities of cultural institutions in the region. The scientific novelty lies in the complexity of the study of the state cultural policy of Ukraine with a focus on its social, economic, mental state and content of modern European integration modes, which activates the process of civil society development. Conclusions. The creation of a single cultural space in Europe is based on the cultural diversity of countries, cultural diplomacy, which ensures communication and finding common ground in establishing cooperation. Sustainable development and gender equality are new priorities in the cultural policy of the European Union. For Ukraine in the context of European integration, it is important to create conditions for harmonization, preservation, actualization of national cultural space despite the fragmentation and dispersion of cultural heritage, as well as the intensification of the national sector of cultural industries, ensuring the competitiveness of national cultural product in the world market. with the involvement of representatives of civil society. These are the basic bases for creating the concept of state cultural policy in Ukraine.

Is it really about the evidence? argument, persuasion, and the power of ideas in cultural policy

ABSTRACT In the move towards a supposedly “evidence-based” cultural policy, “evidence” is rarely the main driver of decision-making. If “evidence” is not the actual basis of policymaking, then what is its real role? Why is there so much “bad” or unverifiable evidence of impact in cultural policy documents? The article suggests focusing on recent developments in policy theory for more accurate and sophisticated approaches on the connection between evidence and policymaking, and the role that ideas and values have in shaping policy. A closer engagement with theories of policy formation demonstrates policymaking has a fundamentally discursive character: it is based on ideas, processes of argumentation and persuasion, so can never be an ideologically neutral exercise. The article concludes that cultural policy studies can benefit from a more systematic engagement with policy theory.

Studying the relationship between social policy promotion and neoliberalism: the case of social investment

ABSTRACT Drawing from the fields of Cultural Political Economy and Critical Policy Studies, this article examines the relationship between social policy and neoliberalism, focusing on the ‘social investment’ discourse promoted by the European Commission. In the social policy literature, social investment is widely considered a policy framework able to overcome neoliberalism, with the latter defined rather narrowly as welfare retrenchment. Instead, referring to the vast literature on neoliberalism, this article proposes an innovative two-dimensional conceptualisation of neoliberalism as a political and epistemological project. The analysis reveals that while social investment provides a much more generous reform path than welfare retrenchment, it nevertheless largely follows neoliberalism in its epistemological and distributive dimensions, extending the economic rationale to non-economic areas and accommodating the interests of the economic and financial elites. The article finally connects this result with broader debates within international political economy on the future of the welfare state in a global economy.

Strengthening The Role Of The Village In The Preservation Of Customs During The Covid-19 Pandemic

This article aims to investigate the policy shift of local cultural management in Banyumas Regency during the Covid-19. The pandemic has brought a wide impact beyond the health issues including cultural activities that tend to be overlooked. The local culture of Banyumas was selected because local cultures other than Javanese somehow failed to be noticed by the experts since the New Order Era. This paper is library research that examines cultural policies. The result reveals that the Banyumas local culture has been managed by the local government of Banyumas through the culture and tourism office. In cultural activities, there are two patterns, namely cultural activities held by the Banyumas Regency government and cultural activities held by the village administration. During the pandemic, nonetheless, more activities are carried out by the village administration and local society. It shows that the social-cultural bond between the local people and the village administration is strong in the attempt of preserving their customs and traditions. The value of mutual assistance is a pivotal contribution to support the cultural activities amid the less favorable situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This outcome also confirms that a study of cultural policy cannot be separated from the necessity of understanding how the village administration as the lowest government unit plays a significant role in cultural preservation along with the local society.

Literature as a Matter of Policy

Literature as a Matter of Policy

Australian cultural policy studies, South African exceptionalism

ABSTRACT This retrospective examines Tom O’Regan’s influence on South African cultural policy studies in light of the post-apartheid political transition, corruption and fallism. Implications for policy studies are discussed with regard to a recently liberated state that first, adopted Australian cultural policy precepts, and then closed them out 23 years later in response to the Rhodes Must Fall movement. Explanation is found not just in corruption and fallism, but in an inability to be outward-looking. The dialectical implications for policy studies are discussed.

Debating the value of twinning in the United Kingdom: the need for a broader perspective

The twinning model has been used to develop a wide array of political, economic and cultural relationships that connect communities and institutions in the United Kingdom with counterparts overseas. However, where local governments were once among the most ardent promoters of twinning, years of austerity coupled with changing processes of financial rationalisation, have led many councils to question the value of these relationships. Today, fewer British local authorities are taking up new twinnings and some have even been involved in a process of quiet ‘untwinning’. This paper takes pause to examine what might be lost with this set of changes—it asks: just what is of value of twinning? Taking a cue from ongoing debates in the field of cultural policy studies, it advocates for a broadening and deepening of the operational concept of ‘public value’ to better account for the manifold ways that twinning can deliver pro-social benefits to British communities and their partners.

PRACTICAL STEPS FOR RENOVATING THE ARCHITECTURAL AND PLANNING ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDINGS

The article considers the current process of implementing the concept of four spaces in the Ukrainian libraries, which was developed by experts from the Center for Cultural Policy Studies of the Royal School of Library and Information Sciences at the University of Copenhagen (2006) in terms of architectural and planning reorganization of public libraries. The main results of the project-experimental work, which included the development of project documentation for the pilot project of the renovation of the public library in Odesa and a comparison of the stages of work with the information presented in the manual "Four library spaces: innovative model" (2020). The principles on which any project of renovation of library premises should be based were revealed: 1) libraries are places of professional and social development; 2) libraries should become accessible; 3) libraries are inclusive spaces; 4) libraries should be secure; 5) libraries should become convenient. It was found that the manual has a number of shortcomings and does not provide librarians with enough information to reorganize library spaces without the involvement of an architect, namely: 1) the manual does not pay enough attention to the development of universal examples of architectural and planning solutions; 2) there are no recommendations for providing transformative spaces with structures and furniture; 3) there is no emphasis on the need to implement the principles of universal design and barrier-free library spaces; 4) there are no recommendations for improving the insolation of the premises and the lighting design of individual spaces. A plan of alternative measures that need to be worked out to ensure the rapid transformation of libraries is proposed. An effective methodology should be based on the principles of universality of spaces and combinatorics of room equipment, as well as be flexible and able to scale both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Cultural Policy Studies and the Capabilities Approach Have Much to Offer Film Heritage

Cultural Policy Studies and the Capabilities Approach Have Much to Offer Film Heritage

마을벽화로 본 지역문화정책 비판적 고찰

마을벽화로 본 지역문화정책 비판적 고찰

Un-mind the gap: questioning the division between artistic instrumentalism and autonomy from an ethnomusicological perspective

This article aims to contribute to on-going cultural policy debates on artistic instrumentalism vs. autonomy, striving to undermine this apparent dichotomy by drawing from ethnomusicology and related fields. Ethnomusicology, although frequently ignored by cultural policy studies, has an established tradition of exploring the functionality of music. As such, it not only provides profound insight into social effects of music, but also helps reveal that the division between instrumental art and “art for art’s sake” is largely a historical and culture-specific invention of the Western (musical) world. Moreover, the article will show that Western music has always been functional, paradoxically partly due to its ideational separation from instrumental (especially economic) pressures. Hence, this article argues both in favour of a recognition of music’s powerful functionality and the need to keep the musical sphere at least partially separate from too straight-forward monetary and quantitative impact concerns.

Re-imagining the local in national cultural policy formulation – the case of the Anglophone Caribbean

ABSTRACTThe formulation of cultural policies in the Anglophone Caribbean constantly straddles the demands of global, regional and national imperatives as a function of its position as a region of post-colonial, small-island states. This paper will argue that the role these factors play in the art of policy making problematises conventions in the current global/local (glocal) debate circulating in the arena of Cultural Policy Studies. The paper shows that cultural policy making in the Caribbean constitutes a mélange of approaches that are in a constant state of contestation during the policy-making process. It employs content analysis of cultural policy texts from selected Caribbean states, as well as an analysis of stakeholder views from the national cultural policy consultations in Trinidad and Tobago to derive its findings. A Five Factor framework was developed to illustrate the range of responses that guide and shape local actors and activities in the national cultural policy domain. The research concludes that the relationship between the national and local (nocal) actors has to be re-imagined if cultural policy is to deliver on its promise of social transformation in the Caribbean.

The State within the Arts: A Study of Cuba's Cultural Policy, 1940–1958

The State within the Arts: A Study of Cuba's Cultural Policy, 1940–1958

From Inconsistencies to Contingencies -Understanding Policy Complexity of Novi Sad 2021 European Capital of Culture

Abstract The case of Novi Sad European Capital of Culture 2021 (NS2021), in which various rationales of cultural policy (local, national, supranational) thread a complex web of political interactions, brings interesting challenges to the theoretical landscape of cultural policy research. We start with the analysis of the Bidbook NS2021 as a cultural policy text, discussing its inconsistencies and ambiguities. Then we study the context and the policy process through participant observation and interviews with key authors. We find that the policy-making process is best explained as contingent - meaning that it is dependent on the historical discourses, demands of the specific policy genre, external requirements and internal pressures, and individual agencies and accidents. In the concluding section, we discuss theoretical and methodological implications that policy contingency poses to cultural policy studies.

A study of cultural policy for the music industry in EU: ‘Music Moves Europe’ initiative

음악은 유럽시민의 삶과 밀접하게 연관, 유럽만의 문화적 정체성을 형성해주며 사회적 통합을 이끄는 역할을 해오고 있다. 하지만 음악의 창작, 제작, 소비는 디지털시대를 맞아 근본적인 변화를 맞게 되었다. 실물(physical) 음반 소유에서 온라인을 통한 디지털 음원의 다운로드·스트리밍으로 음악 포맷과 소비 패턴이 변하였고, 실물 음반 시장은 급속한 쇠퇴를 겪게 되었다. 하지만 역설적이게도 음악산업은 이러한 디지털화로 인해 가장 빠른 회복세를 보이고 있는 산업이기도 하다. 이러한 음악산업 변화에 적시에 대응하기 위해 환경을 이해하고 그에 따른 정책적 대책 마련이 필요하다는 인식이 유럽 정책·산업계 간에 공유되었고, 최근에 현 ‘Creative Europe’ 프로그램이 종료되는 2020년 이후 새로운 음악산업 정책을 실행하기 위한 유럽차원에서의 준비가 착수되었다. 이에 본 연구는 유럽연합의 음악산업 정책 동향을 분석함으로서, 향후 유럽의 음악산업 정책 방향을 탐색해보고 정책적 시사점을 도출하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이를위해 현재 유럽연합이 2018년부터 시행 예정인 새 음악산업 지원정책인 ‘Music Moves Europe’ 이니셔티브 사례에 대한 분석을 제시하였다. 그간 유럽 문화정책영역 내에 주요 관심대상이 아니었던 음악산업의 역할과 가치가 지원정책 대상으로서 주목받게 된 정책적·산업적 배경 및 과정, 그리고 구체적인 내용을 살펴보았다. 이를 통해 음악산업이 가진 다양성 안에서의 통합을 위한 문화적 가치와 일자리 창출 및 경제성장을 위한 경제적 가치 측면에서의 중요성을 유럽차원에서 인식하였음을 확인하였고, 이러한 새로운 음악산업 지원정책이 국내 음악산업에 가지는 정책적 함의를 논하였다.Music plays a significant role to construct European cultural identity and lead to social cohesion in Europe. However, the music sector has not been recognized as a major subject in the realm of cultural policy in EU. However, witnessing the recent fastest recovery of music industry with a steep rise of music streaming service, there has been a common recognition shared among the representatives from music industry and European Commission for the need to respond to the market change and establish a new cultural program for the music industry. Through long and comprehensive discussion and workshops, a new initiative called ‘Music Moves Europe’ is started from 2018 only for the music industry in EU. This paper aims to present a deep analysis of the Music Moves Europe initiative. By examining the role and value of music industry in the area of cultural policy in EU, it attempts to illuminate political and industrial background, process and detailed contents of the initiative. From this, this study draws the new initiative’s meanings in terms of cultural and economic values popular music has, and then suggests that open and interactive learning process by policy-makers and consideration for music start-ups are necessary in planning long-term strategies for the music industry development in the Korean cultural policy.