Cultural Democracy: Policy, Practice and Education

Kolsteeg, Johan; van Heusden, Barend; Boomgaard, Jeroen

This book considers the ramifications of the term 'cultural democracy' from a variety of perspectives. In recent years, the concept of cultural democracy has gained traction in cultural policy and academic discourse, while manifesting itself on a practical level in cultural practice, but has not been uniformly defined. This book proposes that it is a system of production, participation, support and policy of the arts acknowledging the right for all citizens to produce, access, and experience culture.

The book goes on to elaborate on how the fields of cultural policy and cultural production could be aware of and relate to the cultural life-world of people. This is in opposition to the traditional top-down approach of cultural policy, distribution and cultural education systems, which depart from the canonical value of artworks and the institutional power of producers and venues.

Cultural Democracy advocates a fundamentally bottom-up approach towards organising, supporting and educating arts and culture. It elaborates on perspectives that theoretically enrich the concept, while at the same time presenting artistic practices that are, while often not labelled as such, culturally democratic.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2025-12-23

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9783032024695

DOI:

Dimensions: 210.0cm x148.0cm

Pages: 280.0