Can you characterise cultural policy politico-ideologically?

In this study, I attempt to “map” the cultural policy pursued ideologically and give it a sociological interpretation of values. My hypothesis is that cultural policy is driven by values and interests. After all, those who implement cultural policy face numerous choice dilemmas. This research on potential characteristics of cultural policy, draws on a range of sources: on scholarly literature that links ideology and cultural policy and addresses values and justifications. Of course, cultural policy is also analysed on the basis of publications, policy texts, real policies, and qualitative interviews with key figures. This is how I arrived at a diagram of political-ideological characteristics of cultural policy. I group these into two overarching categories, progressive/conservative and left/right cultural policy. I arrange the characteristics as choice variables, each placed on a continuum. I develop a visual model with an x-axis containing the left and right characteristics and a y-axis containing the conservative and progressive characteristics. Plotting both categories on an x- and y-axis also clearly shows the relationship between them. The two categories of characteristics act as a tool to ideologically define each type of cultural policy.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy
Published
2025-08-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/ejcmp.2025.14376
Primary Topic
Cultural Industries and Urban Development
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Can you characterise cultural policy politico-ideologically?

Bart Caron
European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy
Cultural Industries and Urban Development
article

Can you characterise cultural policy politico-ideologically?

Bart Caron
article en

Abstract

In this study, I attempt to “map” the cultural policy pursued ideologically and give it a sociological interpretation of values. My hypothesis is that cultural policy is driven by values and interests. After all, those who implement cultural policy face numerous choice dilemmas. This research on potential characteristics of cultural policy, draws on a range of sources: on scholarly literature that links ideology and cultural policy and addresses values and justifications. Of course, cultural policy is also analysed on the basis of publications, policy texts, real policies, and qualitative interviews with key figures. This is how I arrived at a diagram of political-ideological characteristics of cultural policy. I group these into two overarching categories, progressive/conservative and left/right cultural policy. I arrange the characteristics as choice variables, each placed on a continuum. I develop a visual model with an x-axis containing the left and right characteristics and a y-axis containing the conservative and progressive characteristics. Plotting both categories on an x- and y-axis also clearly shows the relationship between them. The two categories of characteristics act as a tool to ideologically define each type of cultural policy.

European Journal of Cultural Management and PolicyVol. 15
Openalex Percentile: Top 70%
Cultural Industries and Urban Development
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