Kulturformidling i de regionale kulturaftaler: Demokratiets og deltagelsens kompleksitet

Abstract

This article is based on Cultural Policy Studies (Bennett 2013) and discusses the relation between democracy (Biesta 2014; Habermas 1989; Rancière 2003) and participation (Rancière 2004, Rogoff 2005, Sternfeld 2013) in two contemporary regional cultural communication projects in Denmark. The regional cultural agreements, CultureMetropolisOresund and Cultural Region Funen, are part of cultural political visions of making the communication of art and culture more democratic both geographically and socially (The Ministry of Culture 2007). “They are two examples of contemporary cultural communication projects within the regional cultural agreements, and they are both concerned with the value of participation of the citizens. In the article I argue that the cultural communication projects on one hand show evidence of governmentality (Foucault 1982; 1991) and try to control the conduct of the participants. On the other hand cracks of “dissensus” and subjectification emerge in the projects (Rancière 2003), when participants act differently than expected and interpret the cultural value of the projects on their own terms. The two cases illustrate the importance of reflections on the basic concepts and how they are operationalized. Such reflections can help develop theories on cultural participation and create a stronger basis for the development of democratic cultural communication.