Brunel - Democratization of Culture
Brunel, B. (2012) Democratization of Culture. Études, 416(5): 617-628.
The economic crisis risks the result of relegating the issue of culture to the background, or even just erasing it from the debate altogether. Yet culture is essential to societal development and human flourishing. It should not therefore be neglected. There is even less reason than ever for it to be neglected now that its place is threatened today and that the great dream of cultural democratization is far from becoming a reality.
This situation that is unacceptable to everyone concerned about the equality of opportunity, and to those unwilling to accept seeing culture reserved for an elite, with the masses limited to entertainment concocted by the cultural industries. But how can such a situation be explained? Ii it possible to reverse this tendency? Should a new “cultural policy” be conceived?
Trying to answer these questions first involves agreeing on what should be called “culture.” Indeed, the word is the subject of a terminological blurriness whose political consequences are huge. Therefore, this paper starts by removing the ambiguities that surround this term. Then it looks at the idea of “cultural policy:” What is its history? What should we think of the state’s current cultural policy? Does a different one need to be invented? Finally, the article suggest some general directions to pursue. It addresses culture here only in terms of democratization.
Patrick Brunel “Democratization of Culture”