Cultural Education: Panacea or Amplifier of Existing Inequalities in Political Engagement?

Abstract

Cultural education has recently been particularly emphasized as key for the promotion of equal opportunities, social cohesion and political engagement. While the relationship between political engagement and formal education has been extensively discussed, little research has been conducted on non‐formal types of education, such as non‐formal cultural education (NCE) in particular. However, the share of NCE programmes is becoming increasingly important as more and more formal institutions are reducing their cultural education programmes. This article examines, firstly, whether NCE actually promotes political engagement and, secondly, who effectively participates in NCE programmes. Using data from the eighth wave (2016–2017) of the German National Educational Panel Study, we implement a mediation analysis within ordered logistic regression models to disentangle the mechanisms at play. Our results indicate that NCE exerts a small but significant effect on political engagement directly and indirectly via political discussions and political interest. However, participation in NCE is strongly influenced by social strata. The advantages of NCE are therefore not evenly distributed across the German population.

Non-Formal Cultural Infrastructure in Peripheral Regions: Responsibility, Resources, and Regional Disparities

“…However, participation in cultural education is still strongly influenced by socioeconomic variables. Children of parents with higher degrees, in higher secondary schools or from families with greater financial resources are more likely to participate in cultural education than their less privileged peers (Fobel & Kolleck, 2021). The problem of NCE infrastructure is, therefore, not limited to the physical provision of NCE infrastructure but also includes social barriers to participation.…”

“…In the context of NCE infrastructure and regional differences, it is essential to understand the factors that shape the development of NCE infrastructure and how they vary between regions (Fobel & Kolleck, 2022). Cultural education research is increasingly promoted in Germany because the government considers cultural education infrastructure to be of great societal importance (Fobel & Kolleck, 2021;Kolleck et al, 2022). However, the examination of peripheral regions has often been neglected in scientific research and discussions.…”

“…In Germany, education is unevenly distributed across regions: There is still evidence that the traditional stratified patterns of participation in education have not been completely eliminated (Fobel & Kolleck, 2021, 2022. On the one hand, this is due to the social stratification of educational opportunities.…”

“…At the same time, the importance of educational infrastructure, understood as social infrastructure, for the development of a region is undisputed. Encompassing infrastructure of all types of education, educational infrastructure contributes to the promotion of local economies, creates jobs, trains skilled workers and, last but not least, is a central component of securing democracy (Fobel & Kolleck, 2021).…”

“…In the landscape of educational infrastructure, it is especially the cultural educational infrastructure which, in the form of libraries, museums, or art schools, provides important spaces of social infrastructure, fosters community, and creates more resilient societies (Fobel & Kolleck, 2021;Klinenberg, 2019, p. 16). At the same time, non-formal cultural education (NCE) infrastructure lies at the intersection of education, youth, and cultural policy and is thus provided by different political levels as well as different funding structures, resulting in a very disparate regional provision and accessibility (Fobel & Kolleck, 2022;Kolleck et al, 2022).…”