European models of cultural policy: towards European convergence in public spending and cultural participation?

The SDGs in the EU Cultural Policies: an institutional communication perspective

“…According to Stoicheva (2018), "Cultural policy is one of the last bastions of the nationstate power and symbolically exemplifies the contemporary opposition between preservation of national culture and the impact of globalization" (Stoicheva, 2018). Even though, the EU is developing certain programs that support the creative industries, such as the "Creative Cities" program, "Media" program or the "European Capitals of Culture," where the EU promotes the "creative turn" that began in Great Britain and has been implemented in European programs since the 90s (Rius- Ulldemolins et al, 2019;Xuereb, 2018). Even so, the notion of European convergence, which refers to the adoption of a common cultural framework converging on "the European way of doing things," is currently under discussion (Rius-Ulldemolins et al, 2019).…”

“…Even though, the EU is developing certain programs that support the creative industries, such as the "Creative Cities" program, "Media" program or the "European Capitals of Culture," where the EU promotes the "creative turn" that began in Great Britain and has been implemented in European programs since the 90s (Rius- Ulldemolins et al, 2019;Xuereb, 2018). Even so, the notion of European convergence, which refers to the adoption of a common cultural framework converging on "the European way of doing things," is currently under discussion (Rius-Ulldemolins et al, 2019). In this regard, Stoicheva (2018) proposes that the notion of European cultural identity can be shaped by common cultural policies.…”

Exploring implicit and explicit cultural policy dimensions through major-event and neoliberal rhetoric

“…The ECoC has been perceived for the past thirty-five year as a momentum of change that might help create tangible and intangible legacies, through: renewed urban infrastructures, opening new economic opportunities, and fostering lost senses of civic price and increased cultural participation (Koefoed, 2013;Rius-Ulldemolins et al, 2019). Rijeka2020 revised COVID-19 programme seemed much more oriented to the social and intrinsic values of culture, as alluded to by the CEO of Rijeka2020.…”

The securitisation of cultural heritage

“…Recent years saw what appears as a decisive turn of Hungarian and Polish politics toward illiberal values, a turn that, according to Zielonka and Rupnik (2020), was provoked by both the migration crisis and the financial crisis of 2008 (although Poland was the only EU state that did not suffer from a decline in GDP). The financial crisis had particularly deep adverse impacts on cultural organisations and public funding of culture in all European countries, but artists and cultural workers in Eastern Europe suffered most as the available resources were already comparatively scarce (Čopič et al 2013) because governmental spending on culture was generally quite low in all eleven new EU member states (Rius-Ulldemolins et al 2019). On the other hand, this disparity motivated policy actors to secure their institutional anchoring in the West, bolstered by the flow of investment in infrastructure from EU programmes, which stimulated the growth of new entrepreneurs in local creative industries (Vos 2017;Rindzevičiūtė, Tomson, and Svensson 2016).…”