The cultural politics of civic pride through Hull UK City of Culture 2017

Abstract

PurposeThis article explores the cultural politics of civic pride through Hull's year as UK City of Culture (UKCoC) in 2017. It unpicks some of the socio-political meanings and values of civic pride in Hull and critiques the ways in which pride, as an indicator of identity and belonging, was mobilised by UKCoC organisers, funders and city leaders. It argues for more nuanced and critical approaches to the consideration and evaluation of pride through cultural mega events (CMEs) that can take account of pride's multiple forms, meanings and temporalities.Design/methodology/approachA multidimensional, mixed methods approach is taken, incorporating the critical analysis of Hull2017 promotional materials and events and original interviews with a range of stakeholders.FindingsThe desire for socio-economic change and renewed identity has dominated Hull's post-industrial sense of self and is often expressed through the language of pride. This article argues that UKCoC organisers, cognisant of this, crafted and tightly controlled a singular pride narrative to create the feeling of change and legitimise the entrepreneurial re-branding of the city. At the same time, UKCoC organisers overlooked the opportunity to engage with and potentially reactivate the political culture of Hull, which like other “left behind” or “structurally disadvantaged” places, is becoming increasingly anti-political.Originality/valueThrough the case study of a relatively unresearched and under-represented city, this paper contributes to cultural policy literatures concerned with critically assessing the benefits and shortcomings of Cultural Mega Events and to a more specific field concerning Cities of Culture and the political cultures of their host cities. This paper also contributes to an emerging literature on the centrality of pride through the UK's post-Brexit Levelling Up agenda, suggesting that pride in place is becoming figured as a “universal theme” of the neoliberal city script.

Guest editorial: The uses and misuses of the evaluation of cities and capitals of culture

“…While focussing on the cultural politics of civic pride of Hull’s tenure as UKCoC 2017, Michael Howcroft (2023) argues that policymakers crafted and controlled a singular pride narrative as opposed to the perceived pride deficit of the local population that was meant to create the feeling of change brought about by Hull2017 but not to create actual bottom-up processes of change. This dominant local pride development strategy ended up foreclosing any critical, ambivalent perspectives regarding the supposed benefits of the UKCoC.…”