Publications
If the history of cultural policies is the history of the search for their legitimacy, what does the incorporation of the paradigm of cultural rights imply in this regard? To answer this question, the article provides an assessment of self-government in the field of cultural policies in Catalonia and specifically analyzes the Preliminary Draft of the Cultural Rights Act of Catalonia. The sectoral logic, combined with the framework of cultural normalization, has served as the main source of legitimation of self-government, much more so than the very idea of cultural rights and the fight against social inequalities that condition their exercise. For this reason, the proposal to develop a law on cultural rights in Catalonia is of utmost relevance. Based on an analysis grounded in four criteria (univocity, multidimensionality, enforceability, and justiciability), the article points out potentialities, but also limitations, of the draft law in expanding the logics of legitimation of cultural policies in Catalonia.
Large cultural institutions have been given goals that go well beyond their conventional artistic endeavours. Opera houses are no exception. One strategy they attempt is to stage community productions, but how does this activity match with institutions that seek “artistic excellence”? We focus on a case study of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, and firstly see to what extent productions staged by large cultural institutions can be considered community-based programmes. Secondly, we analyse if these programmes are realistic in terms of reaching their target population. Lastly, we study the degree of participation achieved. In order to do so, we review the concepts of access and participation to build our own analytical framework. We also follow a qualitative and quantitative methodology, performing interviews and fielding a questionnaire to participants. We think that our research and results are relevant from both an analytical point of view and an empirical perspective: in terms of access, the Liceu worked towards correcting the underrepresentation of minority groups in artistic forms that obtain public funding, but these efforts were limited; regarding participation, the opera was developed for, with and by the community depending on the action analysed, and it combined crowd-sourcing, co-creation and audience-as-artist actions.
This article, titled The problem of socio-territorial inequality in cultural policies: Unveiling policy frames through Barcelona policies (2019–2023), published in Poetics (Q1), explores how cultural policy frames shape socio-territorial inequalities in urban settings. Using a theoretical perspective on policy frames, the study identifies three main frames: constitutive, participatory, and intersectional equity. The research analyzes cultural policy documents and key stakeholder interviews to reveal tensions and limitations within these frames, particularly concerning legitimate and non-legitimate cultural practices. The results highlight a complex approach to cultural inequality and the need to integrate intersectionality and multidimensional participation beyond traditional public cultural policy frameworks.