Cultural participation in digital environments: goals and stakes for Quebec cultural policies

Abstract

Digital environments have expanded the forms of cultural participation. This paper has two aims: first, to elucidate the changing definitions of cultural participation in relation to digital environments; second, to examine the ways in which cultural policies respond to the new digital conditions of cultural participation. Focusing on Quebec (Canada), this paper is based on a critical review of grey literature in the public policy. We identified three main goals pursued by Quebec cultural policies regarding digital participation: 1) to produce and promote national cultural content; 2) to promote cultural equity; 3) to foster digital equity. The analysis shows that these goals partially exceed the scope of cultural policies to intersect with economic, educational, and youth policies. We also argue that policy frameworks and funding programs in support of cultural policies tend to legitimize an overlap of the social, economic, and political dimensions of cultural participation.

Financing the cultural and creative industries through crowdfunding: the role of national cultural dimensions and policies

“…crowdfunding sites) have appeared (Cicchiello et al, 2022 ). In the face of the establishment of crowdfunding as a valid alternative or complementary mode of funding for cultural and creative projects and ventures, cultural policies can play a key role in helping legitimise this form of private financing and foster cultural participation through digital means (Casemajor et al, 2021 ). Prior studies have used the institutional context to analyse what makes a crowdfunding campaign successful (e.g.…”

AI, a wicked problem for cultural policy? Pre-empting controversy and the crisis of cultural participation

“…Since the 2017 Tallinn Declaration of E-Government, public authorities in the European Union (EU) have committed to digitising the delivery of public services as well as embracing new modes of operation to increase transparency and participation by enhancing digital skills and reducing inequalities in access to internet (Mergel et al 2019). The consequences of this change have been addressed in cultural policy research focusing on intellectual property rights, creative industries and the creative economy (Valtysson 2010;Fredriksson 2014;Wright 2019;Casemajor et al 2021). The challenge of this digital transformation seems to have initiated a shift from a liberal mode of governmentality through culture to precautionary governance and preemptive actions (Bennett 1999;O'Malley 2004;Marchant 2020).…”