Gitte Balling

Cultural participation in Europe: shared problem or shared problematisation?

Europe has a ‘problem’; it is becoming a ‘less cultural continent’ as fewer Europeans are ‘engaging in cultural activities’. This conclusion has been reached due to the findings of the latest cross national cultural participation survey. This paper questions the existence of this ‘problem’ and instead suggests that there is a shared problematisation across Europe sustained by common discursive archaeology that employs various discursive strands in relation to a dominant institutional discourse. The argument is that the ‘problem’ of ‘non-participation’ legitimates a ‘solution’ that predates its emergence: the state subsidy of arts organisations. The paper recaps the comparable problematisations that the researchers have previously identified in the policy texts of their respective countries. It progresses to consider three distinct but interwoven discursive strands upon which the problem representation in both countries, and potentially across Europe, appears to rely.

The Value of Art and Culture in Everyday Life: Towards an Expressive Cultural Democracy

ABSTRACT Ever since the earliest forms of mass media, the dichotomy of mass culture/high culture has been a topic of debate. The concept of cultural democracy has developed as a way to acknowledge a variety of cultural activities. Despite attempts to develop a broader understanding of culture, cultural policy still seems to reproduce the dichotomies, and to value one over the other. In this article, we would argue for an expanded understanding of cultural democracy, which may serve as a starting point for a turn of perspective of arts advocacy and cultural policy—the perspective we call an expressive cultural democracy.

What is a non-user? An analysis of Danish surveys on cultural habits and participation

The article analyses a number of Danish surveys of cultural participation and discusses how they convey certain concepts of users and culture. It aims to develop a nuanced and contemporary picture of cultural participation and notions of the non-user. In doing that, we show a shift in how the user has been constructed through surveys undertaken from 1964. Furthermore, the article addresses the problem that participatory culture does not necessarily take place within those institutions measured in cultural participation surveys. Therefore, surveys may indicate culturally active and contributing citizens as “non-users”. The article concludes that societal development and mediatisation have created a multi-faceted and complex type of user. This demands a reconsideration of how surveys on cultural habits and participation are undertaken.

Digital Youth: Towards a New Multidisciplinary Research Network

The workshop will discuss and reinterpret our collective understanding of the information-technologypeople triad and accompanying concepts in order both to broaden and to sharpen the focus on Digital Youth. The workshop wants to break down walls, to cross disciplinary borders, and to establish dialogues among researchers across continents and LIS traditions in order to contribute to the development of LIS research communities. The goals of the workshop are: • to examine how Digital Youth can function as an overall research frame. • to establish dialogue and cooperation between and across disciplines and perspectives • to define the field so as to remain open to broader theoretical and methodological perspectives. • to provide a statement of purpose inviting other researchers to join the research initiative.

Unges læsning i en digital tidsalder

Denne artikel undersoger unges holdning til og erfaring med at laese pa skaerm. Undersogelsen bygger pa den antagelse, at unge, som er traenede mediebrugere, ogsa er mere imodekommende over for at laese skonlitteratur i digital form. Med afsaet i den nyeste forskning inden for digital laesning diskuteres savel laesningens betydning for unge og muligheder og udfordringer ved digital laesning. Artiklens empiriske grundlag udgores af en fokusgruppeundersogelse blandt 13-14- arige unge danske skoleelever.

Every reader his book - every book its reader? Notions on readers' advisory and audience development in Danish public libraries

Collections are no longer the main attraction in libraries, and libraries are working to find new paths to tread. One strategy is to focus on reading and literature in new and surprising ways. The aim of this article is to enrich an understanding of activities situated in the span between readers’ advisory and audience development. This is achieved through an analysis of opinions and reflections expressed by 13 managers and librarians in all six county libraries in Denmark. The interviews are analysed through the model which merges three concepts: cultural policy, new public management and professional logics. Our findings show that Danish librarians’ views on readers’ advisory and audience development strike a balance between the experience and empowerment rationales with a prevailing focus on users. A user orientation and focus on user experiences have created a situation wherein the notions of passion, commitment, enthusiasm become central to the work of librarians who champion and manage these activities. However, this strategy has limitations related to the choice of content and intended user groups. Audience development, founded on dedication and experience, tends to cater for users who look and think like librarians.