The cultural non-participant

Critical logics and discursive subject identities

Bibliographic Data

ID23152608
AuthorsDeborah Stevenson (0000-0002-8977-1818, Queen Margaret University, corresponding author), David Stevenson (0000-0001-9117-138X)
Year2019
Volume9
Issue1
Pages50-64
Publication date2019-05-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArts and the Market (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2056-4945 • E-ISSN: 2056-4953
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/aam-01-2019-0002
OpenAlexW2943620828
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited31

Purpose The existence of so-called non-participants is a cultural policy problem in the UK and beyond. Yet, the very notion of a cultural non-participant seems nonsensical against the palpable evidence of lived experience. The purpose of this paper is to understand “who” a cultural non-participant is by first comprehending “what” the cultural non-participant is and why it exists. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on primary data generated in the form of 40 in-depth qualitative interviews, this paper employs a discursive methodology to explore the critical logics (Howarth, 2010) that underlie the problem representation (Bacchi, 2009) of cultural non-participation and in particular the discursive subject identity of the cultural non-participant. Findings Beginning with a discussion about how cultural non-participants are represented as socially deprived and hard to reach, the paper moves on to highlight how they are also presumed to lack knowledge and understanding about what they are rejecting. Their supposed flawed subjectivity is then contrasted with the desirable model of agency claimed by the cultural professionals who seek to change the cultural participation patterns of others. The paper concludes with a consideration of how the existence of the cultural non-participant subject identity limits the extent to which those labelled as such can meaningfully contribute to the field of cultural policy and obscures the extent to which such individuals are culturally disenfranchised. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen research approach and the geographical limitations to the data generation, the research makes no claim to generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the discursive logics identified at alternative discursive sites. Practical implications This paper proposes a change in the language used by cultural professionals accompanied by changes in practice that abandoning the identity of the cultural non-participant would demand. Originality/value This paper challenges a taken for granted assumption that cultural non-participants exist “in the real”.

Aesthetics · Agency (philosophy) · Cultural analysis · Cultural identity · Epistemology · Identity (music) · Participant observation · Political science · Politics · Qualitative research · Representation (politics) · Social science · Sociology · Subject (documents) · Subjectivity · Anthropology · Computer Science · Critical Theory and Political Philosophy · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Cultural Studies · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology

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