Public Policy in the Party City: The Spectacle of Culture, Gender, and Locality

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Researchers: Chris Wharton, John Fenwick, and Hilary Fawcett
Publisher: Routledge
Documentation: International Journal of Public Administration

The article explores the bidding process for the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) award, an aspect of local regeneration policy reliant upon a specific conception of culture. The process is examined in terms of changes in urban layout, manifestations of cultural and community identity, media representations, and the spectacle of culture, gender, and locality. The process is viewed as an urban managerialist project, driven by private and public sector elites in pursuit of economic rather than cultural goals. A narrow and particular view of culture was employed in the bidding process to achieve essentially managerial goals, and cut adrift from significant issues of gender, identity, and class. “Culture,” as conceived within the ECOC process, is viewed as a policy product of local government, regeneration partnerships, government agencies, and business interests, in contrast to culture as a way of life or lived urban experience. As an elite process, the voices of local culture were largely excluded.

Kebijakan Publik di Party City: dari sudut pandang Budaya, Gender, dan Lokalitas

Jurnal ini berusaha menggali proses pengajuan penghargaan European Capital of Culture (ECOC), sebuah aspek dari kebijakan regenerasi lokal yang bergantung pada sebuah konsepsi budaya. Proses ini dipelajari di dalam lingkup perubahan layout perkotaan, manifestasi identitas budaya dan masyarakat, representasi media, dan kacamata budaya, gender, dan lokalitas. Proses yang berlangsung dipandang sebagai sebuah proyek manajerialis perkotaan, yang diperkuat oleh elit sektor swasta dan publik yang lebih memprioritaskan sasaran ekonomi, bukan sasaran budaya. Sebuah pandangan yang sempit dan khusus tentang budaya digunakan di dalam proses pengajuan untuk mencapai sasaran manajerial yang esensial, dan 'cut adrift from' isu-isu yang signifikan yang berhubungan dengan gender, identitas, dan kelas. "Budaya", seperti dijelaskan di dalam proses ECOC, dipandang sebagai produk kebijakan dari pemerintah lokal, kerjasama regenerasi, lembaga pemerintah, dan kepentingan bisnis, yang bertolak belakang dengan budaya sebagai pandangan hidup atau pengalaman kehidupan di perkotaan. Sebagai sebuah proses elite, sebagian besar pendapat tentang budaya diabaikan.


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