Dr Katherine Tonkiss attended the SPA conference hosted by Durham University where she presented her paper on

Cultural Education and the Good Citizen: A Systematic Analysis of a Neo-Liberal Communitarian Policy Trend

The paper examines the conceptualisation and operationalisation of cultural education for young people within UK policy over the past decade. To do so, it analyses the findings of a systematic review of relevant policy documents published between 2007 and 2018. The paper shows that this policy field has been strongly shaped by the intervention of a neo-liberal economic logic, with policies aimed at constructing neo-liberal subjects, responsible for their own choices and capable of self-regulation to become productive contributors to the national economy with little dependence on the state. It also demonstrates that cultural education has been informed by a strongly nationalist interpretation of culture, aiming to instil in young people a strong understanding of national culture as a source of binding sentiment in light of the perceived challenges associated with diverse, multicultural communities. As such, the paper argues that cultural education policy has been used to promote a particular vision of the ‘good’ citizen through a neo-liberal communitarian model of governance. This model combines the individualising logics of neo-liberalism which emphasise responsibility and self-regulation with the collective focus of communitarianism on shared culture and values. These threads are deployed simultaneously to responsibilise citizens in order to reduce the perceived burden they present to the state, and to police nationalist parameters of inclusion and exclusion.

 

On 3 June 2019 Daugavpils University hosted a Multi-Stakeholder Partnership’s (MSP) core team meeting attended by eight representatives from various target groups, i.e. young people, education practitioners, civil society activists, policymakers, community leaders, etc. Continue reading “The Multi-Stakeholder Partnership’s Core Team Meeting in Daugavpils (Latvia)”

The second meeting of the UK CAPP took place on 21st May at Aston University. The team presented an overview of the first year of the CHIEF project and discussed policy recommendations arising from this with CAPP members. The next meeting is planned for November.

On 21st May the CHIEF team at Aston University (UK) brought together a core group of stakeholders from civil society to begin to design and plan a series of three workshops with stakeholders over the coming year. Working with these stakeholders will help the CHIEF team to ensure that these workshops make a difference to policy and practice.

February 13-14 2019 @ Centre Marc Bloch 

Fantastic two days with Citizens For Europe (CFE) who provided work package 8 teams with insightful tips as well as participatory and interactive methods on developing our multi-stakeholder partnership and policy advocacy, to allow for inclusive, reflective and participatory social changes. We were thrilled to be joined by our civil society partners from Croatia, Georgia and Turkey. Continue reading “CHIEF Training Session with Citizens For Europe – Berlin, Germany”

The first meeting of the UK Council of Policy and Practice was convened at Aston University on 25th January 2019. The Council will meet biannually for the duration of CHIEF to advise on the design of the project and to underpin its relationship with those working in the field of cultural education. Continue reading “First UK CAPP Meeting”

December 18-19 @ University Library

It was an extremely productive and action packed two days discussing our plans for a survey of young people’s cultural literacy, research in heritage sites, and young people’s engagement in cultural practices, as well as plans for disseminating our findings. We also heard from Andrew Miles, Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester, on the topic of researching ‘everyday’ cultural participation. Continue reading “CHIEF International Meeting – Riga, Latvia”