“Participation is important, but—” Professional rationalities of balancing acts in publicly funded cultural institutions

Abstract

Cultural policy has seen a shift from attention to the producers of culture to consumers of culture, often called the participatory turn. Widened participation is a common argument for subsidising publicly funded arts; however, when realising participation as a policy goal, it can be fraught with tension. This paper aims to expand the knowledge of how cultural institutions resist participation. When is participation seen as problematic or undesirable, and why? How do cultural institution workers legitimise limiting participation? The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with civil servants and managers of publicly funded cultural institutions in Gothenburg, Sweden, focusing on rationalities of balancing values based on problematisations of participation and discourses around the institution's core mission. The respondents balance serving the public and the cultural field, popular knowledge and expert knowledge, and their professional and private roles. The article offers a model for understanding when certain balancing acts are more likely to occur than others. Ultimately, resistance towards participation relates to different ideas around the governance of culture.

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