1. “The reality on the cusp of the millennium is a fractured global order which…puts most of
the world’s people in contact with one another, but simultaneously maintains deep fissures
between different countries and people within countries.”
(Culture and Civil Society: New Relationships with the Third Sector, 2001)
The role of cultural policy in strengthening civil society.
Globalisation has lead to the migration of people from their indigenous lands to foreign
countries. Large urban centres across the world are now so called ‘melting pots’ where
people from a variety of races and cultures live together in close proximity. The world is
poised to undergo changes as significant as the evolution of man from the hunter to the
birth of social man in Babylon. This modern era represents dramatic changes as the ideas,
cultures, and languages of people scattered all over the world previously, are now
disseminated across the global village. Accounting for the changes resulting from this new
dynamic is of vital importance for a strong civil society. Cultural policy is uniquely positioned
with the tools to help smooth the conversion of isolated societies to a pan-global society.
Contemporary global order is increasingly the outcome of a plexus shaped by both
government and non-governmental agents. The deep fissures between countries and
communities are characterised by political upheaval and instability, intolerance and hatred,
changing value systems and a growing proclivity towards individualism and materialism.
Globalisation dramatically increases the interrelation between every sector: political,
economical, social, and cultural. For policy makers to address global problems a global
perspective is required. To acquire this perspective the participation of people in every
sector and at every level is essential to facilitate the formulation of policy that promotes an
embracing and understanding society. The World Commission on Culture and Development
in their report ‘Our Creative Diversity’ states that: “At the political level, there is a need for
the role and procedures of governments to be radically and creatively reappraised. It is
essential that some government functions be delegated both downwards and upwards. Such
delegation of authority or decentralisation could go a long way towards helping resolve
contentious issues, not least by ensuring that governments are more accessible to us, the
citizens they are elected to serve.” (1995: 8)
There is a general consensus that cultural policy broadly concerns the overall framework of
measures in the cultural field (In from the Margins: 1997, 33). However, neither culture nor
civil society is an absolute, clear, definable, unambiguous concept. Both concepts will likely
mean different things to different people. In the words of the Declaration of Mondiacult: “In
the widest sense, culture may now be said to be the whole complex of distinctive spiritual,
material, intellectual and emotional features that characterises a society or social group. It
includes not only the arts and letter, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of the
human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs.” (World Conference on Cultural Policies,
UNESCO: 1982)
The interpretation of civil society also varies across disciplines and contexts. For the purpose
of this paper it will be taken as being: “the part of a society which is neither state nor private
sector, a large and diverse sector which in general is understood to range from the individual
at one end to large non-governmental organisations, national and international at the
other.” (Civil Society: 2000, 1) Perhaps the simplest way to see civil society is as a ‘third
sector’, distinct from government and business. In this view, civil society refers to the so-
called ‘intermediary institutions’ that act as a medium through which communities can

2. express their views and effect change. Civil society’s inherent diversity of actors, issues and
forms of action expresses the complexity of the global community.
From the definition of culture and cultural policy it is apparent that cultural policy can have a
role in strengthening civil society. It is not practical here to address the role of cultural policy
in enhancing the legal and economic framework for civil society. This essay explores the
power of arts programmes, cultural networks and the channelling of resources to networks
that encourage co-operation between individuals, communities, organisations, and public
authorities.
According to Raymond Williams culture is the fundamental arena where the social being is
transformed. In Marxism and Literature, he defines his theory as “cultural materialism”.
(1977: 5) His conception of culture is deeply rooted in what he calls “material social life”, but
needs to be dependant on social, material practices where it can retain a connection with
society, history and every-day life. In addition, he places a big emphasis on culture as a social
process that has repercussions for the progress of humankind. This paper will highlight the
importance of feelings of inclusion in society. This is the single most important way that
cultural policy can aid the progress of humankind through the strengthening of civil society.
A cultural policy based on the ideals of cultural democracy is crucial. The concept of cultural
democracy is comprised of a set of related commitments: protecting and promoting cultural
diversity, empowering and encouraging active participation in community cultural life,
enabling people to participate in policy decisions that affect the quality of cultural life, and
ensuring fair and equitable access to cultural resources and support. Communities are
creative organisms that dynamically change in response to the appearance of new people,
ideas and circumstances. Cultural democracy encompasses several interrelated concepts
that can facilitate society to respond positively to change. Firstly, it posits that many cultural
traditions co-exist in human society, and that none should be allowed to dominate and
become the ‘official culture’. Secondly, cultural democracy proposes a society in which
everyone is free to participate. People must therefore have access to meaningful modes of
expression. A third element is that cultural life itself should be subject to democratic
principles. Consequently the cultural development of society mutually benefits civil society.
Participation is necessary to determine the direction of cultural development.
A global and social ethic in cultural policy formulation is essential. Involvement in arts
programmes, be they community arts, tailored arts projects, festivals or such programmes
that give voice to people’s experiences can promote civic responsibility and social trust.
Displaced people will be recognised and feel recognised. They will feel welcomed into
‘mainstream’ society and empowered to participate in shaping their future and the future of
their community or country. Tolerance and a willingness to associate with others are integral
to the process of civil society. This ethic has played a major role in helping to develop an
appreciation for mutual trust, solidarity and co-operation between communities, for
instance, in the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in South Africa. The ethic in South
Africa is known as Ubuntu1
, and though South Africa is still suffering from social conflict, the
1
Ubuntu is a traditional African concept, which focuses on people's allegiances and relations with each other. In Desmond
Tutu's book No Future Without Forgiveness, he describes the concept of ubuntu: “Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a
Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human. When we want to give high praise to someone we say, "Yu, u
nobuntu"; "Hey, so-and-so has ubuntu." Then you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and
compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, "My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours." We belong
in a bundle of life. We say, "A person is a person through other persons." It is not, "I think therefore I am." It says rather: "I am
human because I belong. I participate, I share." A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does
not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she
belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or
treated as if they were less than who they are.”

3. considerable healing between the white and black communities arising from the
commissions and the emphasis placed on Ubuntu has brought the communities through
periods where civil war could well have begun. (Antjie Krog: 2000)
Involvement in and representation within society can facilitate the development of a
pluralistic society through the sharing of values. Pluralism is fostered through greater
recognition and acceptance of cultural and linguistic diversity, as well as of the various
commonalities between people. Television and film have the power to inform, create
awareness, and contribute to strengthening pluralistic values. Providing the maximum
opportunities for a wide range of voices to be heard in the global commons of television and
film reduces information gaps, creates a more open society, and empowers people from
across the community to participate and add their perspective.
Cultural policy can thus inspire the formation and explicit recognition of a ‘social contract’
between people. Jean-Jacques Rousseau stresses the idea of a social contract as the basis of
society. “Duty and interest equally require the two contracting parties to aid each other
mutually. The individual people should be motivated from their double roles as individuals
and members of the body, to combine all the advantages which mutual aid offers them.”
(Jean-Jacques Rousseau: 1800, 240) Cultural policy and cultural programmes can draw
interest from marginal groups, encourage their participation, and convey the mutual
benefits arising from such synergy.
Both culture and civil society are constructed by means of communication. For Raymond
Williams communication is a sign or “evidence of a continuing social process into which
individuals are born and within which they are shaped, but to which they then also actively
contribute, in a continuing process.” (Raymond Williams: 1977, 37) The British Councils’
‘New Young Europeans’ project is a practical example of a cultural project strengthening civil
society through multiple methods of communication.
The project aims to raise awareness of the reality of a changing European
community and the new identities of those young people who will be making future
decisions about Europe. By presenting the lives and experiences of young displaced
persons the project aims to create a climate in which sustainable policies can
succeed.
‘New Young Europeans’ is a touring project comprising of exhibitions, seminars,
debates, a website and publication. The project has travelled throughout Europe
from April 2003 and completes its tour in Krakow in November 2004. Each city has
determined the focus and structure of the project and the venues chosen are
diverse. For instance, the exhibition was shown in local post offices in Cork City,
Ireland.
The exhibition displays photographic images, essays by young European published
writers and individual testimonies by asylum seekers and refugees aged between 15
and 25. The exhibition is configured so that the visitor does not know who is the
asylum seeker, the refugee, or the European. The images are not of traumatised
young people alongside sad testimonies but are positive and forward looking. For

4. the refugees involved the creative aspect of the project provides a politically neutral
environment for self-expression.
The publication produced at the end will document the development of the project,
the testimonies, images and related projects produced at each location and the
debates. For the communities involved the emotional ties created through
engagement will challenge preconceived ideas and stereotypes creating a receptive
climate for accurate communication and dialogue.
By bringing the exhibition to public spaces and generating debate about some of the
exceptional qualities demonstrated by young displaced people in the most difficult
circumstances, we can generate the respect essential for creating lasting and solid
international networks of people. These networks, part of our civil society, provide a
balanced and diverse input into future decision making by accounting for the nuances of
intercultural dialogue.
In conclusion, this essay has addressed the way cultural programmes and networks can
strengthen civil society by creating an empowering climate which in turn creates a civil
society that is more representative of our pan global society. The need for a cultural policy
based on the ideals of cultural democracy is imperative and the development of a new
global and social ethic is crucial. These guiding principles will stimulate the participation of
people in their society and create a society whose structures are responsive and
representative of its increasing diversity.