Cultural Democracy

What you are reading is but one example of the cultural consumer as producer. Part of a revolution in the cultural sphere of which, I believe, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

In 1995-96, I did my master's thesis on cultural policy in Canada. Using youth culture as the focus of my research, I prepared an inventory of the various programs and policies of the federal, provincial, and municipal (where they existed at all) governments which claimed to support the cultural lives of young people. And there were a lot, if I recall correctly. It seems to me I had a long list of schools, grant programs, funding to community groups, etc. all aiming to enhance the cultural lives of young people, by exposing them to particular cultural experiences.

My argument was that, if we are trying to enhance the cultural lives of people, and maybe support the development of a unique cultural identity along the way (if you're not Canadian, you'll never understand why this is critical!), then we're doing things backwards.

Most of the things cultural policies in Canada do is expose people to what I simply called "cultural products": music, films, television shows, books, all which meet some sort of test as to their Canadianness, generally speaking and, of course, an accepted level of being "good". But through this lens, the average Canadian is seen only as a cultural consumer who needs to be connected with the right cultural market.

But looking at Cultural Theory, we see that people make real culture out of the stuff that's lying around them. Yes, that includes music, films, television shows, and books, but it also includes sports, clothes, food, stuff they buy at Wal-mart, the internet (it wasn't around when I was doing my thesis), and the things they do with their spare time, with their families, their friends, or all by themselves. They "consume" all these things, sure, but as the raw materials to be moulded into something which reflects their own unique identity, their own needs, and what they want to express, either as a group or as an individual.

The classic example is punk rockers. They used clothes, safety pins, chains, as well as aggressive music to express a certain social and cultural position they were living. Originally, it was working class kids in industrial England, who were expressing their frustrations with being working-class, unemployed, dispossessed, powerless. Transplanted to Canada, however, the same symbols took on a new meaning when middle class suburban kids did the same thing. Still, it was the kids who put things together and made it work for them, not the producers of the safety pins!!

The point is that culture is a process, and it is a lived-activity. As a result, if we really want to enhance the cultural lives of people, we should support them in doing whatever it is they are doing on their own, not try to steer them in a different direction that suits some program criteria. We should also treat them not as cultural consumers, but as cultural producers - which we all are, everyday.

The thing is, people are going to do it anyway. And blogs are an excellent example. Everyone can be a published writer now! Photo blogs make everyone who wants to be a published photographer too! And look at what they're doing! (visit www.fotolog.net to see some of the creative things people are doing with their digital cameras). Music is downloaded and shared, and a lot of bands deliberately post their music to music sharing sites to get heard, not caring at all what Metallica thinks about it!

The means of cultural production have been taken over by the people, people!! And you're participating in it by reading this blog! Vive la démocratie culturelle!!