| Popis: |
This chapter briefly outlines the three general ideas, drawn from SPCT, in terms of which the relation between culture and policy-making is conceptualised—cultural pluralism, the performativity of sensemaking and the relevance of semiotic capital. The cultural pluralism concept claims that the objective characteristics of reality—however one wants to intend objectivity—are unable to reduce fully the space of freedom that qualifies any subjective act of interpretation, and this makes any policy a plural space of interpretation. The performativity of sensemaking claims that generalised cultural meanings are reproduced over time and within social groups through the very fact of being enacted—namely, used as assumptions to ground beliefs, actions, and choices. The semiotic capital concept claims that cultural meanings fostering socio-political and civic development are a scarce resource, unevenly distributed within the society, and for this reason requiring to be the target of a strategic policy on culture. The three criteria are illustrated with the support of a case study; the conversion of a contentious monument into an open cultural artefact. This case enables us to highlight the relevance of the three tenets in concrete circumstances of policy-making. |
