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Festivals and culture are under pressure. Whereas in some places oppressive struggles have long been part of daily life and cultural organizing, others face new challenges with the rise of non-democratic regimes and struggles. Festivals are important spaces in the discourse on democracy, as they have the ability to facilitate conversation, connection and collaboration between people.
Un-democratic tendencies can influence festivals in various ways; restricting programming, rejecting permits or having to deal with financial restrains. But also on an individual level, people can face imprisonment or threats when speaking up against non-democratic events happening in the festival sector and society at large. Within today’s world, it is important to think about what role festivals and culture can play in regards to non-democracy and society.
Research notes
Research notes
In this body of knowledge, you will find a number of articles, giving an analysis and overview of festivals from various countries and their contexts. These articles are based on conversations with festival makers from Serbia, Iran, Syria, Poland and the United States of America. All of these cases deal with undemocratic tendencies in their own ways. It is important to note that some of the festivals are operating within strict authoritarian regimes, others operate in functioning democracies and others are in-between. More case studies can be added in the future in order to expand the different contexts in which festivals operate.
Cases are chosen due to availability and reachability of participants, but also due to safety choices for potential participants living and working in heavily restricted and regime controlled contexts. This gives an narrower and potentially biased image of the situation worldwide. Due to the safety of some of the research participants and the work they do, not all the names, strategies and tools are being mentioned, or described in more wider terms. Last, the research is developed and carried out by someone from a West-European context.
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