How Cities Deal with Artistic Diversity in Their Public Policies - A Comparative Case Study Between Brussels and Barcelona

Abstract

Recently, in many European countries, the already unstable socio-economic and political context has been challenged by unprecedented arrivals of refugees1 on the one hand, and the concerns on jihadi terrorism and the radicalization of some young Europeans on the other. These three factors have led to a further emphasis on securitization in policies dealing with human mobility and migration. In such a context, issues related to cultural diversity and how to manage it have unfortunately continued to step down on political, policy and media agenda (Martiniello and Rea, 2014). The events of September 2001 and the many terrorist attacks that followed in Europe paved the way of a “discursive retreat from any form of multiculturalism and the vigorous affirmation of a post-multiculturalist or neo-assimilationist agenda as the safest way to manage migration related cultural and identity diversity” (Martiniello, 2015, p.1) Nowadays, this anti-multiculturalist trend has become prevalent throughout the continent. Whereas an increasing circulation of capital, goods, persons, information and cultural products characterize the 21st century, the most common response to greater mobility has been the reaffirmation of borders and national sovereignty. Governments try to regain legitimacy by reaffirming their role as defenders of the borders against ‘outsiders from poorer countries’ (Ambrosini and Boccagni, 2015). Nevertheless, this rhetoric often diverges from the facts because, in many ways, those ‘outsiders’ (ibid) are necessary for national labor markets and economies.