Mapping regional cultural policies in Canada

Pursuing decentralisation : regional cultural policies in Finland and Sweden

In both Finland and Sweden, decentralisation has traditionally been an essential cultural policy aim. This article explores how, by pursuing decentralisation, the regional jurisdictions have been presented with more possibilities to fulfil their purposes and in this way, gain legitimacy in cultural policy. Based on the analysis of political, legal, and administrative documents, three main periods of regional decentralisation in cultural policies are identified: regions as vehicles of welfare policy, regionalisation, and competitive regions. In both countries, national governments have promoted the regional level’s agency, and in doing so, potential institutional change in cultural policy. H…

Kulttuuritoiminta ja alueellinen erilaistuminen : kulttuuritoiminnan rahoitus Suomen kunnissa 2010-luvulla

In Finland, cultural services have traditionally been developed as the services of the welfare state that are provided in every municipality. In the past few decades, new forms of governance, changing population structure and economic decline have affected municipalities’ operational environment. Simultaneously, the aims of cultural policy have increasingly broadened. This article examines how the municipal cultural services are financed in municipalities with different structural qualities and financial resources in Finland in the 2010s. peerReviewed

Kulttuuripolitiikkaa erilaisilla alueilla

Arvio kirjasta: Diane Saint-Pierre & Monica Gattinger (toim.) Cultural Policy. Origins, Evolution, and Implementation in Canada’s Provinces and Territories. University of Ottawa Press, 2021,  668 sivua, ISBN (Paper) 9780776628950

Kulttuuripolitiikan visiot ja jatkuvuus : katsaus Suomen puolueiden kevään 2019 eduskuntavaaliohjelmiin ja tuoreimpiin kulttuuripoliittisiin erityisohjelmiin

Political parties are significant cultural political influencers: they are in key positions to define cultural policy and how it is implemented in society. Parties have attitudes and interests toward culture that they inform about through their different programme documents such as broad general programmes, more narrow art and cultural policy and other policy sector specific programmes, and election programmes that delineate parties’ goals for the following electoral period. In this review, we concentrate on the latter ones. Through the parties’ parliamentary election programmes of 2019 and their most recent cultural policy special programmes we examine the parties’ cultural political disco…

Making regional cultural policy: regional government bodies’ cultural policy activities in Finland

In Finnish cultural policy, power and responsibilities have been distributed to various regional government bodies and a distinct regional authority is lacking. This presents a notable difference to Sweden where the self-governing and politically elected assemblies at the regional level function as key regional cultural policy authorities. This article examines how the regional government bodies in Finland are participating in cultural policymaking in contrast to Sweden by recognising different activities that are carried out by the regional level. The analysis is conducted in two case regions (Central Finland and Värmland) based on interview data, legislation and policy documents. The resu…