Limits to the participation paradigm: developing a new conceptual framework to theorise the relation between arts and their social impacts

For the past decades, the relation between arts and their social impacts has been prominent in
cultural policy and research. In this context, participatory art has become an umbrella term for a
range of practices at the crossroads of arts and social cultural work that emphasise the importance of
participation and move away from an exclusive focus on clearly defined arts products. At the same
time, however, a critical literature has emerged that puts this participation paradigm under scrutiny.
Underneath a superficial rhetoric of participation, a range of practices are criticised for developing
instrumental or ineffective involvement of particular (groups of) individuals. In this research project,
we draw on these insights to theorise how the relation between arts and their social impacts can be
studied beyond the paradigm of participation. The research focus will lie on the development of an
alternative conceptual framework that transcends distinct versions of participation and its associated
discourses, whilst allowing to describe how concrete practices navigate the relationship between arts
and society. In doing so, we will build on Bonet and Négrier’s (2018) model to examine participation
in cultural policy paradigms. The project relies on innovative interpretive methodologies to explore
how this model can be critically elaborated in relation to or starting from specific practices at the
intersection of arts and social cultural work.