Limits to the participation paradigm? Unpacking the rhetoric of participation in Flemish cultural policy (1990-2024)

In recent decades, the relation between arts and their social impacts has gained prominence in cultural policy and research. In social cultural work, this debate intensified with the rise of participatory arts practices in the mid-1990s, particularly in multicultural, underprivileged urban neighbourhoods. These practices are often framed as tools to combat social and cultural exclusion. However, critical literature increasingly questions this participation paradigm, arguing that behind its rhetoric, some practices foster merely instrumental forms of involvement. Drawing on Bonet & Négrier’s (2018) model, this article examines how the rhetoric of participation is used in Flemish cultural policy. Through a critical discourse analysis of 140 cultural policy documents (1990-2024), we identify embedded paradigms and trace patterns, shifts, tensions and noteworthy omissions over time. In doing so, we shift focus towards questions of power and authority, revealing how participatory discourses both shape and are shaped by broader political and cultural power relations.