Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Acknowledgements
- An Introduction to Cultural Policy in the Polder
- A Well-Balanced Cultural Policy: An Interview with Minister of Culture Ingrid van Engelshoven
- 1 Legal Aspects of Cultural Policy
- 2 An International Perspective on Dutch Cultural Policy
- ‘A Subsidy to Make a Significant Step Upwards’: An Interview with Arjo Klingens
- 3 The Framing Game: Towards Deprovincialising Dutch Cultural Policy
- 4 Values in Cultural Policymaking: Political Values and Policy Advice
- An Exercise in Undogmatic Thinking: An Interview with Gable Roelofsen
- 5 Towards a Cultural Policy of Trust: The Dutch Approach from the Perspective of a Transnational Civil Domain
- 6 Dutch Media Policy: Towards the End of Reflective Diversity?
- ‘A More Holistic Approach to Problems’: An Interview with Hans Poll and Jacqueline Roelofs
- 7 Cultural Education Policy: Its Justification and Organisation
- 8 Culture for Everyone: The Value and Feasibility of Stimulating Cultural Participation
- ‘A Strong Field Needs Variation and Experimentation’: An Interview with Saskia Bak
- 9 The People's Palaces: Public Libraries in the Information Society
- 10 Cultural Policy at a Crossroads?: How the Matthew Effect, New Sociocultural Oppositions and Digitalisation Challenge Dutch National Cultural Policy
- ‘Production is Preceded by Talent Development’: An Interview with Sandra den Hamer
- Epilogue: A Systemic View of Dutch Cultural Policy in the Next 25 Years
- Overview of Dutch Ministers of / Secretaries for Culture and their most important Cultural Policy Documents
- Appendix: Facts and Figures on Culture and Cultural Policy in the Netherlands
- Authors’ Biographies
- Index
1 - Legal Aspects of Cultural Policy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Acknowledgements
- An Introduction to Cultural Policy in the Polder
- A Well-Balanced Cultural Policy: An Interview with Minister of Culture Ingrid van Engelshoven
- 1 Legal Aspects of Cultural Policy
- 2 An International Perspective on Dutch Cultural Policy
- ‘A Subsidy to Make a Significant Step Upwards’: An Interview with Arjo Klingens
- 3 The Framing Game: Towards Deprovincialising Dutch Cultural Policy
- 4 Values in Cultural Policymaking: Political Values and Policy Advice
- An Exercise in Undogmatic Thinking: An Interview with Gable Roelofsen
- 5 Towards a Cultural Policy of Trust: The Dutch Approach from the Perspective of a Transnational Civil Domain
- 6 Dutch Media Policy: Towards the End of Reflective Diversity?
- ‘A More Holistic Approach to Problems’: An Interview with Hans Poll and Jacqueline Roelofs
- 7 Cultural Education Policy: Its Justification and Organisation
- 8 Culture for Everyone: The Value and Feasibility of Stimulating Cultural Participation
- ‘A Strong Field Needs Variation and Experimentation’: An Interview with Saskia Bak
- 9 The People's Palaces: Public Libraries in the Information Society
- 10 Cultural Policy at a Crossroads?: How the Matthew Effect, New Sociocultural Oppositions and Digitalisation Challenge Dutch National Cultural Policy
- ‘Production is Preceded by Talent Development’: An Interview with Sandra den Hamer
- Epilogue: A Systemic View of Dutch Cultural Policy in the Next 25 Years
- Overview of Dutch Ministers of / Secretaries for Culture and their most important Cultural Policy Documents
- Appendix: Facts and Figures on Culture and Cultural Policy in the Netherlands
- Authors’ Biographies
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Freedom of expression, including artistic expression, is a fundamental right. The regulation of the legal aspects of cultural policies must respect this right. The implications of the legal system for this freedom varies from one country to the next. In some countries, the legal system is strict: artists, like any other citizen, are expected to serve their country or the common interest, and the audience can only enjoy state-approved productions. Elsewhere, artistic freedom reigns supreme. Most countries, however, have a mix of these approaches: the legal system protects the freedom of the arts, but only as far as necessary in a democratic state under the rule of law.
Ai Weiwei is an example of the first type. As an artist, he is confronted with a government that limits his personal artistic activities in a way he refuses to accept. China defines what cultural activities are permissible and what are not. In countries where freedom of expression is the norm, artistic freedom is codified as a right. Many constitutions and international treaties cite the freedom of expression while limiting it as well. Laws put limits on cultural expressions everywhere. The prohibition of racism, for instance, is generally accepted as a fundamental and universal rule, thus restricting the freedom of expression for artists. The assessment of what limits are admissible is subject to change over time and from one place to the next.
The Dutch legal system regarding cultural policy is an example of a legal regime that is imbued with the wish to respect freedom of the arts, specifically limiting the power of politicians to influence the making of art. Cultural producers are granted full freedom of choice. This is especially challenging in the context of a positive cultural policy: a policy that strives to give equal chances to all. This positive right can be seen as a necessary condition to ensure freedom of expression. People are entitled to the means for creating and enjoying the arts. They need education and access to cultural productions. In other words, freedom is not only a negative right (an obligation for the government not to intervene) but can be valued as a positive one as well. A state must facilitate a flourishing cultural climate, even when no legal obligation is stated.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Cultural Policy in the Polder25 Years Dutch Cultural Policy Act, pp. 41 - 66Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018
- 1
- Cited by