ACTING OUT ARTS & CULTURE UNDER PRESSURE

The document explores the intersection of culture, politics, and ecology, highlighting how neoliberalism, far-right nationalism, and generative AI threaten artistic freedom and worker security. It advocates for 'green cultural policymaking' that prioritises accessibility, rural inclusion, and the protection of creators. Through various case studies—including Spain's Cultural Rights Plan, the impact of AI on indigenous knowledge, and the use of culture as resistance in Ukraine—it argues that arts and culture should be viewed as essential social infrastructure rather than mere drivers of GDP growth.

• European artists and cultural workers face significant economic vulnerability, with government expenditure on culture in OECD countries remaining below pre-2008 levels.
• Far-right political forces in Europe use culture both as a tool to normalise their discourse and as a target for censorship and defunding to silence critical voices.
• Spain has implemented a Cultural Rights Plan to redefine cultural policy through a human rights perspective, aiming to make culture accessible and affordable while fighting social and territorial inequalities.
• Generative AI is described as a form of 'data colonialism' that extracts cultural labour and sacred knowledge without consent, often stripping works of their original meaning and context for corporate profit.
• The Chinese government under Xi Jinping uses culture as a tool for projecting soft power and portraying China as a civilisational alternative to liberal democracy, while maintaining strict internal political control.
• The 'Superilles' (superblocks) project in Barcelona demonstrates how urban greening can become a site of ideological conflict, where sustainable mobility policies are framed by opponents as attacks on bourgeois identity.
• Economist Mariana Mazzucato argues for a 'mission-oriented' approach to cultural policy, where arts and culture are used to shape the direction of the economy toward public value and sustainability rather than just boosting GDP.
• In Hungary, the Fidesz government has engaged in a 'monument mania,' erecting over 2,000 memorials since 2014 to construct a politically motivated historical canon that supports the party's narrative of national sovereignty.
• Climate activists have targeted museums with disruptive actions to highlight the ecological crisis, leading to a widespread backlash and the enactment of harsher anti-protest legislation in countries like the UK, France, and Germany.

APA

Green European Journal (2025). ACTING OUT ARTS & CULTURE UNDER PRESSURE. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/GEJ30_web.pdf

Chicago

Green European Journal. ACTING OUT ARTS & CULTURE UNDER PRESSURE. 2025. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/GEJ30_web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green European Journal |title=ACTING OUT ARTS & CULTURE UNDER PRESSURE |date=2025 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/GEJ30_web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greeneuropeanjournal2025acting, author = {{Green European Journal}}, title = {{ACTING OUT ARTS \& CULTURE UNDER PRESSURE}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2025}, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/GEJ30_web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }