Living in the World, Portraying Its Culture. Cultural Democracy, Sustainable Development, a Utopian Discourse of Music Festivals in France
Habiter le monde, camper sa culture. Démocratie culturelle, développement durable, un discours utopique des festivals de musique en France
Résumé
The logics of participation in popular music festivals seem alienated from symbolic promises of enrichment of the spirit, of questioning the world that offers, for example, the “works” of legitimate culture (serious music, opera, theater). These less engaging practices on the social level where “cultural good will” is not the primary motivation are not, for all that, devoid of a political dimension. Several French festivals, such as the festival of Vieilles Charrues à Carhaix, have in effect developed around musical events devoted to a sensitivity toward eco-citizenship & sustain- able development. The rationale of those responsible for the festivals thus carries, beyond the discourse on cultural democratization, to questions of cultural democracy & citizen participation in public life. This invitation to live in the world & portray its culture implies a logic of the collective being & of recognizing what sociologists should explore. Through notions such as those of cultural democracy or sustainable development, for exam- ple, this poses the question of the responsibility of cultural actors before the public.