The director of the University Master's Degree in Cultural Management at UIC Barcelona - English Track, Nicolas Barbieri, has published an article in which he addresses the challenges of the democratisation of urban cultural life through the processes and systems of power that local governments currently have in place. The study was promoted by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and is framed in THE GOLD IV report on “Pathways towards urban and territorial equality”.

With the title “The right to participate in urban cultural life: From inequalities to equity,” Barbieri explores how local governments can promote more democratic processes, encouraging the participation of marginalised groups in society and minorities to contribute to equitable urban and territorial development. In the article, he notes that inequalities in the right to participation in urban cultural life are key to understanding cultural deficits and concludes that the exercise of this right is not yet placed at the centre of the political or academic agenda.

“This study helps us to understand how democracy becomes real and meaningful only when cultural rights are exercised fully and freely,” said the lecturer from the Faculty of Humanities, who also encouraged the development of cultural policies from an equitable perspective, with interventions based on collective needs that help to minimise existing inequalities.

Reference:

Barbieri, Nicolas. ‘The right to participate in urban cultural life: From inequalities to equity’. GOLD VI Working Paper Series #06 (November 2021).