MESOC Serapeum | Where culture meets AI

Id		108
Author		Montalto, V., ; Campagna, D., ; Caperna, G.,
Title		Does Culture Make a Better Citizen? Exploring the Relationship Between Cultural and Civic Participation in Italy
Reference		Campagna, D., Caperna, G. & Montalto, V. (2020). Does Culture Make a Better Citizen? Exploring the Relationship Between Cultural and Civic Participation in Italy. Social Indicators Research. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02265-3
Link to article		https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-020-02265-3
Abstract		In the last decades, policy discussions have increasingly considered participation in arts and cultural activities as a vehicle to reach broader social policy goals, such as social inclusion or active citizenship. However, convincing empirical evidence on the social impacts of arts and culture is still scarce. In particular, little attention has been given to the impact that cultural participation may have on individuals’ engagement in civil society, especially in Europe. In order to address this lack of evidence, this paper explores the connection between cultural participation and civic participation in Italy using Likert-scale data collected in the ISTAT “Aspetti della Vita Quotidiana” Survey (2014). To do so, two composite indicators—the participation in cultural life indicator and the participation in civic life indicator—have been built using an approach based on partial order theory and the concept of Average Rank. The effect of cultural participation on civic engagement has been estimated using a quantile regression model which controls for potentially cofounding factors such as education, income, age and gender. Results do confirm that participation in arts and cultural activities is highly correlated with participation in civic life. It is particularly worth noticing that at higher levels of civic participation, cultural participation has a positive and strong effect on civic engagement of people having a low educational level.

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These kinds of socio-cultural benefits are even more relevant nowadays as they can potentially reach audiences who are new to arts and culture. .
Therefore, cultural participation may act as a vehicle of social inclusion in small communities through its positive association with civic engagement. .
In other words, culture does contribute to make better citizens, and this positive effect is slightly stronger for people who are highly involved in a large variety of cultural activities. .
It is particularly worth noticing that at higher levels of civic participation, cultural participation has a positive and strong effect on civic engagement of people having a low educational level..
In order to address this evidence dilemma, we have explored one specific aspect of the social impact of participation in cultural activities, namely the effect of the cultural participation rate, i.e. frequency of engagement for an individual in a wide range of cultural activities, on civic engagement, i.e. the behaviours and actions that an individual accomplishes to give a positive contribution to the life in the community. .
Our findings therefore suggest that arts and culture are more than leisure-time entertainment activities as they seem to contribute to the socio-cultural inclusion of individuals. .
Ultimately, this analysis highlights the potential of arts participation for promoting active citizenship. .
At operational level, the development of strategic partnerships between civil society organisations, on the one hand, and innovative cultural and creative organisations, on the other, could help approach new audiences as well as strengthen the virtuous cycle that links cultural participation and civic life. .
A key policy implication of our findings and resulting reflections is that greater attention should be directed to introducing more citizens to arts and cultural experiences as a social inclusion vehicle. .
The role that participation in arts and cultural activities can play in the achievement of broader social policy goals, such as countering social exclusion or promoting active citizenship, is increasingly addressed in the international cultural policy debate. .
It is also worth noticing that although educational attainment is a very much influential predictor of civic engagement, cultural participation remains positively and significantly associated with civic participation even after controlling for education. .
It has extensively been argued that participation in arts and cultural activities can contribute to processes of social inclusion and therefore to advance a more cohesive society. .
In addition to that, it is particularly interesting and promising to notice that cultural participation has a positive effect on civic engagement for people engaging more in civic life but having a low educational level. .
Creative participation instead indicates the active engagement of people in making, creating, organizing, initiating, producing and facilitating cultural and creative activities. .
This association is slightly stronger for higher values of PCULT, probably due to the cumulative effects of arts and cultural participation. .
Culture may therefore be instrumental in fostering civic inclusion, regardless of the educational level of individuals, and help counter social segregation deriving from educational gaps. .
Future research could also more specifically look at the unique social benefits of cultural participation compared to other kinds of activities such as sports practice, or study the effect of culture on civic life at regional or neighborhood level and assess whether richer and more accessible cultural offers contribute to higher level of cultural participation and civic engagement, even for individuals with lower educational or income levels..
At a higher strategic level, cultural and social policy-makers could for instance work more closely together with a view to support the social dissemination of culture for securing citizen engagement and social inclusion processes. .
The Civic sense dimension has been introduced in order to complete the analysis of the participation in civic life with an enlarged conception of participatory behaviours and attitudes. .
The creative dimension of the definition includes also cultural activities realized through digital means and online platforms. .
A policy approach that promotes interdisciplinary dialogue and innovative cooperation could possibly be more effective in reaching broader audiences. .
This is interesting as it supports the hypothesis that people that participate in arts are also the ones engaging more in society, despite the fact that time is a limited resource. .

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