Papers by Karsten Xuereb
City, Culture and Society, 2016
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 2016
In May 2018 the European Commission published A New Agenda for Culture. Acknowledging the social ... more In May 2018 the European Commission published A New Agenda for Culture. Acknowledging the social and political challenges Europe faces today, through this Communication the Commission aims at contributing to European cohesion and integration through culture. This paper critically addresses the Communication in its form as the latest exercise by the European Commission, in relation to other institutions forming the European Union, to address a sense of European malaise resulting from a democratic deficit through cultural means. The experiences of more than three decades of cultural competence and the limits thereof in relation to the principle of subsidiarity exercised by Member States, traced back to the Treaty of the European Union of 1992, will be examined for the visions set out by the EU, the expectations generated and shortcomings suffered. The array of instruments in the field of culture conceived by the EU seems to have been counterproductive: rather than helping achieve social aims, they seem to have contributed to further alienation in part due to the self-serving purpose of these instruments (Barnett: 2001; Valentine: 2018). This paper argues that cultural projects, including Creative Europe flagships like the European Capital of Culture have turned efforts at participation and engagement into matters of self-satisfying bureaucratic merit and achievement. The tension between neoliberal economic aims and progressive social concerns that cuts across the new culture agenda will be highlighted in the context of wider European cultural policy. Possible outcomes of the agenda will be assessed in relation to the general political and social climate of the EU. Text begins here: 'Europe is more than a system of legal norms and rules and political institutions which regulate European citizenship. Europe is also a symbolic space where projections and memories, the collective experiences and identifications of the people of Europe are represented. Europe has a cultural meaning' (Eder 2000: 245).
In May 2018 the European Commission published A New Agenda for Culture. Acknowledging the social ... more In May 2018 the European Commission published A New Agenda for Culture. Acknowledging the social and political challenges Europe faces today, through this Communication the Commission aims at contributing to European cohesion and integration through culture. This paper critically addresses the Communication in its form as the latest exercise by the European Commission, in relation to other institutions forming the European Union, to address a sense of European malaise resulting from a democratic deficit through cultural means. The experiences of more than three decades of cultural competence and the limits thereof in relation to the principle of subsidiarity exercised by Member States, traced back to the Treaty of the European Union of 1992, will be examined for the visions set out by the EU, the expectations generated and shortcomings suffered. The array of instruments in the field of culture conceived by the EU seems to have been counterproductive: rather than helping achieve social aims, they seem to have contributed to further alienation in part due to the self-serving purpose of these instruments (Barnett: 2001; Valentine: 2018). This paper argues that cultural projects, including Creative Europe flagships like the European Capital of Culture have turned efforts at participation and engagement into matters of self-satisfying bureaucratic merit and achievement. The tension between neoliberal economic aims and progressive social concerns that cuts across the new culture agenda will be highlighted in the context of wider European cultural policy. Possible outcomes of the agenda will be assessed in relation to the general political and social climate of the EU. Text begins here: 'Europe is more than a system of legal norms and rules and political institutions which regulate European citizenship. Europe is also a symbolic space where projections and memories, the collective experiences and identifications of the people of Europe are represented. Europe has a cultural meaning' (Eder 2000: 245).
This paper will address the impact of the European Union (EU) on cultural policy development in M... more This paper will address the impact of the European Union (EU) on cultural policy development in Malta. The attention paid by the EU to globalising matters through culture, particularly i) citizenship participation in relation to social integration, ii) economic revival through urban regeneration, and iii) cultural diplomacy with regard to internationalisation efforts, is acknowledged and assessed through a focus on recent Maltese cultural practice. Impact will be assessed in relation to a) policy as well as legislation, b) funding structures and incentives, and c) implementation measures through initiatives taken by Maltese public cultural institutions. Convergences and divergences in comparison with key EU strategic actions will be discussed, with reference made to major legislative documents, funding programmes, and cultural projects undertaken by Maltese authorities and other cultural stakeholders in response or in relation to European developments.
This study attempts to examine why European Union cultural policy does not address the issue of m... more This study attempts to examine why European Union cultural policy does not address the issue of migration of people from non-European countries to Europe with sufficient recognition of the major impact it has on Euro-pean cultural identity, and what are some of the advantages of doing so. It is important to note that a strong cultural policy common to all members of the European Union does not exist and may be said not to be in the interest of European nation states. Nevertheless, the impact of European Union cultural policy on various aspects of cultural and social life in Eur-ope is growing and is therefore assessed both in terms of its official description as stated by Article 151 of the Treaty of European Union and with regard to the variety of programmes it establishes. The remit and implementation of cultural policy are found to be constricted by various supranational and national issues, and their relation to the impact of migration, while in existence, is limited. Cultural initiatives already being run within the framework of European Union cultural policy and which address issues related to migrant cultures and European citizenry are assessed. This analysis leads to suggestions and recommendations, the aim of which is to foster a greater recognition of the importance of the value of cultural difference due to the influence of migration on European social settings, and to encourage the formulation of European cultural policies that aim at more reciprocity and mutuality. This paper joins a growing number of calls for a change in the perspective of policy-making to reflect the transnational reality of migration and its impact on and contribution to culture in Europe. It does this while at the same time acknowledging the fact that nation states play a largely determining role in the ideation and implementation of European Union cultural policy. This research is based on a theoretical framework that provides the discussion with a foundation from which to assess contemporary models of mul-ticulturalism and integration as well as grapple with the implications of cultural policy on European self-identification and representation. This analysis roots its critical perspective in a close reading of Ziauddin Sar-dar's propositions of ''mutually assured diversity'' and ''transmodernism'' which are applied to the context of cultural policy. This paper is based on research carried out through the collection of secondary data, with resources that provide information which is recent and relevant to current issues of migration, social integration and European culture and identity.
Thesis Chapters by Karsten Xuereb
In the wide geopolitical context encompassing local as well as regional and international dimensi... more In the wide geopolitical context encompassing local as well as regional and international dimensions, what the research does is provide a modest yet novel and required contribution to the analysis of the dynamic between cultural influence and cultural relations
across the South Mediterranean. It focuses on the impact of primarily British and French influence on cultural relations in four cities and their respective countries, namely Algiers in Algeria, Beirut in Lebanon, Casablanca as well as Rabat in Morocco and Valletta as the cultural capital of Malta. The research focuses on Britain and France because of the dominant imperial roles they held in the Mediterranean as well as beyond and the influence they still yield in cultural affairs on the basis of this past.
Drafts by Karsten Xuereb
This piece of ongoing research explores the way cultural managers operate within small environmen... more This piece of ongoing research explores the way cultural managers operate within small environments that are made up of culturally different people. These places may be described as international micro-environments. The density of diversity brought about by the cultural difference present in people is a key aspect of the field addressed by this research. This is so because the cultural diversity within a group of people, or groups of people, that come together for economic or social reasons to form a larger group with varying degrees of cohesion, recreates an international environment within a local, or micro one. This study will focus on the role of cultural operators, identified as 'intercultural managers', that work within such contexts, with special attention paid to Malta. It will ask the question, 'How does the complex relationship between culture and management enable, as well as hinder, intercultural managers to address culturally diverse societies in Europe today?', using Malta as a case study. This research is based on a series of qualitative interviews with such managers. It positions itself within a postcolonial framework that derives from the historical and social background of the physical environment as well as the stories shaping and accompanying the people involved, including migrants and refugees.
Ftit linji maqluba minni mill-ktieb ta' Marguerite Yourcenar (1951) mill-verżjoni Taljana maqluba... more Ftit linji maqluba minni mill-ktieb ta' Marguerite Yourcenar (1951) mill-verżjoni Taljana maqluba minn Lidia Storoni Mazzolani (2014).
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Papers by Karsten Xuereb
Thesis Chapters by Karsten Xuereb
across the South Mediterranean. It focuses on the impact of primarily British and French influence on cultural relations in four cities and their respective countries, namely Algiers in Algeria, Beirut in Lebanon, Casablanca as well as Rabat in Morocco and Valletta as the cultural capital of Malta. The research focuses on Britain and France because of the dominant imperial roles they held in the Mediterranean as well as beyond and the influence they still yield in cultural affairs on the basis of this past.
Drafts by Karsten Xuereb
across the South Mediterranean. It focuses on the impact of primarily British and French influence on cultural relations in four cities and their respective countries, namely Algiers in Algeria, Beirut in Lebanon, Casablanca as well as Rabat in Morocco and Valletta as the cultural capital of Malta. The research focuses on Britain and France because of the dominant imperial roles they held in the Mediterranean as well as beyond and the influence they still yield in cultural affairs on the basis of this past.