Bridging the gap - A qualitative exploration of diversity, inclusion, and quality-debates in the cultural sector of Rotterdam

As policies focused on increasing cultural participation have been present for decades, inclusion is one of the newest implications created by policy makers aiming to increase cultural participation in the cultural sector of Rotterdam. As structural success on the engagement of underrepresented groups in the cultural sector has been absent, questions arise on how inclusion policies will change this situation. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the following research question: How do Gemeente Rotterdam and Grounds construct their views on inclusion in the cultural sector of Rotterdam and how are these views connected? In this research, both Gemeente Rotterdam as well as Grounds, being a Rotterdam music venue, will be topic of research in order to shine light on the perspectives on inclusion as present in the cultural sector, as well as in the world of cultural policy. As data have been conducted through the gathering of both policy documents and individual interviews, a thematic analysis has been done to see how the perspectives on Gemeente Rotterdam and Grounds are constructed. Moreover, the theoretical paradigms of essentialism and social constructionism are used to create a deeper understanding of these perspectives. Empirical findings show how inclusion policies are created to respond to the diversification of the population of Rotterdam, since Rotterdam has one of the most rapidly diversifying populations in the Netherlands. The goal here is to create a cultural sector representative of this diverse population. However, policy implications lead to discussions on the quality of culture, as both Gemeente Rotterdam as well as Grounds seem to struggle with quality depictions as a result of inclusion policies. Since everybody in Rotterdam should be included, what is it they should be included in? Gemeente Rotterdam aspires to include the inhabitants of Rotterdam in the cultural sector which is depicted to be full of fixated ideas on the quality of culture, Grounds seems to find a more fluid way to assess culture. Resultingly, Grounds currently strives to find a more flexible definition of the quality of culture, allowing all individuals they would like to include to create their own definition of culture. This ideology could theoretically lead to cultural democracy, as the ‘what’ in which the inhabitants of Rotterdam are supposed to participate in, is free to be interpreted individually, which relates to the paradigm of social constructionism. The approach of Gemeente Rotterdam however, seems to lead to democracy of culture, as every inhabitant of Rotterdam is required to participate in the state-funded cultural sector as shaped by cultural policy, featuring cultural activities with a fixated quality definition. This thesis therefore pleads for a deeper social constructionist understanding of culture, as it calls for a re-evaluation of the definitions of culture and inclusion, as well as a deeper understanding of cultural democracy.