Valuing culture in times of an ecological crisis: The potential role of festivals towards a sustainable degrowth transition

Contemporary studies recognise the root of the current ecological crisis to lie within an economic system that is dependent on infinite and exponential growth. This system is inherently unsustainable considering the planet has finite resources. As the economy is embedded in culture (Polanyi, 1944/2001), a solution to the climate crisis requires a cultural transition. This research fills the gap within the discipline of cultural economics to fundamentally discuss the role of the cultural sector in times of an ecological crisis. In these times, it is imperative to broaden the scope of the valuation of cultural goods. Hence, this study expands on the valuation approach within cultural economics by building a bridge between cultural economics and ecological economics. This connection responds to the call from the side of ecological economists (Costanza et al., 1997) for the need for a shared vision, which cultural goods are able to provide through their imaginative quality (Beckert, 2011). A central task of this new alliance is to research the value of cultural goods in the context of a sustainable transition. This research takes the first step in that task, introducing the main research question: what is the potential role of festivals towards a sustainable degrowth transition? Festivals appear to be taking on a role in a sustainable transition as they explicitly position themselves as mini-societies in which sustainable practices, products and systems can be experimented with. Their transformational capacity is explored through the aspects of multiplicity, liminality and testability. During ten semi-structured interviews with Dutch festival managers and experts, these qualities together provided a framework to address the transformational capacity of festivals. Subsequently, the notion of sustainability is conceptualised within the framework of the ecological theory of degrowth. Degrowth envisions a society that prioritises the wellbeing of the community over personal gain and profit. Following a discussion of degrowth literature and literature on sustainable transitions, six characteristics of a sustainable degrowth transition are specified. These fundamental principles are used to explore how the meaning of sustainability by the interviewees that participated in this study lends itself in the context of a sustainable degrowth transition. Although degrowth is not a direct source of inspiration for the interviewees, this research found that their meaning of sustainability can be connected to some extent to all of the characteristics of a sustainable degrowth transition. At the same time, the discussion of each of the characteristics revealed spaces in which festivals could grow to enhance their role in a sustainable degrowth transition. Combining the ecological theory of degrowth with cultural economics' valuation approach, a new framework for valorising cultural goods emerges, within which this research serves as an example of how that path can be explored. As such, this research is an example of what pluralism in cultural economics can look like: connecting theoretical bodies to foster a broader understanding of the value of cultural goods.