Cultural Symbiosis: Cultural Participation and Cohesive Communities

Abstract

We in Canada do not believe that cultural participation can be reduced to the “consumption” of cultural products or that the federal government’s role is simply to intervene in cases of “market failure” where the law of supply and demand has faltered. We believe that participation in culture also creates what the economists refer to as “positive externalities”, namely: • Social trust and social capital • Greater democratic inclusiveness and equity • Social innovation and experimentation with new symbolic resources. I would therefore like to look at cultural participation in Canada with these positive externalities in mind. In doing so, I will be guided by the following questions: • Who participates in culture? • In what activities do they participate? • Why do they participate? • What are some of the outcomes of this participation?