Spatializing authoritarian neoliberalism by way of cultural politics: city, nation and the European Union in Gdansk's politics of cultural policy formation

Boren, Thomas, Grzys, Patrycja and Young, Craig (2021) Spatializing authoritarian neoliberalism by way of cultural politics: city, nation and the European Union in Gdansk's politics of cultural policy formation. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 39 (6). pp. 1211-1230. ISSN 2399-6544

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Abstract

This paper develops perspectives which seek to spatialize authoritarian neoliberalism through arguing for greater engagement with the politics of urban cultural policy formation in the neglected context of post-socialist East and Central Europe. Through analyzing the politics of urban cultural policy-making in Gdańsk, Poland, the paper spatializes authoritarian neoliberalism by exploring how relations between the urban and the national, and between the urban and the supranational, shape urban cultural policy, drawing upon literatures on political economy, policy mobilities, cultural policy research, and the concepts of authoritarian neoliberalism and the relational-territorial nexus. Gdańsk is a liberally run city, strongly aligned with the European Union (EU), opposed to the authoritarian neoliberal national level politics in Poland. The paper analyses urban-national tensions and relationships between Gdańsk and the EU to unpack the contested spatial nature of authoritarian neoliberalism.