3rd International Conference on Cultural Policy Research

Abstract The paper is concerned with the social exclusion agenda in contemporary French cultural policy and investigates the hypothesis that a recurring social agenda for cultural policy has been a driver of policy change. It also explores the relevance of aspects of postcolonial theory to an understanding of that agenda. The tensions involved in recent attempts to evolve policies addressing interculturalism, integration and 'emergent' cultures (such as hip-hop) while also staying true to the French republican tradition of universalism and consensus are illuminated by France's problematic relationship with its colonial past. NB. Provisional version: please don't quote