Artistic and cultural activism in the context of social alienation can open avenues of creativity and artistic expression to the young generation that is easily attracted to diverse forms of violence and extremism. Based on this premises, the fight against extremism is hinged on rehabilitating the sense of community that is shattered in our excessively consumerist realities. That is, people worked to integrate young people from different backgrounds through art and culture.
It would be of paramount importance to consider that the rise of this phenomenon was due to the lack of opportunity and unemployment. And, young people’s responses to these conditions are largely an expression of the perceived disconnection from the established narrative of the nation that no longer has any meaning for them. As a result, the feeling of alienation ends up depriving individuals of their very humanity, equating them with an interchangeable cog in a machine. In many countries, the alienation of young people is concomitant with an alarming lack of access to and interest in anything cultural i.e., books, magazines, theatre, cinema, art ect. With little or no media literacy, influence from social networks spur young people to see society as unjust, and perceive themselves as subjected to a symbolic violence on the part of institutions and dominant classes who exercise an invisible but nevertheless oppressive and hegemonic power over the entire society.
Accordingly, even though the state spends large sums of money on big cultural events such as music festivals, the construction of youth centres, museums and massive theatres, the impact on the average citizen and young people is insignificant. As it appears, the idea is to make citizens evaluators, not just commentators, of public policies in general and those of Culture in particular, by asking the right questions and demanding accountability from decision-makers. Therefore, it is necessary to underscore that the project of empowering the public is not only about aesthetic judgment, but about giving the citizens access to knowledge and cultural activities as a public service and a civic duty. More importantly, this stems from the awareness of what a cultural strategy could yield in terms of raising the level of emancipation of citizens and the liberation of creativity and positive energies.
Generally, it could be concluded that it is a call to turn culture into a productive sector that can create jobs and value where all social policies have failed. Overall, culture opens the minds and favors critical thinking and creativity.
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