The Reset! network, since it was launched in 2022, has grown to include 110 members across 30 countries by 2024. Supported by France’s Observatoire des politiques culturelles, the network commissioned a survey examining the meaning and practice of "independence" among its members. This research addresses the complex socio-political, economic, and geographical factors that shape cultural independence, exploring members' needs, values, and the tensions within independent operations. The study also investigates suitable public policies to support independence amid challenges like crises and resource limitations, using a combination of documentation review, participant observation, a questionnaire, and interviews across diverse European contexts.
The study examines the construction of a category of ‘independence’ in cultural and media organisations in the light of the activities of the Reset! network and its members. On the basis of what representations and conceptions of the political economy of culture and the media is this category constructed? What political and institutional uses of independence can be identified on the part of the Reset! network and its members? What are the specific needs of independent players?
“The concept of independence in culture has multiple meanings and its definition is constantly evolving. The meaning associated with it varies according to the period, the country, and the region. However, our study of the perception of independence by members of the Reset! network reveals a striking degree of general convergence, despite the differences arising from the political and economic contexts within which independent cultural initiatives are rolled out in Europe (these differences are shaped in particular by variations in the structure of opportunities for public funding and other forms of public support).”
Reset! General Assembly 2024 in Budapest – © Máté Kalicz
This study was conducted by two researchers:
- Anne-Marie Autissier, sociologist and emeritus lecturer at the University of Paris 8, specialist of the cultural sector at a European level
- Yauheni Kryzhanouski, PhD in political science, research associate at the University of Strasbourg (SAGE) and EHESS Paris (CERCEC), specialist of the cultural sector and culture as a mean of resistance
During a two-year period, they have led this research through documentation analysis, participant observation, an online questionnaire, as well as 27 semi-structured interviews with the Reset! members.
Contributors:
20ft Radio ∙ Act Right ∙ Ankali ∙ Are We Europe ∙ Arty Farty ∙ Auróra ∙ Bi:Pôle ∙ c/o pop Festival & Convention ∙ Canal 180 ∙ Consentis ∙ De Structura ∙ Fairly ∙ Garp Sessions ∙ Ground Control ∙ Insomnia ∙ Inkonst/Intonal ∙ La Forêt Électrique ∙ Lahmacun Radio ∙ LaVallée ∙ Lazy Women ∙ MMN Magazine ∙ Mutant Radio ∙ Palanga Street Radio ∙ Reworks ∙ Skala Magazine ∙ Soundwall ∙ Terraforma ∙ Unsound ∙ Trans Europe Halles∙ European Commission's Danijela Jovic