Digitalization of the Cultural Field and Cultural Intermediariesa: a Social Critique of Digital Utopianism

Abstract

The digitalization of the cultural sphere has redefined the relationship of culture with creativity and with its social bases. A discourse of digital utopianism tends to interpet this process as a new stage in the organisation of culture that will foster participation and cooperation, as well as the weakening of cultural monopolies and intermediaries. However, these visions tend to forget the importance of other social factors, such as organisational contexts, struggles for autonomy, disciplinary conventions and tools for evaluating culture. In this respect, the findings of authors such as Bourdieu question some of the central precepts of digital utopianism, understood as a conglomeration of communities or decentralised networks formed by enthusiasts and amateurs, which is presented as the only future possible.