Networking, production, identity: Cultural manager experiences

By means of a biographical exploration in cultural management, this article examines the experience and development of the European Culture Association. Throughout the article, the author argues that we need to connect “action” and “production” to “identity”, and to build the latter through the former in order to create a sense of belonging towards Europe. What these experiences show is that, instead of underpinning the construction of collective cultural identities in the past (that is, through shared memories, rituals and pre-existent modes of belonging), collective cultural identities are produced in the process of working together, of carrying out projects and collective activities, networking, and participating. It is only through investing in identity, by crafting it slowly with others, that a sense of belonging is generated.