Den digitale offentligheten i kultur- og bibliotekpolitikken

Abstract

Echo chambers, fake news, filter bubbles and algorithms have been framed as great threats to our contemporary democracies and public spheres. In the Nordic countries, the state plays an active role in sustaining democracy and the public sphere through culture and knowledge policies. The Norwegian Government have over the last years presented a white paper on overall cultural policy and a library strategy document. Both documents address the effects of digital technology on democracy, and how culture institutions in general and libraries in particular can help sustain our democracies in changing times. In this article, we study these and preceding documents on culture and library policies. We analyze how they address digital technology and how they see culture and library policies as providing solutions to digital threats to democracy and the public sphere. Furthermore, we study what notion of democracy and the public sphere are prevalent in Norwegian cultural policies. The results show that the Government view culture as a remedy against a fragmented public sphere, and that libraries play a key role as providers of digital guidance and teaching.