The Paradoxes of Music Diplomacy in a Federal Country. A Case Study from Flanders, Belgium

Belgium's public diplomacy cannot be understood without the frame of the political
divide characterizing federalism in the country. Unlike others federal states whose
self-governing components adopt policies that converge at the international level,
Flanders and Wallonia – the Dutch- and French-speaking communities of Belgium –
seem not to act coordinately on this matter. Culture is the principal field where the
two communities adopt very different approaches and end up competing for resources
and international visibility. Flanders, in particular, support self-representation
strategies that produce and circulate images of a singular and homogeneous “Flemish
nation”. The action of its cultural institutions seems to focus on an autonomous nation
building project rather than situating the community in the larger national – Belgian –
dimension.
Language is the cultural trait lying at the basis of this conflict known as “community
cleavage” that affects both the public and the political sphere. As a verbal art, popular
music is one of the most simbolically relevant practices that participate to cultural
diplomacy in this context. Starting from ethnographic analysis of Flemish public and
private cultural institutions, this paper aims to describe the ways Flemish music policy
in international situations is mutually connected to political claims for autonomy and
independence at the national level. The research questions are as follows: 1) how
does Belgian federalism condition cultural/music diplomacy in Flanders? 2) How does
cultural/music diplomacy contribute to the political struggle of Flemish
independentism?