Abstract This introductory article contextually frames the contributions to the special issue gathering articles critically addressing the key questions and challenges that the European Union (EU) and national cultural policies are facing in the 21st century. Interdisciplinary contributions in this special issue point to the diverse understandings of culture, the complexity of the EU governance system, and the discrepancy and mismatch of the national and EU levels that regulate the field of culture. The authors detect the inconsistent development strategies on different policy levels, and point to the democratic deficits of the EU governance system and EU policies. Selected contributions address a further focal shift of EU culture policies toward an economistic orientation to culture, while others address the need for a more critical approach that moves beyond predominantly positivistic and normative approaches to cultural policy research in Europe.

中文翻译：

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欧洲联盟与文化政策的挑战：批判性观点。一个介绍

摘要该介绍性文章在上下文范围内构架了对特殊问题收集文章的贡献，这些文章严格地解决了欧盟（EU）和国家文化政策在21世纪面临的关键问题和挑战。在本期特刊中，跨学科的贡献表明人们对文化有多种理解，欧盟管理体系的复杂性，以及规范文化领域的国家和欧盟层面的差异和错位。作者发现了不同政策水平上不一致的发展战略，并指出了欧盟治理体系和欧盟政策的民主缺陷。部分贡献致力于解决欧盟文化政策向文化的经济学取向的进一步重点转移，