The aim of the project “The Socio-economic Status and the Lifestyle/Workstyle of the Employed/Engaged in the Civic Cultural Sector of South-East European Societies” was to provide a detailed overview of the living conditions and working conditions of individuals who are active in the civic sector in culture – members of non-governmental agencies dealing with culture, independent artists, curators, and producers. The head of the project was the Association of Independent Culture Scene Serbia (NKSS), and its partners in the project were the Društvo Asociacija – an association of non-governmental organizations and individuals in the field of culture and art from Slovenia, the Centar for sustainable spatial development Expeditio from Montenegro, the Association for culture and art Crvena from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Center for contemporary art from Macedonia and the Center for research and gender policy from Kosovo. The research was realized over a period from September 2016 to March 2017. The research was realized as part of pilot exchange programs of the Regional platform for culture Kooperativa initiated in 2016.
The survey itself was carried out from October 2016 – February 2017. During the research, 157 respondents were surveyed in Slovenia, 130 respondents in Serbia, 62 in Montenegro, 56 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 53 in Kosovo and 42 in Macedonia – a total of 500 actors working in the civic sector of the societies of South-East Europe.
From January – March 2017, the preliminary statistical analyses of the data compiled in the survey of the male and female members of organizations in the civic sector in culture were published, including those of independent artists, producers, custodians, regarding their living and working conditions in six countries of the region (Slovenia, BiH, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia).
In addition to surveying the individuals working in the civic sector in culture, within the project a survey was carried out of the capacity of the organizations which belong to the civic sector in culture in Slovenia, within which 26 organizations were surveyed. Considering that in the other societies included in this project the study of the capacities of the organizations had already been already carried out in 2015 and 2016 as part of the project “Out of the Margins – Research and Policy-Making on Independent Cultural Scenes in South-East European Societies“, realized as part of the program “Balkan Arts and Culture”, this provided the necessary conditions for performing an analysis of the lifestyles and workstyles of individuals (members of non-governmental organizations, independent artists, curators and producers) and organizations which are active in the civic cultural sector in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo.
The first analyses were published in the study “Between Politics and Capital: Unwanted Culture in South-East Europe“ (2017), and a second, extended edition of the volume is currently being prepared.