Solutions to the Dilemma of Legitimacy and Localization in Grassroots Cultural Governance: A Discussion on a Volunteer Program

Cultural governance at the grassroots level is not only a matter of social unity and stability, but also an important part of promoting the development of China's cultural heritage. In practice, grassroots cultural governance is faced with the dual problems of legitimacy and localization: firstly, the pluralistic governing subjects have to form consensus in order to gain legitimacy for their actions; secondly, the external and professional governing subjects have to realize the localization of their actions through internal and external intermingling. Taking a volunteer program as a starting point, the local administrative system and public sector, art colleges and volunteers, and folk art workers and enthusiasts interacted with each other in a variety of ways. A comparison of the project's practices in the three locations shows that the formation of synergies to achieve the goal of cultural governance requires both the legitimacy of upward and downward communication, as well as internal and external interconnections to achieve localization. Therefore, cultural governance at the grassroots level should break down the division between culture as an object of governance and culture as a means of governance, connect and link the two, and promote the integration of professionalism and socialism in cultural governance.