Histories of Cultural Participation, Values and Governance (New Directions in Cultural Policy Research)

This book develops the first integrated, critical-historical examination of the terms, narratives and assumptions constructing present day notions of participation and value, and the relations between them. Histories of Cultural Participation, Values and Governance proposes a radical re-evaluation of these relationships, organized in two inter-related sections, on political discourses of participation and value, and on culture and governance. The essays collected here provide an in-depth historical understanding of the development of definitions, assumptions and beliefs around the nature and value of cultural participation, their place in contemporary cultural governance and exploitation in local socio-economic development strategies. They also bring a novel perspective to current policy, practice and scholarly debates on the connections between culture, place-making and the creative economy. As such, the essays provide vital historical insight that sheds light on contemporary issues of cultural participation, value and governance. Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Reading the Present Through the Past: A Critical Introduction (Eleonora Belfiore, Lisanne Gibson)....Pages 1-13 Front Matter ....Pages 15-15 Valuing Cultural Participation: The Usefulness of the Eighteenth-Century Stage (Jane Milling)....Pages 17-41 Cultural Participation and the Place of History: A Case Study of Peterborough Societies, Past and Present (Felicity James)....Pages 43-66 From CEMA to the Arts Council: Cultural Authority, Participation and the Question of ‘Value’ in Early Post-war Britain (Eleonora Belfiore)....Pages 67-96 Enacting Community on Dartmoor: MED Theatre’s Badgerland: A Dartmoor Comedy (2015) and the Spatial Praxis of Community Performance Within a Conservation Zone (Kerrie Schaefer)....Pages 97-126 Front Matter ....Pages 127-127 Histories of Public Parks in Manchester and Salford and Their Role in Cultural Policies for Everyday Participation (Abigail Gilmore, Patrick Doyle)....Pages 129-152 Cultural Ecologies: Policy, Participation and Practices (Lisanne Gibson)....Pages 153-182 Calling Participation to Account: Taking Part in the Politics of Method (Catherine Bunting, Abigail Gilmore, Andrew Miles)....Pages 183-210 An Afterword (Peter Stark)....Pages 211-217 Back Matter ....Pages 219-227 "This book develops the first integrated, critical-historical examination of the terms, narratives and assumptions constructing present day notions of participation and value, and the relations between them. The volume proposes a radical re-evaluation of these relationships, organized in two inter-related sections, on political discourses of participation and value, and on culture and governance. The essays collected here provide an in-depth historical understanding of the development of definitions, assumptions and beliefs around the nature and value of cultural participation, their place in contemporary cultural governance and exploitation in local socio-economic development strategies. They also bring a novel perspective to current policy, practice and scholarly debates on the connections between culture, place-making and the creative economy. As such, the essays provide vital historical insight that sheds light on contemporary issues of cultural participation, value and governance"--Publisher's description