Abstract

Drawing on a literature review of over two hundred items, this commentary describes what drove the English cultural sector’s interest in the social sciences from the 1980s, and the social sciences’ interest in the cultural sector. The social sciences offered the cultural sector the means to evidence and advocate its assertions of social and economic impact in line with government requirements. Their economic valuations and sociological analyses of its patterns of employment were both written on commission and independently. But despite the potential for complementary collaborations, the relationship between the social sciences and the cultural sector has been subject to the conflicting interests of the various constituencies involved. Various economists have commented on the costs of financial value being held in higher regard than human value. Perhaps this will mark a moment when cultural policy and those activities that the state-supports will become more unequivocally celebrated for adding value to society.

Highlights

  • Sara Selwood n ABSTRACT: Drawing on a literature review of over two hundred items, this commentary describes what drove the English cultural sector’s interest in the social sciences from the 1980s, and the social sciences’ interest in the cultural sector

  • Based on more than two hundred items, it considers the social and economic values attributed to the sector and the involvement of different social science and cultural sector constituencies, and it deliberates on the perceived incompatibilities between them

  • This article is presented in three sections that are broadly consecutive historically: Part 1 reflects on the cultural sector’s interest in the social sciences, the imperative for evidence, the approaches employed, and the challenges faced; Part 2 looks at the nature of social scientists’ interest in the cultural sector—the burgeoning of social science literature on the cultural sector, the constituencies involved, the ways in which social scientists sought to address problems posed by the cultural sector, and the problems they are perceived as having created for it; Part 3 contemplates the conflicting interests manifest in that relationship as revealed by the literature

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Summary

A Commentary on the Literature

Sara Selwood n ABSTRACT: Drawing on a literature review of over two hundred items, this commentary describes what drove the English cultural sector’s interest in the social sciences from the 1980s, and the social sciences’ interest in the cultural sector. This article is presented in three sections that are broadly consecutive historically: Part 1 reflects on the cultural sector’s interest in the social sciences, the imperative for evidence, the approaches employed, and the challenges faced; Part 2 looks at the nature of social scientists’ interest in the cultural sector—the burgeoning of social science literature on the cultural sector, the constituencies involved, the ways in which social scientists sought to address problems posed by the cultural sector, and the problems they are perceived as having created for it; Part 3 contemplates the conflicting interests manifest in that relationship as revealed by the literature These include social science’s disciplinary dominance, attempts at compromise, the cultural sector’s attitudes to research, and internecine bickering

Part 1: The Cultural Sector’s Interest in the Social Sciences
Part 2: Social Science’s Interest in the Cultural Sector
Part 3: Conflicting Interests
Conclusion
Toolkits
11. Cultural Participation
15. Understanding Everyday Participation
Full Text
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