The Politics of the Arts in Britain

233 Pages·2000·0.778 MB·English

by  Clive Gray (auth.)

The Politics of the Arts
in Britain
Clive Gray
The Politics of the Arts in Britain
Also by Clive Gray
GOVERNMENT BEYOND THE CENTRE
The Politics of the Arts in
Britain
Clive Gray
Principal Lecturer in Politics
De Montfort University
Leicester
First published in Great Britain 2000 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-40789-7 ISBN 978-0-333-98141-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780333981412
First published in the United States of America 2000 by
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, LLC,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-23565-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gray,Clive.
The politics of the arts in Britain / Clive Gray.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-23565-9
1. Arts—Great Britain—Management. 2. Art and state—Great Britain. 3.
Great Britain—Cultural policy. I. Title.
NX770.G7 G73 2000
353.7'7'0941—dc21
00–038236
©Clive Gray 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-73413-1
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P0LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained
forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
Contents v
To Chrissie, Caitlin and Laurie with love and
thanks
vi Contents
Contents vii
Contents
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction: the Politics of the Arts 1
Defining the arts 1
Politics and the arts 3
Selling the arts 5
The structure of the book 7
Conclusion 8
1 The Commodification of the Arts 11
Introduction 11
The changing public sector 12
The commodification process 15
Commodification and the structure of public policy 20
Commodification and the content of public policy 25
Commodification and the policy process 27
The implications of commodification 29
Commodification and the arts 32
Conclusion 33
2 Managing the Arts: 1945–79 35
Introduction 35
From laissez-faire to welfare state 36
The postwar settlement for the arts 40
The consolidation of the system 47
The pressure for change 51
Conclusion 54
3 Who Runs the Arts? 55
Introduction 55
Art and culture 56
The organisational structure of the arts in Britain 58
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport 59
The Arts Councils 65
vii
viii Contents
The Regional Arts Boards 67
The British Film Institute 71
Local government 73
The National Lottery 76
National Heritage arts sponsorship 78
Conclusion 79
4 The Network for Arts Policy in Britain 81
Introduction 81
Power in the arts 82
Networks and the arts 84
The arts policy network 90
Values and ideology in the arts network 95
Conclusion 103
5 The Arts at the Centre 105
Introduction 105
Neo-liberalism, the strong state and the arts 105
Funding the centre 108
Political actors: political choices 111
Organisational change 113
Financial change 116
Managerial change 122
Ideological change 126
A commodified centre? 131
6 The Regional Politics of the Arts 135
Introduction 135
The development of the regional level to 1979 135
From ‘A New Relationship’ to Wilding:
the regions in the 1980s 140
The regions in the 1990s 148
Commodifying the regions? 150
Conclusion 155
7 Local Government and the Arts 157
Introduction 157
Local politics and the arts 158
The development of local arts initiatives 160
Contents ix
Economics, the arts and local government in
the 1980s 163
Local governance and the politics of the local 169
Accounting for change 174
The challenge of the local 178
8 The European Dimension 181
Introduction 181
‘Culture’ and the European Union 182
The arts in Europe 187
Conclusions 194
9 Explaining the Politics of the Arts 197
Introduction 197
The arts in Britain as a policy sector 198
The commodification of the arts? 203
Conclusion 210
Bibliography 213
Index 222