David Bell and Kate Oakley survey the major debates emerging in cultural policy research, adopting an approach based on spatial scale to explore cultural policy in cities, nations and internationally. They contextualise these discussions with an exploration of what both ‘culture’ and ‘policy’ mean when they are joined together as cultural policy. Drawing on topical examples and contemporary research, as well as their own experience in both academia and in consultancy, Bell and Oakley urge readers to think critically about the project of cultural policy as it is currently being played out around the world. Cultural Policy is a comprehensive and readable book that provides a lively, up-to-date overview of key debates in cultural policy, making it ideal for students of media and cultural studies, creative and cultural industries, and arts management.

Cultural policy intersects with political, economic, and socio-cultural dynamics at all levels of society, placing high and often contradictory expectations on the capabilities and capacities of the media, the fine, performing, and folk arts, and cultural heritage. These expectations are articulated, mobilised and contested at – and across – a global scale. As a result, the study of cultural policy has firmly established itself as a field that cuts across a range of academic disciplines, including sociology, cultural and media studies, economics, anthropology, area studies, languages, geography, and law. This Routledge Handbook of Global Cultural Policy sets out to broaden the field’s consideration to recognise the necessity for international and global perspectives. The book explores how cultural policy has become a global phenomenon. It brings together a diverse range of researchers whose work reveals how cultural policy expresses and realises common global concerns, dominant narratives, and geopolitical economic and social inequalities. The sections of the book address cultural policy’s relation to core academic disciplines and core questions, of regulations, rights, development, practice, and global issues. With a cross-section of country-by-country case studies, this comprehensive volume is a map for academics and students seeking to become more globally orientated cultural policy scholars.

Non-technical analysis of how cultural industries contribute to economic growth and the policies required to ensure cultural industries will flourish.

Hitherto, cultural theory and empirical work on culture have outstripped cultural policy. This book rectifies the peculiar imbalance in the field of Cultural Studies by offering the first comprehensive and international work on cultural policy. Fully alive to the challenges posed by globalization it addresses a wide range of central topics including cinema, television, museums, international organizations, art, public history, drama and performance art. The result is a landmark work in the emerging field of cultural policy. Rigorous in its field of survey and astute in its critical commentary it enables students to gain a global grounding in cultural policy. It will be essential reading for students of cultural studies and cultural sociology.

This is the first book to examine whether France’s ongoing defence of the cultural exception as a means to maintain cultural policies and defend cultural diversity is justifiable in the digital age. It questions whether the arrival of new players such as Apple and Netflix makes defence impossible, and whether an explosion in the number of films available makes policies for cultural promotion increasingly unnecessary. The book takes a critical look at French film policy to establish whether it promotes cultural diversity across cinema and video on demand and the implications for ongoing defence of the cultural exception. Sarah Walkley ultimately makes the case for a more disciplined approach to discussion of the cultural exception and cultural diversity in France supporting ideological arguments about competition, freedom of expression, consumer choice and national identity with concrete evidence of the success of French policies in countering US film market dominance.

Contemporary society is complex; governed and administered by a range of contradictory policies, practices and techniques. Nowhere are these contradictions more keenly felt than in cultural policy. This book uses insights from a range of disciplines to aid the reader in understanding contemporary cultural policy. Drawing on a range of case studies, including analysis of the reality of work in the creative industries, urban regeneration and current government cultural policy in the UK, the book discusses the idea of value in the cultural sector, showing how value plays out in cultural organizations. Uniquely, the book crosses disciplinary boundaries to present a thorough introduction to the subject. As a result, the book will be of interest to a range of scholars across arts management, public and nonprofit management, cultural studies, sociology and political science. It will also be essential reading for those working in the arts, culture and public policy.

Encouraging more – and different – people to attend the arts remains a vital issue for the cultural sector. The question of who consumes culture, and why, is key to our understanding of the arts. This book examines the relationship of audience development to cultural policy and offers a ground-breaking perspective on how the practice of audience development is connected to ideas of democratic access to culture. Providing a detailed overview of arts marketing, audience development and cultural democracy, the book argues that the work of audience development has been profoundly misunderstood by the field of arts management. Drawing from a rich range of interviews with key individuals in the audience development field, the book argues for a re-conceptualisation of audience development as an ideological function of cultural policy. Of importance for students, academics and researchers working in arts management and cultural policy, the book is also vital reading for anyone working in the arts, cultural and heritage sectors with an interest in understanding how our relationship with the audience has been constructed.