Cross-country comparisons of cultural statistics: Issues and good practice

Cross-country comparisons are popular in cultural policy. This paper looks at how cultural statistics are used in the making of such comparisons. Analysts have identified a general ‘sloppiness’ in current cultural statistics comparisons. Some of the major problems in both data production and data presentation are documented, and a ‘checklist’ of good practice is provided. The paper aims to provide guidance and ideas for anyone making cross-country comparisons of cultural statistics.     

Under construction: Towards a framework for cultural value

This article explores, in the context of prevailing discourses around the value of the arts and culture, the reasons why the UK's Arts & Humanities Research Council launched a research project on cultural value and sets out the character of that project. It is concerned with arts and cultural engagement across the commercial, subsidised, amateur, and participatory sectors; embraces the full range of arts and cultural forms; and seeks to reach beyond dichotomies such as intrinsic and instrumental, high and low art, quantitative and qualitative evaluation, and public and private experiences. The article explains the project's thinking around the components of cultural value and the methodologies for evidencing them, and highlights some of the key research being funded.     

Effecting cultural change from below? A comparison of Cape Town and Bandung's pathways to urban cultural governance

ABSTRACT

This article compares the cultural governance pathways of two UNESCO “Design Cities” – Bandung and Cape Town – methodologically framing them as “repeated instances” [Robinson, J. (2018). Policy mobilities as comparison: Urbanization processes, repeated instances, topologies. Revista de Administração Pública, 52(2), 221–243] of a globalized drive towards more creative cities. While the value of mobilizing culture for local urban change in rapidly growing cities of the global South is increasingly recognized [Mbaye, J., & Dinardi, C. (2018). Ins and outs of the cultural polis: Informality, culture and governance in the global South. Urban Studies, 56(3), 578–593], postcolonial urban scholars have rightly questioned whether internationally popular cultural policy approaches are able to speak to their complex challenges, underpinned by informality and the after-effects of colonialism [Pieterse, E. (2006). Building with ruins and dreams: Some thoughts on realising integrated urban development in South Africa through crisis. Urban Studies, 43(2), 285–304]. As postcolonial states are slowly shifting away from a centralized cultural institution model linked to symbolic nation building projects [Booyens, I. (2012). Creative industries, inequality and social development: developments, impacts and challenges in Cape Town. Urban Forum, 23(1), 43–60], travelling cultural policies brought in by foreign agencies and adapted by local epistemic communities have inspired a range of responses that can be broadly described as cultural policy innovation from below Cohen, D. (2015). Grounding mobile policies: Ad hoc networks and the creative city in Bandung, Indonesia. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 36(2015), 23–37]. In turn, we examine how different cultural policy approaches have been locally mobilized and reworked in Bandung and Cape Town in response to situated realities and in partnerships between cultural, academic, business and local government actors. We argue that comparing the emerging “creative cityness” [Nkula-Wenz, L. (2018a). Worlding Cape Town by design: Encounters with creative cityness. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 1–17] of both cities provides valuable insights into the opportunities and challenges of urban cultural governance in the global South.     

Assessing a place in cultural planning: A framework for American local governments

In the last 30 years, numerous studies have sought to define cultural planning. A common theme that emerges is the emphasis on the need to create a planning process for “placemaking” purposes. However, the definition of what a place is remains vague. Using administrative boundaries, this study draws a framework that formulates an operational definition of place that helps to connect spaces to empirical data about their cultural resources and residents. The focus on administrative boundaries is particularly relevant to understand American cities whose territories have a tangled morphology. Using Geographical Information System, this framework is then applied to assess the current situation in Madison, Wisconsin. The results suggest that the use of this framework could help policy makers to assess the texture of their territory in its administrative, cultural and social dimensions.     

The concentric circles model of the cultural industries

This paper examines the assumptions and structure of the concentric circles model of the cultural industries. Empirical data for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US are used to illustrate the model's key characteristic: the proposition that the cultural content of the output of the cultural industries declines as one moves outwards from the core. The test uses the proportion of creative labour employed in production as a proxy for cultural content. The results confirm the model's validity as a means of depicting the structural characteristics of the cultural industries and also enable some wider features of the cultural workforce in the five countries to be examined.     

Re-imagining the local in national cultural policy formulation – the case of the Anglophone Caribbean

ABSTRACT

The formulation of cultural policies in the Anglophone Caribbean constantly straddles the demands of global, regional and national imperatives as a function of its position as a region of post-colonial, small-island states. This paper will argue that the role these factors play in the art of policy making problematises conventions in the current global/local (glocal) debate circulating in the arena of Cultural Policy Studies. The paper shows that cultural policy making in the Caribbean constitutes a mélange of approaches that are in a constant state of contestation during the policy-making process. It employs content analysis of cultural policy texts from selected Caribbean states, as well as an analysis of stakeholder views from the national cultural policy consultations in Trinidad and Tobago to derive its findings. A Five Factor framework was developed to illustrate the range of responses that guide and shape local actors and activities in the national cultural policy domain. The research concludes that the relationship between the national and local (nocal) actors has to be re-imagined if cultural policy is to deliver on its promise of social transformation in the Caribbean.     

The cultural value of heritage: evidence from the Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund has, over the past 13 years, given £4billion to heritage projects of all kinds. As the Fund has matured a greater emphasis has been placed on the evaluation of the social and economic outcomes of this funding. In 2004 we reported on progress with evaluation of the programmes targeted at particular types of heritage (Clark, 2004 Clark, K. 2004. Why fund heritage? The role of research in the Heritage Lottery Fund. Cultural Trends, 52: 65–85.  [Google Scholar]). The greater challenge has been to evaluate the outcomes from the Fund's generic programmes, which can fund any type of heritage and which between them account for over two-thirds of total funding. This article reviews the Fund's experience over the last 3 years in developing and implementing an evaluation system using the Public (or Cultural) Value framework. It presents some initial results from the research so far completed and reviews how far the framework has been useful in suggesting research priorities and organizing findings.     

Developing a scale for measuring the perceived value of cultural institutions

Previous research into the value of cultural institutions has emphasized a variety of benefits arising from cultural institutions such as social, educational and health-related impacts. An economic assessment of cultural institutions is usually made in monetary units. This one-dimensional assessment of value has been criticized for being elusive, disregarding the complex and multidimensional nature of cultural values. This article suggests scales for measuring the value of cultural institutions. Based on previous research, and an exploratory study on the perceived value of cultural institutions, this article describes the development of a scale using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Six factors comprise the scale: social, educational, health, image, identity and financial effects. The scale may be used to describe and compare the value of cultural institutions qualitatively. Conclusions about the perceived contribution of different institutions may be possible. From a policy perspective, the scale may allow an understanding of the contribution individuals with different socioeconomic backgrounds perceive the cultural institution as making.     

The effect of study abroad and personality on cultural intelligence: A deeper understanding using the expanded model of cultural intelligence

Using an expanded assessment of cultural intelligence (CQ), this study provides a detailed analysis of how studying abroad impacts the development of CQ. We examined (1) the effect of a study abroad semester on the development of each of the eleven subdimensions of cultural intelligence – Expanded-CQ or E-CQ over time; and (2) whether personality traits (i.e., extraversion and openness to experience) had a moderating role in the relationship between a study abroad semester and E-CQ in a longitudinal study. Data were collected from 361 students both before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) the study abroad semester. Mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance showed that the study abroad semester did have a statistically significant effect on the development of ten subdimensions of E-CQ over time. Moreover, contrary to our expectations, multiple regression analyses demonstrated that individuals who were low on extraversion improved their metacognitive CQ (awareness) more than did individuals who were high on extraversion. Similarly, individuals who were low on openness to experience improved their metacognitive CQ (awareness), their cognitive CQ (culture-general knowledge), and their motivational CQ (intrinsic interest) more than did individuals who were high on openness to experience. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Addressing the effect of concern with COVID-19 threat on prejudice towards immigrants: The sequential mediating role of need for cognitive closure and desire for cultural tightness

The link between threat and anti-immigrant prejudice is well-established. Relatedly, recent research has also shown that situational threats (such as concern with COVID-19 threat) increase anti-immigrant prejudice through the mediating role of desire for cultural tightness. This study aims to further our understanding of the psychological processes underlying the relation between concern with COVID-19 threat and increased negative attitudes towards immigrants by considering the mediational role of an individual epistemic motivation (i.e., the need for cognitive closure). A study was conducted on a large sample of Italian respondents covering all the Italian regions. Findings revealed that high concern with COVID-19 threat led to increased negative attitudes towards immigrants through the sequential mediating role of higher need for cognitive closure, leading in turn to higher desire for cultural tightness. Implications of these findings for a timely contextualized study of anti-immigrant prejudice will be highlighted.     

Measuring the cultural value of the Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries Exhibition as a platform for emerging artists

In our analysis of the cultural value of the Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries Exhibition, we assessed the institution's role in shaping emerging artists’ careers, as well as wider cultural value. Supported by our conceptual framework of value creation, issues assessed included the expected versus experienced value of the exhibition and the individual artworks, price setting, the market mechanism surrounding the exhibition, and its enhancement. The created cultural value is facilitated by high-visibility media exposure and through development of career-enhancing networks. We have generated new insight into cultural value more generally by moving beyond dominant instrumental valuation approaches. We have addressed many of the gaps in understanding the mechanisms behind engagement with contemporary art. We have progressed theory with the assistance of our conceptual framework and supporting qualitative data. Cultural value is expressed in contemporary art through artistic production systems and its cultural messages. Artists’ cultural value is often constructed via the intrinsic worth of their work, rather than from market influences. Cultural value is often personal to the viewer, shared with others and remembered over time. It is also co-created among the other stakeholders involved.     

The role of perceived cultural distance,personal growth initiative,language proficiencies,and tridimensional acculturation orientations for psychological adjustment among international students

We investigated the acculturation process of international students (N = 319, 162 female) from 62 countries who were residing in the Netherlands, using the acculturation framework by Arends-Tóth and Van de Vijver (2007). We applied SEM to test the model that acculturation conditions (perceived cultural distance [PCD], personal growth initiative [PGI], proficiency in English and the host language, and length of residence) in conjunction with acculturation orientations as mediators (host, heritage, expatriate) predict psychological adjustment as acculturation outcome (acculturative stress, satisfaction with life, mental health problems). We found direct and indirect effects of acculturation conditions on adjustment; high PGI, high English and Dutch proficiencies, and low PCD were associated with better adjustment. Host orientation (predicted by high PGI, Dutch proficiency, and low PCD) was positively associated with adjustment. Heritage orientation (predicted by low English proficiency) was negatively associated with adjustment. As a novel aspect, we included expatriate orientation - an orientation towards other expatriates in the host community. Expatriate orientation was predicted by low Dutch proficiency and was positively associated with adjustment. We also observed direct links between acculturation conditions and outcomes: positive associations between PCD and acculturative stress and between length of residence and acculturative stress; and negative associations between PGI and mental health problems and between English proficiency and acculturative stress. We provide evidence that including expatriate orientation is relevant among international students: It is stronger than both host and heritage orientations, thereby underlining the importance of studying acculturation in a contextualized way.     

Radical Conservatism and International Nationalism: The Peasant Arts Movement and Its Search for the Country Heart of England

ABSTRACT

The Peasant Arts Movement (fl. 1890s–1930s) was dedicated to reviving traditional country life in England. This article analyses its key educational tools, its magazine and museum, to explore its underlying ideologies. Sometimes seen as eccentric, it was nonetheless connected, practically and intellectually, with the broader Arts and Crafts and folk revival movements in England and Europe. It shared with these a largely radical spirit but was nonetheless essentially conservative in its views on class and gender. However, it demonstrated an internationalist spirit in its concern for peasantry worldwide and in its use of European models to re-invigorate English culture.