Rethinking the Social Impact of the Arts: a critical-historical review

Author: Eleonora Belfiore and Oliver Bennett

Institution: Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwick

Full reference: Belfiore, E., and Bennett, O. (2006) Re-thinking the Social Impact of the Arts. A Critical and Historical Review. Warwick: Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwick. Research Paper No.9

Summary of key findings

This paper focuses on contemporary debates around the social impacts of the arts and the problem of their measurement and evaluation. The authors note that the arts have increasingly come to be justified on the basis of evidence of their instrumental benefits in areas such as social inclusion, urban regeneration, employment and healthcare. Other voices call for the arts to be valued ‘in their own terms’ but lack an appropriate language to articulate the intrinsic value of culture.

The paper sets out to contribute to debate around ‘instrumental’ and ‘intrinsic’ values by putting forward a new framework for the understanding of the so-called ‘transformative powers’ of the arts. The researchers suggest that an historical-critical approach is needed to tackle this research topic. The paper therefore presents a detailed critical analysis of the numerous claims that have been made in the West over time, from Classical Greece (5th century BC) to the present day, for the ways in which the arts can affect individuals and transform society. It offers a taxonomy of these suggested impacts, both positive and negative, with a view to establishing an appropriate conceptual basis for the discussion and investigation of what the social impact of the arts might mean. At the same time, the paper attempts to reconnect contemporary policy debates with a complex intellectual history, from which these debates have become detached. It is suggested that the impacts of the arts cannot be properly understood, measured or evaluated without reference to this history.

Research Questions & Methodology

Critical Analysis

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