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Value as Fiction: An Anthropological Perspective

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Managing Culture

Part of the book series: Sociology of the Arts ((SOA))

Abstract

This chapter examines the notion of ‘value’ in arts and cultural management. Drawing upon methodological and theoretical tools from anthropology, it examines the culturally relative and inherently subjective nature of value, arguing that this is contra prevailing perspectives that view value as set and quantifiable. The chapter introduces the term ‘cracked art world’, which is proffered as an analytical tool for making sense of value’s inherent subjectivity, and the conflicts in art worlds that arise from value divergences among arts and culture stakeholders. It further argues that, without critical examination, cracked art worlds can serve to reify inequalities and thus reinforce dominant values while ignoring or silencing marginal ones. The chapter closes by suggesting ways in which these concepts might be usefully incorporated by arts and cultural managers engaged in intercultural dialogue and exchange.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clark State Community College, Springfield, OH, USA

    Kayla Rush

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  1. Kayla Rush
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Correspondence to Kayla Rush .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK

    Victoria Durrer

  2. Heilbronn University, Künzelsau, Germany

    Raphaela Henze

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Rush, K. (2020). Value as Fiction: An Anthropological Perspective. In: Durrer, V., Henze, R. (eds) Managing Culture. Sociology of the Arts. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24646-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24646-4_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-24645-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24646-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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