Explaining the Politics of the Arts

Abstract

The analysis of the politics of the arts in Britain that has been undertaken in this book is predicated on the assumption that there is more to the subject than a simple repetition of the latest newsworthy stories that continually appear in the media. While such stories — from the fiasco surrounding the London orchestras to the saga of opera houses in London and Wales, for example — may provide useful case-study material (and a great deal of hilarity for bystanders), they say little about the underlying patterns of change and development that have een taking place in the arts policy sector for many years. To make sense of these patterns it is necessary to go eyond what is essentially the higher journalism of reporting who did what to whom, and with what consequences, and to ttempt an explanation of why events have turned out as they have.