ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°151 - Novembre/Décembre 2013 - 24

FoCus

By Aude BERTRAND (03)

From funding
to investment

European cultural politics have undergone a major turn over the last three
decades. While the reasons for this shift are various and complex, at the bottom
line, nowadays cultural politics in Europe seem to be driven by economic rationales rather than cultural content. How could this happen? Answer by Aude
BERTRAND who currently directs a contemporary arts space located in Essen,
Germany and is a PhD candidate in cultural studies. Her research focuses on the
economisation of arts.

A new understanding of culture?

© anonymous (untitled), courtesy blog «kunstgeflüster»

Justifying public cultural spendings
from an economic perspective: from
culture and the creative economy
to the « creative class ». Up to the
1970ies, there still was a strong belief
that culture unto itself was good,
had positive impacts on society, and
should thus be made accessible to
the broadest possible audience.
Relying on the market failure argument, economists (such as Netzer
1979) attempted to justify why it was
worth subsidysing -that is to say,
why public fundings should be used
for supporting culture.
In the next decade, this view was radically questioned (Grampp 1989).
Cultural products were to be treated
just as any goods of any other sector.
So there was no reason subsidysing
culture. Instead, public cultural fundings were
seen, in a way, as theft (following the rent seeking
argument).
And indeed, as the traditional concept of culture
was being profoundly challenged, with various
practices (high and low, elite and popular, but also
various 'somehow' creative practices such as graphics, design, crafting, etc.) mingling, it was probably logical that by the mid-1990ies, a new economic model arose based on the idea that culture
was an economy; in fact, the creative economy.
Finally, today the creative economy is reckoned
to bring about change, spillovers (measurable in
terms of social return on investment), innovation
and growth (Potts, Cunningham, 2008).

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- ESCP Europe Magazine N° 151 - Novembre/Décembre 2013

Recently, cultural economic research came up
with a new model based on the idea that the creative economy is more about a meta-structure, a
network of people (the «creative class») able to
foster and spread acceptance to change.
Economisation and return on cultural
investment: a new normative order
No matter how thinly evidenced the «creative
economy» arguments are: not only have they become central in driving our cultural policies, but
they imply a new understanding of what culture is
supposed to be or is made of. Namely, creativity
understood as innovation potential. So there's nothing wrong with evidencing economic benefits of
creativity or culture taken as a whole, it might even
be a good thing as such.
Yet, when embracing a broader, non economic
view on culture, it appears that the economic rationale implemented to legitimate (or to deter from)
investment in culture relies upon a new normative
order. This eventually implies a change in how we
perceive cultural practice, commonly known not
as mere commercialisation or commodification,
but as economisation: today, culture does not
have to be good. Today, culture has to pay off.
Shaping culture: our responsibility
As economisation pervades our whole society
and results in a value system internalised by all, it
is up to each of us, whether art patrons, sponsors,
visitors or cultural managers, but also artists, to
support and shape a view of culture that can be
economically viable but remains intrinsically not
(only) driven by economic logic!
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ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°151 - Novembre/Décembre 2013

Table des matières de la publication ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°151 - Novembre/Décembre 2013
