This book investigates the role of arts practitioners in cultural policy-making, challenging the perception that arts practitioners have little or no involvement in policy and seeking to discover the extent and form of their engagement. Examining the subject through a case-study of playwriting policy in England since 1945, and paying particular attention to playwrights’ organisations and their history of self-directed activity, the book explores practitioners’ participation in cultural policy-making, encompassing both “invited” and “uninvited” interventions that also weave together policy activity and creative practice. It discusses why their involvement matters, and argues that arts practitioners and their organisations can be understood as participants in civil society whose policy activity contributes to the maintenance and enlargement of democratic practices and values.
Author(s): Jane Woddis
Series: New Directions in Cultural Policy Research
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 237
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Praise For Acting on Cultural Policy
Contents
About the Author
Abbreviations
Chapter 1: Introduction. Arts Practitioners: ‘Spear-Carriers’ or Actors in the Spotlight?
Arts Practitioners in the Policy Process
New Playwriting Policy: Introducing the Case Study
Methodology of the Research
The Case Study
Definitions and Parameters
Structure of the Book
References
Chapter 2: Arts Practitioners in Cultural Policy Research
The Treatment of Practitioners in Cultural Policy Research
The Treatment of Practitioners in Public Policy Theory
Cultural Policy Research: A ‘Late Developer’
Using Public Policy Approaches in Cultural Policy Research
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: A Framework for Participation
Democratisation, Governance and Civil Society
Processes of Involvement
Information and Knowledge
Selection and Representation
Resources, Recognition and Influence
Consultation and Agreement
Special Interests and the ‘Common Good’
Principles of Involvement
The Concept of Civil Society
Arts Practitioners in Civil Society
Participation, Power and Democracy
Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: Public Theatre Writing Policy in England Since 1945
Introduction to the Case Study
Does Britain Have Cultural Policies?
Theatre Writing Policies: Some General Points
National Government: Setting the Parameters
Theatre Writing Policies: The Arts Council
Theatre Writing Policies: Regional Arts Bodies
Theatre Writing Policies: Local Government
Key Issues in Public Theatre Writing Policy
Financing Theatre Writing
New Writers or New Writing?
New Plays and Box Office Risk
Conclusion
References
Chapter 5: Playwrights and Theatre Companies: New Playwriting Policy and Practice
Engaging with Policy
Creating Their Own Stage: Playwrights’ Organisations
Northern Playwrights’ Society: The First English Playwrights’ Organisation
Playwrights’ Organisations at the National Level
The Theatre Writers’ Union
The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain
WGGB & TWU
WGGB After the Merger
New Playwrights’ Trust / writernet
Monsterists, Antelopes, Playwriting UK and London Playwrights
A Growing Movement in the Regions
North West Playwrights (Workshops)
Yorkshire Playwrights / Script Yorkshire
Stagecoach! / Script [West Midlands]
Partnerships and Changes in the Regions
Local Playwrights’ Organisations
The International Dimension
Independent Advocates: Some Additional Remarks
Theatre Companies and New Playwriting
Issues of Contention, Debate and Negotiation
Unsolicited Scripts
Commissioning and Producing
New Plays and Studio Spaces
Paying the Playwright
Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: New Playwriting: Networks of Policy and Practice
Participating in Policy Activity
Invitations to Influence Policy
Issues in Consultative Participation
‘Uninvited’ Policy Interventions
Playwrights’ Organisations: A Deliberate Attempt to Influence Policy and Practice
Theatre Companies Influencing Policy
Networks of Policy and Practice
The Concepts of Network and Other Informal Groupings
The Complex Structure of Playwriting Networks
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: Conclusion. Acting on Policy: Arts Practitioners in the Spotlight
Summing Up
Theatre Practitioners’ Policy Involvement and Its Effects
Overcoming Obstacles to Participation
Why the Participation of Arts Practitioners Matters
Final Points: Arts Practitioners in Civil Society
References
Index
