A quota for the outsourcing of television programmes: an economic analysis of its effectiveness

A European Directive stipulates that at least 10% of programmes broadcast by each European broadcaster must be produced by an independent producer. By stimulating independent productions the European Union and the Dutch government aim to improve the quality of television programmes. In 1997, the Netherlands increased this requirement to 25%. This paper evaluates the policy, using a unique Dutch dataset that includes all independent productions appearing on public television from 1996 until 2000. We show that: (i) the producers are highly specialised; (ii) programming is volatile; (iii) entry of new firms is substantially reducing average rates of turnover; (iv) the producers who lobbied for the higher quota were losing market share and were relatively well‐organised. Therefore, the outsourcing requirement does not lead to the desired levels of stable production by individual producers and it is unlikely to be an effective instrument.     

Deep hanging out in the arts: an anthropological approach to capturing cultural value

This article presents the findings of an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project carried out from September 2013 to March 2014 by five researchers at the University of Leeds (UK), who paired off with five audience-participants and engaged in a process of ‘deep hanging out’ at events curated as part of Leeds’ annual LoveArts festival. As part of AHRC’s Cultural Value project, the overarching aim of the research was to produce a rich, polyvocal, evocative and complex account of cultural value by co-investigating arts engagement with audience–participants. Findings suggested that both the methods and purpose of knowing about cultural value impact significantly on any exploration of cultural experience. Fieldwork culminated in the apparent paradox that we know, and yet still don’t seem to know, the value and impact of the arts. Protracted discussions with the participants suggested that this paradox stemmed from a misplaced focus on knowledge; that instead of striving to understand and rationalize the value of the arts, we should instead aim to feel and experience it. During a process of deep hanging out, our participants revealed the limitations of language in capturing the value of the arts, yet confirmed perceptions of the arts as a vehicle for developing self-identity and -expression and for living a better life. These findings suggest that the Cultural Value debate needs to be reframed from what is currently an interminable epistemological obsession (that seeks to prove and evidence the value of culture) into a more complex phenomenological question, which asks how people experience the arts and culture and why people want to understand its value. This in turn implies a re-conceptualization of the relationships between artists or arts organisations and their publics, based on a more relational form of engagement and on a more anthropological approach to capturing and co-creating cultural value.     

Quoting television: a cross-national analysis of regulatory intervention in the independent television production industry in the UK and Spain

In order to understand the advent and consolidation of the independent television production industry, it is necessary to consider the essential role that quotas have played. This article offers a comparative empirically grounded analysis of the impact generated by a variety of quotas applied to independent production in the UK and Spain. First, it describes how quotas originating from the Television without Frontiers Directive are implemented in different ways. Second, through a sample of prime-time television in both countries, and in-depth interviews, the article analyses the strength of independent producers, their regional diversity and, in the Spanish case, the volume of investment in them by broadcasters. The results highlight the limitations of quotas and the need to intervene in different areas with alternative tools if the objectives originally pursued by the Directive for this sector are to be achieved.     

The introduction of Australian digital television: Politics,policy and power

This article discusses the introduction of digital television to Australia, and the competing interests, and conflicts of power, surrounding this. It seeks to explain the primary outcomes of the digital settlement in terms of these interests and these processes of power. It points out how this settlement was very much at odds with the pro-market, deregulatory and competition-oriented reform advanced by the Howard government (and prior to it, the Hawke and Keating governments) in other industry sectors. The digital settlement introduced in 2001 entirely determined what Australians watched on their television screens for the first decade of the 21st century. This article seeks to unpack the processes that led to this outcome.

本文讨论了澳大利亚数字电视的引进以及围绕它的利益博弈和权力斗争。作者力图从利益或权力的角度理解数字电视引进的主要结果。作者指出,数字电视的引进与霍华德政府（以及之前的霍克和基廷政府）推行的市场化、解除管制、竞争导向的改革大相径庭。2001年引进的数字电视整个决定了21世纪头十年澳大利亚人在电视屏幕上看些什么。本文意在揭示通向这一结果的过程。     

The significance of values: heritage value typologies re-examined

A critical discussion of value typologies for heritage conservation and management is offered, from the perspective of objects and urban conservation, in light of a review of published literature on heritage values. It is suggested that value typologies are often designed and implemented without understanding the implicit consequences of the inclusion and omission of ‘values’. It is also suggested that typologies often fail to prompt the necessary questions to develop satisfactorily detailed understandings of heritage significance, resulting in decisions being based on implicit, rather than explicit, value assessments in practice. Mindful of the problems associated with ‘universalising’ context specific typologies, a broad framework for assessing and communicating significance is proposed. In order to encourage holistic approaches, the framework is designed to combat the false dichotomies of cultural/natural and tangible/intangible heritage; it is hoped this will make the framework widely applicable. Without downplaying the necessity of diverse participation in assessing significance, the framework is designed to identify aspects of weakness and preference in cases where adequate consultation is not possible.     

Whose cultural value? Representation,power and creative industries

ABSTRACT

The debate around ‘cultural value’ has become increasingly central to policy debates on arts and creative industries policy over the past ten years and has mostly focused on the articulation and measurement of ‘economic value’, at the expense of other forms of value—cultural, social, aesthetic. This paper’s goal is to counter this prevalent over-simplification by focusing on the mechanisms through which ‘value’ is either allocated or denied to cultural forms and practices by certain groups in particular social contexts. We know that different social groups enjoy different access to the power to bestow value and legitimise aesthetic and cultural practices; yet, questions of power, of symbolic violence and misrecognition rarely have any prominence in cultural policy discourse. This article thus makes a distinctive contribution to creative industry scholarship by tackling this neglected question head on: it calls for a commitment to addressing cultural policy’s blind spot over power and misrecognition, and for what McGuigan (2006: 138) refers to as ‘critique in the public interest’. To achieve this, the article discusses findings of an AHRC-funded project that considered questions of cultural value, power, media representation and misrecognition in relation to a participatory arts project involving the Gypsy and Traveller community in Lincolnshire, England.     

On voodoo economics: theorising relations of property, value and contemporary capitalism

This paper reflects on how we can productively theorise the contemporary treatment of property, by a range of different economic agents, as a locus for the attempted creation of economic value. Its argument is that the theorisation offered by David Harvey (1982) in The limits to capital has a continued and arguably even heightened relevance in the present-day context, but that this theorisation can be embellished with insights from the sociology of finance, particularly in regard to the power of representation. This argument is developed with reference to two parallel empirical 'stories' from early twenty-first century capitalism: the economist Hernando de Soto's influential thesis about the 'mystery of capital' and his related policy ideas; and the attempts of western-based financiers to extract profit from companies with significant real estate assets by separating those property assets from the operational side of the businesses in question.     

The creation of a Ministry of Culture: towards the definition and implementation of a comprehensive cultural policy in Peru

In June 2010, a Ministry of Culture was created in Peru, raising many questions regarding the ability of this new administrative structure to effectively implement a comprehensive cultural policy, which has been lacking so far, for the Peruvian State has based its previous policies almost exclusively on the preservation of cultural heritage. The Ministry inherits the flaws of the National Institute of Culture, and must address various challenges: the improvement of heritage management; the inclusion of indigenous populations in a never established national identity; a renewed scheme of promotion of the arts and incentives to cultural industries. The article discusses possible policy options for the new ministry, evidences the needs for a renovation of bureaucratic culture within the ministry, for clarification in the objectives set to the Ministry and for more comprehensive data about cultural practices in Peru.     

试论博物馆艺术授权的结构模式与价值链

博物馆艺术授权是以博物馆藏品等所体现的文化艺术内涵为依托的授权标的物知识产权的授权体系,其发展路径和结构形式即为博物馆艺术授权的结构模式,分为直接授权模式、委托授权模式和综合授权模式三种。这一结构模式决定了其价值链的形成过程和最终形态,总体表现为由若干点、线、面组成的伞状结构的价值网络。     

旅游表演的文化产业生产模式:深圳华侨城主题公园个案研究

旅游表演是旅游体验的重要来源。深圳华侨城主题公园已发展起以大型广场巡游、音乐舞蹈史诗演出为主,辅以景点表演、节庆活动、以及影视多媒体技术支持的旅游表演体系。大型旅游表演的生产流程包括原创和融资、主创和设计、表演场地和舞台制作、相关配套设备和服务采购、演员排练、节目中试、宣传和营销、正式公演、演出产品的后期组合和拼装、版权产品开发和销售以及演艺节目的对外输出等11个阶段,并与相关和配套服务产业共同构成庞大的旅游表演产业体系。通过艺术和商业的融合、功利和公益的兼顾、不同生产环节中本地一外地关联业务的分工、创新和变化,形成福特一后福特双重机制的文化产业生产模式。     

Creating a niche,building a community: a case study of young small-scale creative workers in Daegu,South Korea

The global trend of garnering the innovative potential of creative economy has also accelerated in South Korea where ‘creativity’ has recently become a nationwide buzz word. While economic instrumentality underpins the global proliferation of creativity discourse, it has been argued that the contemporary cultural sector is affected by neoliberal norms and hyper-competitive individualism. Notwithstanding such disciplining of creativity, this paper attempts to look into the complexity of cultural work which cannot be solely explained by the ascendant neoliberal ethos. To this end, the paper draws upon interviews carried out in 2016 with youth cultural workers, particularly who commit to independent, small scale creative work, in the city of Daegu. Based on an exploration of their locally oriented moral motivations and how they describe and practice their own work, the paper aims to discuss the ways in which they contribute to local cultural ecologies through their socially engaged creative work.     

The Challenges of Managing an Archaeological Heritage Site in a Declining Economy: The Case of Khami World Heritage Site in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper explores the case of the Khami archaeological site, whose degradation by the local communities in recent years was as a result of socio-economic problems caused by the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy combined with the inability of the Zimbabwean government to support the site. We argue that the negative attitude by the local communities towards the management of cultural heritage sites is embedded in the colonial history of the country, and has been driven by the socio-economic difficulties emanating from the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy in recent years. We begin by explaining the history of Khami, its architecture, and the local communities residing around it. We then show and assert that the subsequent degradation of Khami and the landscape around it by the local communities is linked to the socio-economic problems of the country and poverty, which emanated from the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy. In the end, we contend that the economic constraints are part of the reasons why the local communities have from time to time failed to respect the importance of protecting cultural heritage sites in the country.     

Fixing value: history,ethnography, and material ontologies of deservingness in a Philadelphia repair shop

This article draws on labor history and science and technology studies to propose a method, and to provide an example, of historical analysis that is responsive to the conceptual categories that arise out of ethnographic accounts of individuals’ lived experiences. Using an ‘ontological tool-box’, this article follows various enactments of consumer appliances and, along with them, ideas of what it is to be a productive worker in a small appliance repair shop and across the practices of certain institutions of disciplinary power. Through an ethnographic and ontological analysis of repair in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington, this article reveals that, rather than being inevitable or essential, all the categories used to organize our world, whether referent to identities or objects, are both constituted by and constitutive of a complex set of social relations and ideological priorities, which even historians are implicated in reproducing.     

Making science at home: visual displays of space science and nuclear physics at the Science Museum and on television in postwar Britain

The public presentation of science and technology in postwar Britain remains a field open to exploration. Current scholarship on the topic is growing but still tends to concentrate on the written word, thus making theorizing, at this stage, difficult. This paper is an attempt to expand the literature through two case studies that compare and synthesize displays of scientific and technological knowledge in two visual media, the Science Museum and television, in the 1950s and 1960s. The topics of these case studies are space exploration and nuclear energy. The thesis this paper explores is that both media fleshed out strategies of displays based on the use of categories from everyday life. As a result, outcomes of large-scale public scientific and technological undertakings were interwoven within audiences’ daily life experiences, thus appearing ordinary rather than extraordinary. This use of symbols and values drawn from private life worked to alleviate fears of risk associated with these new fields of technological exploration and at the same time give them widespread currency in the public sphere.     

From fashion product industries to fashion: upgrading trends in traditional industry in Taiwan

In the 1990s, China opened its economic markets and replaced the New Institutional Economics (NIEs) of East Asia as the global centre for sourcing labour. This event changed the spatial and economic structure in Asia, especially in Taiwan. Based on the historical evolution of the textile and clothing industry in Taiwan, this study examined how traditional textile and apparel manufacturing was upgraded in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, and in Tainan, the most historical city of Taiwan, under varying resource availability and under different city policies. While referring to both second-hand information and the literature, the results of interviews with fashion industry professionals were also considered. This study revealed that the potential to upgrade the fashion industry was highly associated with regional background characteristics. Additionally, lack of talent and the limited market for domestic brands create the largest bottleneck in the current fashion industry in Taiwan. Accordingly, the optimal solution for the fashion industry in Taiwan is to promote affordable Taiwanese brands and to use e-commerce. Such integration may enhance the position of the Taiwanese fashion industry in global networks.     

The social value of culture: learning from revolutionary Cuba

As the tide turns against econometric calculations of cultural value, scope exists for careful reconsideration of the social value of culture. In Cuba after 1959, culture was placed at the heart of a society undergoing radical transformation. This article examines the socially orientated initiatives to which this revalidation gave rise. It shows that substantial changes were wrought in professional circles as art was acknowledged as a form of social production and remunerated accordingly. It also outlines the sustained efforts that were made to diminish the gap between creative intellectuals and the rest of society, by encouraging widespread appreciation of, and participation in, creative activity. This comprehensive programme was underscored by ideas around democratisation and emancipation that remain vital to contemporary discussions.     

The governance of national cultural organisations: comparative study of performance contracts with the main cultural organisations in England,France and Catalonia (Spain)

In some European countries, performance contracts have become an instrument for the governance and control of major cultural organisations by the public administration. The negotiation and signing of a performance contract are mainly aimed at developing the goals of cultural policies by means of large organisations in order to achieve the traditional objectives of cultural democratisation and other instrumental objectives (economic development, urban regeneration or social inclusion). Nevertheless, the development level of performance contracts varies when we compare England, France and Catalonia (Spain). Each particular level of development is conditioned by the overall administrative and institutional context and the development level of results-based management and an accountability culture. The level of public funding and the degree of autonomy of management within each organisation can also explain why in some cases governance has been contractualised whereas in other cases either progress is more rhetorical than real.