Bristol University Press
4 Culture Matters: Cuts and Resistance
Abstract
The chapter focuses on the cuts administered since 2010 in the fields of literature, music, visual arts, film and performing arts, and their teaching to the young. Budget constraints have led to the closure of numerous essential institutions, such as theatres, libraries and youth centres, museums and art galleries. The chapter looks at significant sectors and examines the social consequences of their financial losses, starting with the relatively modest cuts for prestigious national institutions and the ‘creative industries’ and moving on to the disastrously major ones for the local councils and the Arts Council England. Forms of resistance are analysed as a means to reclaim cultural agency, ranging from grass-root activities to Labour Party opposition. In several cases volunteers and philanthropists have stepped in to keep institutions running, while individual celebrities and political groups have publicly voiced protest, sometimes with spectacular actions.
Abstract
The chapter focuses on the cuts administered since 2010 in the fields of literature, music, visual arts, film and performing arts, and their teaching to the young. Budget constraints have led to the closure of numerous essential institutions, such as theatres, libraries and youth centres, museums and art galleries. The chapter looks at significant sectors and examines the social consequences of their financial losses, starting with the relatively modest cuts for prestigious national institutions and the ‘creative industries’ and moving on to the disastrously major ones for the local councils and the Arts Council England. Forms of resistance are analysed as a means to reclaim cultural agency, ranging from grass-root activities to Labour Party opposition. In several cases volunteers and philanthropists have stepped in to keep institutions running, while individual celebrities and political groups have publicly voiced protest, sometimes with spectacular actions.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Tables v
- Notes on Contributors vi
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
-
The Politics and Culture of Austerity: Impacts and Resistance
- The Contracting State: Austerity and Public Services 19
- Breaking Britain’s Working Class: the Left Out 33
- Political Activism and Agency under Austerity and Brexit 45
- Culture Matters: Cuts and Resistance 59
- Agents and Agency in the Face of Austerity and Brexit Uncertainty: the Case of Legal Aid 73
-
The Politics and Discourse of Brexit
- The Economy of Brexit: Performance, Interests and Agency 89
- Brexit Populism: Disenfranchisement and Agency 103
- A Sovereign People? Political Fantasy and Governmental Time in the Pursuit of Brexit 117
- ‘Not an International Health Service’: Xenophobia, Brexit and the Restoration of National Sovereignty 131
- ‘Uni-Culti’ Myths and Liberal Dreams: Brexit and Austerity from the Perspective of Migrants 145
-
Austerity and Brexit in a Divided Union
- From Brexit to the Break-Up of ... England? Thinking in and Beyond the Nation 161
- Understanding Brexit in Wales: Austerity, Elites and National Identity 175
- Scotland, Brexit and the Broken Promise of Democracy 189
- Brexit, Devolution and Northern Ireland’s Political Parties: Differential Solutions, Special Status or Special Arrangements? 203
- More Than the Border? Looking at Brexit through Irish Eyes 219
- Conclusion 233
- Index 247
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Tables v
- Notes on Contributors vi
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
-
The Politics and Culture of Austerity: Impacts and Resistance
- The Contracting State: Austerity and Public Services 19
- Breaking Britain’s Working Class: the Left Out 33
- Political Activism and Agency under Austerity and Brexit 45
- Culture Matters: Cuts and Resistance 59
- Agents and Agency in the Face of Austerity and Brexit Uncertainty: the Case of Legal Aid 73
-
The Politics and Discourse of Brexit
- The Economy of Brexit: Performance, Interests and Agency 89
- Brexit Populism: Disenfranchisement and Agency 103
- A Sovereign People? Political Fantasy and Governmental Time in the Pursuit of Brexit 117
- ‘Not an International Health Service’: Xenophobia, Brexit and the Restoration of National Sovereignty 131
- ‘Uni-Culti’ Myths and Liberal Dreams: Brexit and Austerity from the Perspective of Migrants 145
-
Austerity and Brexit in a Divided Union
- From Brexit to the Break-Up of ... England? Thinking in and Beyond the Nation 161
- Understanding Brexit in Wales: Austerity, Elites and National Identity 175
- Scotland, Brexit and the Broken Promise of Democracy 189
- Brexit, Devolution and Northern Ireland’s Political Parties: Differential Solutions, Special Status or Special Arrangements? 203
- More Than the Border? Looking at Brexit through Irish Eyes 219
- Conclusion 233
- Index 247
