Manchester University Press
Culture, participation and identity in contemporary Manchester
Abstract
Andrew Miles offers an empirical study of the cultural practices of Manchester’s contemporary population. His essay is a contribution to continuing debates about the relationship between culture, class and identity in Britain. His particular interest is in the ‘non-users’ of the city’s more high-profile cultural institutions. He suggests the limited nature of debates among politicians and policy-makers about the nature of cultural participation, and, based on 102 in-depth qualitative interviews, shows that there are many kinds of cultural participation not usually captured by the survey evidence (or by dominant models). His findings serve as important counter to the official model of participation, whose assumptions, processes and technologies obscure – and neglect – the realm of everyday participation and its significance.
Abstract
Andrew Miles offers an empirical study of the cultural practices of Manchester’s contemporary population. His essay is a contribution to continuing debates about the relationship between culture, class and identity in Britain. His particular interest is in the ‘non-users’ of the city’s more high-profile cultural institutions. He suggests the limited nature of debates among politicians and policy-makers about the nature of cultural participation, and, based on 102 in-depth qualitative interviews, shows that there are many kinds of cultural participation not usually captured by the survey evidence (or by dominant models). His findings serve as important counter to the official model of participation, whose assumptions, processes and technologies obscure – and neglect – the realm of everyday participation and its significance.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables vii
- Notes on contributors xi
- Manchester 1
- Calico connections 11
- Counting the coppers 33
- Manufacturing the Renaissance 61
- The image of a well-ordered city 95
- ‘He saw the city and wept’ 123
- A case of cosmopolitanism 148
- Culture, participation and identity in contemporary Manchester 176
- Class conflict and the myth of cultural ‘inclusion’ in modern Manchester 194
- Index 217
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables vii
- Notes on contributors xi
- Manchester 1
- Calico connections 11
- Counting the coppers 33
- Manufacturing the Renaissance 61
- The image of a well-ordered city 95
- ‘He saw the city and wept’ 123
- A case of cosmopolitanism 148
- Culture, participation and identity in contemporary Manchester 176
- Class conflict and the myth of cultural ‘inclusion’ in modern Manchester 194
- Index 217
