The entwinement of politics, arts, culture and commerce in staging social and political reality to enhance democratic communication

This article explores how four British and German theatre companies that originated in the countercultural era continue to survive in an increasingly austere economic climate. Although their survival strategies have been marked by remarkable resilience, this has sometimes affected the quality of engagement with their socio-political enquiries and interventions informed in part by radical approaches to theatre-making that make these companies so distinctive. The article draws on relevant theoretical perspectives and ethnographic fieldwork to argue that whereas some constitutive elements of radical theatre are discernible, these are increasingly being constrained by elitist/political and market forces that threaten to undermine these companies’ unique significance as conduits for democratic communication

Radical Left Culture and Heritage, the Politics of Preservation and Memorialisation, and the Promise of the Metaverse

Radical left culture and heritage—understood as incarnations of leftist artefacts and praxis both past and present—have taken risks in challenging hegemonic machinations often when it is unpopular to do so. To the ire of hegemons, leftist projects across the globe have marshalled places, spaces, and technologies into sites of empowerment and struggle utilising ‘small’ and ‘big’ acts of resistance and critical interventions to champion social justice—sometimes successfully, and at other times, less so. However, the preservation of projects’ artefacts, praxis, and memory work has been anything but straightforward, owing primarily to institutional politics and infrastructural and resourcing issues. Taking The Freedom Archives (FA) as a case study, this article explores how FA is preserving the distinctive political education programme that underpinned the iconic liberation struggle in Guinea-Bissau that kickstarted the seismic, global decolonisation project in the late 1950s. The article argues that FA could substantially enhance the preservation and memorialisation of that programme in the Metaverse—if this materialises as a fully open, interoperable, and highly immersive space (1) unfettered by hegemonic regulation, and (2) characterised by ‘strategic witnessing’, ‘radical recordkeeping’, and user agency. In doing so, FA would serve as an exemplar for leftist projects globally

The entwinement of politics, arts, culture and commerce in staging social and political reality to enhance democratic communication

This article explores how four British and German theatre companies that originated in the countercultural era continue to survive in an increasingly austere economic climate. Although their survival strategies have been marked by remarkable resilience, this has sometimes affected the quality of engagement with their socio-political enquiries and interventions informed in part by radical approaches to theatre-making that make these companies so distinctive. The article draws on relevant theoretical perspectives and ethnographic fieldwork to argue that whereas some constitutive elements of radical theatre are discernible, these are increasingly being constrained by elitist/political and market forces that threaten to undermine these companies’ unique significance as conduits for democratic communication

The (Un)Changing Political Economy of Arts, Cultural and Community Engagement, the Creative Economy and Place-Based Development during Austere Times

This article explores arts, cultural and community engagement (ACCE) in the context of enduring austerity in England. Working with a methodically crafted synthesis of theoretical perspectives drawn from (1) the critical political economy (CPE) tradition, (2) the sociology of cultural production, (3) cultural studies and critical strands of community development scholarship, and (4) pertinent discourses on the creative economy and place-based development, the article reviews the political, economic and institutional ecosystem within which a bottom-up approach to ACCE operates. Making use of ethnography for data-gathering, the article explores how three carefully selected case studies respond to the demands and pressures generated by, and associated with, corporate interest and top-down, policy-driven subsidy—including how such responses shape and position the work of the case studies in the contemporary creative economy and local place-based development. The article argues that ACCE contributes meaningfully to the development of self-governance and organic growth through egalitarian cross-sectoral alliances and cultural and social entrepreneurship. However, this happens only if the said ecosystem genuinely supports equality and social justice. Where such support is non-existent, established hierarchies perpetuate domination and exploitation. This stifles wider creative and cultural engagement on the terms of communities

Surfing multiple tides: opportunities and challenges for contemporary British and German community filmmakers

This book examines the role of community filmmaking in society and its connection with issues of cultural diversity, innovation, policy and practice in various places. Deploying a range of examples from Europe, North America, Australia and Hong Kong, the chapters show that film emerging from outside the mainstream film industries and within community contexts can lead to innovation in terms of both content and processes and a better representation of the cultural diversity of a range of communities and places. The book aims to situate the community filmmaker as the central node in the complex network of relationships between diverse communities, funding bodies, policy and the film industries

Mapping Quality Digital Journalism. Research Trends and Pending Challenges in the Age of Hi-Tech

Quality is a priority concept of journalism that connects with the social function of the press. The achievement of quality would ensure a proper work of the media. Technology is driving journalism today; hence, this purpose of excel lence requires new common parameters that allow its assessment, especially given the democratic dimension of the sector. Prior scholarship was widely analyzed these issues, but there is neither academic nor professional consensus on how journalistic quality works. Our study aims to examine the main lines of research that have explored quality digital journalism, organizing a fragmented literature into the three schools of theory already recognized by academia in the study of quality: Liberal, Professional and Social Responsibility. Based on a systematic review, we map the research trends regarding topics addressed and theoretical contributions, identifying an increasing number of ethical challenges in the use of digital technologies. This paper suggests to promote a debate on the need of a dialogue between research traditions to deal with the problems of a growing hi-tech journalism

Strokes of serendipity: community co-curation and engagement with digital heritage

This article explores the potential that community–led digital engagement with heritage holds for stimulating active citizenship through taking responsibility for shared cultural heritage and for fostering long-lasting relationships between local community heritage groups and national museums. Through the lens of a pilot project titled Science Museum: Community-in- Residence, we discovered that — despite working with community groups that were already loyal to and enjoyed existing working ties with the Science Museum in London, U.K — this undertaking proved challenging owing to a range of structural and logistical issues even before the application of digital devices and tools had been considered. These challenges notwithstanding, the pilot found that the creation of time and space for face-to-face dialogue and interactions between the Science Museum and the participating community heritage groups helped to establish the parameters within which digital co-curation can effectively occur. This, in turn, informed the development of a digital prototype with huge potential to enable remote, virtual connectivity to, and interactivity with, conversations about shared heritage. The ultimate goal was two-fold: (a) to help facilitate collaborative sense-making of our shared past, and (b) to aid the building of sustainable institutional and community/public working ties around emerging affinities, agendas and research questions in relation to public history and heritage

‘Sell[ing] what hasn’t got a name’: An exploration of the different understandings and definitions of ‘community engagement’ work in the performing arts

Widely known to promote broader involvement in the processes which define the arts and culture (Webster, 1997), community engagement work in the performing arts — despite employing a set of commonly recognised norms — has tended to be conceptualised differently both historically and contemporarily. Drawing on ethnographic research — particularly semi-structured qualitative interview accounts of numerous British practitioners with a track record of work in the sector, the article explores these different conceptualisations. The article finds that it is the actual ‘work that matters’ and not what it is named, and that the diversity of understandings and definitions among sectoral practitioners is reflective of evolving thinking, values and practice, something that may be destabilising for better or worse

The entwinement of politics, arts, culture and commerce in staging social and political reality to enhance democratic communication

This article explores how four British and German theatre companies that originated in the countercultural era continue to survive in an increasingly austere economic climate. Although their survival strategies have been marked by remarkable resilience, this has sometimes affected the quality of engagement with their socio-political enquiries and interventions informed in part by radical approaches to theatre-making that make these companies so distinctive. The article draws on relevant theoretical perspectives and ethnographic fieldwork to argue that whereas some constitutive elements of radical theatre are discernible, these are increasingly being constrained by elitist/political and market forces that threaten to undermine these companies’ unique significance as conduits for democratic communication

Cultural Protest in Journalism, Documentary Films and the Arts: Between Protest and Professionalisation

Cultural Protest in Journalism, Documentary Films and the Arts: Between Protest and Professionalisation entails a comprehensive account of the history and trajectory of contemporary journalistic, (documentary) film, and arts and cultural actors rooted (partially or wholly) in radical, alternative, community, voluntary, participatory and independent movements primarily in Britain and Germany. It focuses particularly on the examination of production and organisational contexts of selected case studies, some of which date from the countercultural era.The book takes a transnational and interdisciplinary approach encompassing a range of theoretical perspectives – drawn from the political economy of communication tradition; alternative media scholarship; journalism studies; critical sociological and cultural studies of media industries; cultural industries research; and critical and social theory – in conjunction with extensive ethnographic fieldwork. It does so to reveal the obscure nature of media and cultural production and organisation at seventeen media and cultural actors based in Britain and Germany, including South Africa and Nigeria. A particular focus is placed on how such actors balance competing imperatives of a civic/socio-political, professional, artistic and commercial nature as well as various systemic pressures, and on how they navigate the resultant ambivalences, paradoxes and tensions in their day-to-day work.In essence, the book highlights key insights into a changing nature and quality of engagement with social and political realities in protest cultures