Engagement with Culture in Transformative Times
Mapping the Societal Drivers and Impacts of Cultural Understandings, Practices, Perceptions, and Values across Europe
Susanne Janssen editor Nete Kristensen editor Marc Verboord editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:12th May '25
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
At the heart of this volume are the questions: What does culture mean to European citizens in the face of globalisation, digitalisation, diversity, and social inequality? How do Europeans engage with culture in its various forms, and what societal values are tied to this cultural engagement? These questions are explored in depth across the 15 chapters of this book. By delving into the understandings, practices, perceptions, affordances, and impacts of culture, this book advances the study of the societal values of culture in contemporary European societies, offering insights beneficial to both research and cultural policy work.
The book stands out with its five unique features. It embraces an inclusive conception of culture, spanning the arts, popular culture, and everyday cultural practices, both offline and online. It takes a grassroots approach, starting from the cultural understandings and experiences of European citizens. It employs a comparative method involving people from diverse socio-economic groups in nine European countries – with different cultural policy models, social-structural features, socio-cultural value orientations, and media systems. It builds on a multi- and mixed-methods approach, including a large-scale survey, a smartphone study with experimental stimuli, several phases of online content data collection and analysis, qualitative interviews, and focus groups. Finally, it delves into how wide-ranging and interconnected sociocultural transformations such as migration, digitalisation, and social inequality impact people’s understanding of and engagement with culture as well as the meanings and values they attribute to culture. These unique features promise to offer a fresh and comprehensive perspective on cultural engagement in contemporary European societies.
The collection showcases the multiple, often contradictory concepts and understandings of culture and its societal values among social groups within and across European societies. The findings call for a “social turn” in cultural policy that extends beyond traditional arts and culture to support diverse cultural expressions that may enhance social values, address complex social issues, and shift the focus from economic objectives to promoting civic solidarity, equity, inclusivity, tolerance, and shared community values.
“This book provides a much-needed corrective to overly esoteric and abstract discussions of culture by examining culture in everyday life—doing so by way of an expansive cross-national survey of Europeans and by way of innovative methodologies. While attuned to differences across nations, educational levels, and age groups, each chapter gives us a view of culture from the perspective of the survey respondents themselves—which includes the various ways that they define and understand "culture"; how they engage in cultural activities; how they use culture to navigate migration across national borders and to inspire political mobilization; and so on. This book helpfully advances theoretical understandings while impressively illuminating the ways that culture matters for those in Europe and beyond.” - Timothy J. Dowd, Professor of Sociology, Emory University, US
“In this rich, multi-faceted account of culture in Europe, a stellar team of social scientists from nine countries maps the cultural practices of Europeans in all their diversity. Offering a much-needed counterpoint to overly politicized and partisan accounts of culture that dominate public debates, this volume convincingly conveys the value of culture for fostering just, inclusive and democratic societies.” - Giselinde Kuipers, Professor of Sociology, KU Leuven University, Belgium
“Thanks to its comparative approach, varied methodology and its concern for social and national varieties in how Europeans use and relate to culture, this book is a refreshing and deeply important addition to the research literature. It will inform and stimulate discussions of class and culture for years to come.” - Jan Fredrik Hovden, Professor of Media Studies, University of Bergen, Norway
“If you are looking for a comprehensive, in-depth investigation of citizens’ engagement with culture in contemporary Europe, this edited volume should be your go-to reference point. Drawing on a wide-ranging set of original empirical data from nine countries, the contributions provide a much-needed comparative examination of cultural practices among European citizens, taking into account not only the arts and ‘highbrow’ cultural forms but also popular culture and everyday cultural practices. Of particular value are the inclusion of digital dimensions of cultural engagement and the perspectives of migrant populations, as well as the close consideration of the role culture plays in the reproduction of social inequalities.” - Sabina Mihelj, Professor of Media and Cultural Analysis, Loughborough University, UK
“A marvellously comprehensive overview of the major issues concerning culture and values across Europe today, and an intriguing mapping of what Europeans think, feel and do in today's turbulent times.” - David Inglis, Professor of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland
ISBN: 9781032583105
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 840g
350 pages