Zooming into culture
How do we define “culture”?
What role does culture play in our society?
How do we value culture? Is there such a thing as “good culture” and “bad culture”? Who decides?
What is the connection between culture and consciousness?
Should government support the creation and dissemination of culture, or should culture be left to market forces?
What are the business opportunities in culture?
Between the usual bits’n bobs, these are some of the questions I hope to explore here over the coming months…
Would love to hear of any relevant books/resources on the subject.
April 15, 2008 at 3:09 pm
It would be interesting to highlight the role of corporate support in the arts here in the U.S. vs. government support of culture in Europe, which would define what is considered cultured, who gets funded, etc. Personally, I think government should play a part in supporting “culture” but they also need to allocate sufficient funds to this and appoint the right people in those positions. The last I heard, the U.S. govt continued to decrease funding in the arts & humanities (which was already a pitiful amount compared to Europe), and increased military spending instead. Very sad.
As for business opportunities in culture, it only works if it comes from an authentic place, that is, if the CEO’s or owners of the company are patrons of the arts themselves.
April 15, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Thanks for your comments… I’m going to raise some of these questions in some of my upcoming Q&As in an attempt to shed some light for all.
April 15, 2008 at 7:07 pm
[...] recently posed a string of questions here about culture to kick off the exploration and have some Q&As in store which will hopefully shed some light on [...]