Culture, Economy and Politics: The Case of New Labour

It has been claimed that there was a 'golden age' in the UK for the arts and culture from 1997 to 2010, under the leadership of the New Labour government. Culture, Economy, and Politics examines and evaluates the party's approach to cultural policy and brings together social and political theory to provide a detailed account of how policy was constructed and shaped. Who were the key decision makers? What were their relations to each other? What interests and goals were they pursuing? And what impact did these policies have both on the cultural landscape and on society more generally? This book is based on extensive interviews with major players in cultural policy including senior politicians, civil servants and arts administrators. It draws upon a wealth of literature and previously unseen material to tell the story of cultural policy under New Labour, covering a range of areas such as the arts, copyright, heritage, the creative industries, urban regeneration and regional policy.