Engagement with Culture in Transformative Times : Mapping the Societal Drivers and Impacts of Cultural Understandings, Practices, Perceptions, and Values across Europe

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.

Arranged around the themes of Europeans’ understandings of culture, cultural participation, societal values of culture and cultural participation, this book brings together empirical data from across Europe to advance our understanding of cultural engagement and the societal values associated with culture. Combining quantitative, qualitative, and digital methods, including survey data, in-depth individual interviews, case studies, focus groups and data scraping from social media platforms, it provides important comparative perspectives from different social groups across nine European countries, whilst exploring an array of methods for capturing and measuring cultural understandings and experiences. With fresh research and insights into people’s engagement with culture and cultural values, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in the sociology of culture and cultural participation, as well as those working in the field of cultural policy and cultural practice.