糖心TV

Oliver Bennett has published a new book - Cultures of Optimism: The Institutional Promotion of Hope (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)

In this sequel to his book on Cultural Pessimism, Oliver Bennett explores how individuals and societies sustain hope. The book focuses on the institutional propagation of optimism in diverse domains: democratic politics; work; the family; religion; and psychotherapy. Drawing on a range of disciplines, including social and evolutionary psychology, intellectual history and organisational behaviour, Bennett addresses a number of questions: what are the functions of optimism in modern societies? How and why do institutions promote it? What values and attitudes are involved? The institutional actions explored, conceptualised as cultural policy in its broadest sense, point to the promotion of hope and optimism as a near-universal cultural imperative.

For reviews and further details see

Jeremy Ahearne has published a new book – Government Through Culture and the Contemporary French Right (Palgrave, November 2014).

Culture, understood broadly, lay at the heart of contrasting right-wing strategies for government in France during the pivotal decade of 2002–2012. Looking at issues of political secularism, educational reform, televisual performance, public memory and nation-branding, the book analyses how Presidents Chirac and Sarkozy sought to redefine contemporary French identity. This study extends prevailing conceptions of 'cultural policy' and shows how this constitutes a core dimension, alongside economic and social policies, of modern right-wing government. It traces, over the course of the decade in question, a dramatic hardening of the attitudes and values informing these programmes for cultural hegemony. These reflect enduring transformations in the political and symbolic landscape of contemporary France.

For reviews and further details see

On Wednesday the 26th November the Centre will be hosting the second of this term's research seminars. Dr. Melissa Nisbett will be talking about her recent research into the cultural policies of New Labour, with a specific focus on the shifting understanding and treatment of 'heritage'. An abstract and bio is below,

The talk will be in G50 of Millburn House at 6pm and will be followed by some light refreshments. Please e-mail Paula Watkins on p.watkins@warwick.ac.uk to reserve your place.

Abstract
This paper explores heritage policy under the UK Labour government (1997-2010). Having dropped the term ‘heritage’ from the name of the cultural ministry in favour of ‘culture, media and sport’ and slashed the sector’s funding, Labour were frequently accused of neglecting or even showing hostility towards heritage (for example, Christiansen, 2007; Hunt, 2007; Aslet, 2008). Widely perceived as being obsessed with the contemporary at the expense of the historical, this paper considers the party’s record on heritage and argues that it is considerably more complex than this reading suggests.

During Labour’s administration, a process of galvanisation was taking place within heritage. When the party lost the General Election in 2010, the heritage sector was flourishing. Its organisations were in a buoyant financial state and arguably more independent than ever - but how can we square Labour’s funding cuts with this and what part does cultural policy play?

Biography
Melissa Nisbett is a Lecturer in Arts and Cultural Management at King’s College London, specialising in cultural policy, arts management and cultural diplomacy. She is currently working on a book entitled Cultural Policy Under New Labour (with David Hesmondhalgh, Kate Oakley and David Lee), which will be published by Palgrave in 2015. Prior to becoming an academic, Melissa worked in arts management for ten years in a variety of roles including marketing and public relations, freelance consultancy and as a trustee.