ART AND THE STATE. THE VISUAL ARTS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

This book examines the impact of states and their policies on visual art. States shape the role of art and artists in society, influence the development of audiences, support artistic work, and even affect the very nature of artistic production. The book contrasts developments in the United States with art policies in Britain and in the social democratic states of Norway and Sweden. In addition, it analyzes revealing transitions - the changes brought about in East Germany after unification and the experiences of artists who left the Soviet Union for the west. The result is a significant contribution to the sociology and the political economy of art.

VICTORIA D. ALEXANDER is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Surrey. She is the author of Museums and Money: The Impact of Funding ion exhibitions, Scholarship and Management (1996), Sociology of the Arts (2003), and numerous articles in the social study of art, artists and museums.

MARILYN RUESCHEMEYER is Professor of Sociology at the Rhode Island School of Design and also holds an appointment at Brown University. She is the author of several books and articles on Eastern Europe during the communist and postcommunist periods, including Professional Work and Marriage: An East West Comparison and Soviet Emigre Artists: Life and Work in the USSR and the United States.