Realizing the Values of Art

This book provides a novel approach to the understanding and realization of the values of art. It argues that art has often been instrumentalized for state-building, to promote social inclusion of diversity, or for economic purposes such as growth or innovation. To counteract that, the authors study the values that artists and audiences seek to realize in the social practices around the arts. They develop the concept of cultural civil society to analyze how art is practiced and values are realized in creative circles and co-creative communities of spectators. The insights are illustrated with case-studies about hip-hop, Venetian art collectives, dance festivals, science-fiction fandom, and a queer museum. The authors provide a four-stage scheme that illustrates how values are realized in a process of value orientation, imagination, realization, and evaluation.

Erwin Dekker is Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He has previously published Jan Tinbergen (1903–1994) and the Rise of Economic Expertise (2021) and The Viennese Students of Civilization (2016), as well as the edited volume Governing Markets as Knowledge Commons (2021).

Valeria Morea is postdoctoral fellow at IUAV University of Venice, Department of Architecture and Arts, where she investigates grassroots cultural and civic practices in Venice. She has recently edited the volume Cultural Commons and Urban Dynamics (2020), published by Springer. Her research explores the role and values of public art in urban settings.