Aesthetics, policy and the politics of popular culture

Abstract

Study of the politics of popular culture has tended to focus on the familiar territory of censorship, propaganda and protest. Without wishing to deny the importance of these aspects of popular culture's politics, this article argues for a broader perspective, one that encompasses policy and aesthetics. It suggests not only that the recent interest in both aesthetics and policy is important to the politics of culture, but that the two need to be linked: that political values and arrangements shape aesthetic judgements and that aesthetic values inform policy decisions. This argument is developed through an analysis of recent debates about aesthetic judgement, focusing in particular on the work of Simon Frith.