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The Scottish dimension of British arts government: a historical perspective

Galloway, S. and Jones, H.D. (2010) The Scottish dimension of British arts government: a historical perspective. Cultural Trends, 19(1-2), pp. 27-40. (doi: 10.1080/09548961003695981)

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Abstract

Whereas most histories of British arts patronage have viewed the tensions between core and periphery in terms of the relationship between the Arts Council of Great Britain (ACGB) and the English regions, this paper examines the relationship between London and Scotland, a country with its own distinctive history of regional arts development. The paper considers how the autonomy of the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) was tested in conflicts involving both ACGB and government for control of Scottish arts policy from the 1940s onwards. Our argument is that, from the establishment of ACGB’s Scottish Committee – SAC’s forerunner – in 1947 until devolution in 1999, Scotland enjoyed considerable autonomy over arts policy, because it was at “double arm’s length” from government. This made it less directly accountable, but it also allowed Scotland the freedom to develop the arts in different ways to the rest of Britain. Devolution ended this “double arm’s length” relationship and the paper argues that the politicisation of the arts combined with the drive for public sector efficiency since then, has taken Scotland along a path of convergence with England, both in models of governance and policy.

Item Type:	Articles
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:	Jones, Dr Huw and Galloway, Ms Susan
Authors:	Galloway, S., and Jones, H.D.
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
College/School:	College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies
Research Group:	Centre for Cultural Policy Research
Journal Name:	Cultural Trends
ISSN:	0954-8963
ISSN (Online):	1469-3690

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Funder and Project Information

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
46613	1	The Scottish Arts Council 1967-2007: Arts governance and national identity. A historical analysis of cultural policy making.	Susan Galloway	Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)	AH/F009887/1	Theatre Film and Television Studies

References

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Deposit and Record Details

ID Code:	32249
Depositing User:	Ms Susan Galloway
Datestamp:	30 Jun 2010 11:55
Last Modified:	20 Oct 2021 08:34
Date of first online publication:	March 2010