This book develops the first integrated critical-historical examination of the terms
narratives and assumptions constructing present day notions of participation and value and the
relations between them. Histories of Cultural Participation Values and Governance proposes a
radical re-evaluation of these relationships organized in two inter-related sections on
political discourses of participation and value and on culture and governance. The essays
collected here provide an in-depth historical understanding of the development of definitions
assumptions and beliefs around the nature and value of cultural participation their place in
contemporary cultural governance and exploitation in local socio-economic development
strategies. They also bring a novel perspective to current policy practice and scholarly
debates on the connections between culture place-making and the creative economy. As such the
essays provide vital historical insight that sheds light on contemporary issues of cultural
participation value and governance.
