Robert Hewison's 'Cultural Capital' Analyzes British Cultural Policy from 1997 to 2012

In 'Cultural Capital,' Robert Hewison analyzes the evolution of British cultural policy from 1997, the year Tony Blair's New Labour government came to power, to the Conservative–Liberal coalition's oversight of the 2012 London Olympics. The focus is largely on the initial 13 years of New Labour, marked by substantial investments in the arts and a utilitarian approach linking funding to social objectives such as audience engagement and inclusivity. As a historian, Hewison carefully reconstructs policy development through thinktank analyses and governmental records, illustrating how New Labour's 'Cool Britannia' and the Millennium Dome led to a culture viewed as a means for economic and social engineering. This perspective resulted in centralization, micromanagement, and unmet public engagement goals. The book also addresses the austerity measures and political shifts under the coalition government. Hewison challenges the belief that subsidized culture can directly enhance society, asserting that political interference ultimately jeopardizes artistic independence. He advocates for public funding to guide the preservation of cultural resources, raising questions about decision-making in resource allocation. This review first appeared in the January & February 2015 edition of ArtReview.