What Is To Be Done? Arts Role In Rebuilding Associational Life

The prolonged adoption of neoliberal economic and political ideologies by recent UK governments has significantly reshaped public life. Embracing free-market capitalism while limiting government intervention, endorsing deregulation, privatisation, and reduced public spending has exposed massive inequalities, stifled economic growth, and contributed to a decline in associational life. Local associations play a crucial role in facilitating participation in civil society. A lack of diverse opportunities to develop social associations (waning of civil society organisations, change in working habits and lifestyles, technology, the pandemic, etc.) leads to a decline in political deliberation, this produces atomsed citizens and ‘the rise of individualistic forms of participation at the expense of collectivist forms of participation’.

Art projects have established their place in city planning through public installations in placemaking and regeneration contexts. Artists working within community and social art projects have explored ways to engage with publics, with outcomes not defined by material outputs, but by the interactive processes that occur between the context, local people, and the artist. Although these strategies integrate art into the social structures of everyday life, critics of neoliberalism argue that the role of art in city development is often used to manage publics and project an image of community cohesion through the involvement of local communities in participatory art projects. Moreover, the act of contributing to an art project can result in superficial participation, replacing meaningful critique with token involvement.

Within a political framework dedicated to advancing capitalism, artists engaged in social art practice must critically explore ways to address its constraints and limitations. However, when artists are constrained by existing institutional structures and unable to propose new social systems, expecting them to drive innovative change may be unrealistic. Additionally, attributing solutions to artists where others have failed may oversimplify the complexities involved.