Premium
The Cultures of Capitalism: Glasgow and the Monopoly of Culture
Author(s) -
Tretter Eliot M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
antipode
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.177
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 1467-8330
pISSN - 0066-4812
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8330.2008.00658.x
Subject(s) - monopoly , economic rent , capitalism , competition (biology) , politics , political culture , capital (architecture) , political economy , economics , sociology , market economy , economy , political science , law , history , ecology , archaeology , biology
While many have recognized since the 1970s the strong relationship between culture and urban renewal, particularly as cities began to use cultural amenities to change their images and lure potential investors, little has been written about how and why cultural assets may be valued investments in their own right. There is at least one notable exception, in the work of David Harvey, and this approach takes as its starting point the importance of the monopoly aspects of culture, particularly for rents, competition and fixed capital. In part, I bring Harvey's theoretical insights on the political economy of culture to bear on the case of Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1980s, and particularly its nomination as the European City of Culture, with particular attention paid to how the economics of culture is related to local politics.