Once upon a time an earlier left was inspired to dare and dream of different worlds, to use imagination, joy, play, humour and story ... the progressive imagination has much to learn from the world of arts and its cultural pioneers
Editorial
Beginning a new dance
Gerry Hassan
Arts and culture in Britain are blossoming. Gallery attendances have hit new highs. Museums are enjoying new levels of popularity aided by free admissions in England and Wales.
Features
Arts, government and the public
John Holden
The cultural economy
Neil Mulholland
Shortly after taking up his new position of Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Andy Burnham launched the government’s latest ‘strategy for the creative economy’...
Leading us into the twenty-first century
Roanne Dods
Creativity as ideology
James Heartfield
The pitfalls of state patronage
Jan Bowman
Media power in an era of cultural
Brian McNair
A British national culture?
Arthur Aughey
Novelising New Labour
Stuart Kelly
During the 1997 election, the Tory propaganda poster of ‘Demon Eyes’ Tony Blair causedmore mirth than anxiety. It seemed, somehow, inappropriate and desperate; with thesupreme irony being that a decade later, the identification of Blair with dark forces would becommonplace.
Commentary
An NHS for all
Neil Churchill
Gordon Brown may be struggling to convince voters that he has a vision, but during the early months of 2008 the Prime Minister set out a challenging and progressive agenda for the NHS in its 60th anniversary year...
Poverty and class in the US elections
Michael J. Boyle
Reviews
The Other Invisible Hand: Delivering Public Services through Choice and Competition
Catherine Needham
Julian Le Grand is a tireless promoter of choice in public services, doing more than any other academic to popularise and disseminate the arguments in favour of more competitive service provision.