
How to Study Art Worlds
On the Societal Functioning of Aesthetic Values
Hans van Maanen(Author)
Amsterdam University Press
Published on 29. September 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-90-8964-152-6 (ISBN)
Description
This necessary and thought-provoking study brings together the organisational side of the world of the arts and the understanding of the many functions art fulfi lls in our culture. The author sets out to establish how the organisation of art worlds serves the functioning of the arts in society. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which presents a comparative study of approaches to the art world as practiced by Dickie, Becker, Bourdieu, Heinich, and Luhmann, among others. The second part focuses on the philosphical debates concerning 'aesthetic experience'. Besides Kant, scholars such as Gadamer, Foster, Shustermann, Schaeffer and Carroll come to the fore. In the third part, the author traces the consequences of these theoretical approaches for the organization of art world practices.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Academic
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
477 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-8964-152-6 (9789089641526)
DOI
10.5117/9789089641526
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2025
Routledge
€61.99
Available for download

E-Book
10/2025
Routledge
€61.99
Available for download
Person
Hans van Maanen is professor of art and society at the University of Groningen and member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Cultural Policy.
Content
Table of Contents - 7 Introduction - 9 1. The Institutional Th eory of George Dickie - 19 2. The Institutionalist Pragmatism of Howard S. Becker and Paul Dimaggio - 33 3. Pierre Bourdieu's Grand Th eory of the Artistic Field - 55 4. From Theory to the Methodology of Singularity: Bruno Latour and Nathalie Heinich - 85 5. Niklas Luhmann's System of Artistic Communications - 107 6. How Art Worlds Help the Arts to Function - 127 7. What Philosophers Say that the Arts Do - 151 8. Foundations for the Functioning of Art Systems - 209 9. How Distribution Conditions the Functioning of Art - 243 10. How Aesthetic Values Become Contextualized - 277 Epilogue: For a Second Life of Artistic Experiences - 293 References - 297 Index - 305