Fair Play - Art, Performance and Neoliberalism

This book asks what is the quality of participation in contemporary art and performance? Has it been damaged by cultural policies which have 'entrepreneurialized' artists, cut arts funding and cultivated corporate philanthropy? Has it been fortified by crowdfunding, pop-ups and craftsmanship? And how can it help us to understand social welfare?

"At once balanced and uncompromising, Fair Play: Art, Performance and Neoliberalism provides a clear sighted look at the negotiations artists have to make, and the interventions they continue to make, in the neoliberal landscape of contemporary London. It's a bracing read." - Ric Knowles, Professor of Theatre Studies, University of Guelph, Canada

'...we witness another kind of political performance at work on the part of Harvie as a passionate and skilled cultural materialist critic. In Fair Play, Harvie models for scholars, for artists, for activists how we might participate with open eyes, make situated arguments to policymakers, and work with the material specificities of performance to craft more equitable futures.' - Laura Levin, Contemporary Theatre Review

'Because Harvie is driven by the dialectic inherent in this pairing, the book is admirably balanced. It asks readers to weigh the evidence, and to think about how the arts are and are not better off and how we, as humans living in a world made more humane by art, are and are not better off under the status quo. Fair Play ultimately makes a strong yet never depressing case for the 'not,' and Harvie leaves us with real hope that something can be done.' - Kim Solga, Theatre Survey

'[This] book is a vital read for all scholars of contemporary performance, particularly those concerned with socially engaged art and performance.' - Claire Bowler, New Theatre Quarterly

'Fair Play isa bold and confident book, its argument incisive yet hopeful... The rich range of examples that the chapters explore - organized as interrogations of labor, entrepreneurialism, location, and economics - are drawn chiefly from London, but her concerns about the incursions of neoliberal capitalism speak to us all.' - Susan Bennett, Theatre Journal

'The book is engaging and develops fluidly, articulating its theoretical voice, interspersed with artistic examples which both illuminate the points made and provide an opportunity to revisit notable work, exploring their material surroundings and contextualising them in an age of neoliberalism.' - Natalie Lee, The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance

'So having established that Harvie's book, Fair Play: Art, performance and neoliberalism, is a timely intervention, I wish also to stress what an excellent and fair-minded approach she takes to the analyses of her topics.' - Janelle Reinelt, Performance Research

Auteur
Jen Harvie is Professor of Contemporary Theatre and Performance at Queen Mary, University of London, UK. She is co-author of The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance and co-editor of Palgrave Macmillan's series Theatre & .

Contenu
Introduction: Fair Play 1. Labour: Participation, Delegation and Deregulation 2. The 'Artrepreneur': Artists and Entrepreneurialism 3. Space: Exclusion and Engagement 4. Public/Private Capital: Arts Funding Cuts and Mixed Economies Afterword