1. Introduction

The Introduction explains the rationale for a volume, highlighting the need for an interdisciplinary approach to social value and the arts. It describes the benefit of acknowledging the social, political, economic and artistic agendas that charge the cultural sector today. The editors explain the four constituent subsections that make up the volume: Part I Policy, Part II Theory, Part III Practice and Artistic Responses, and Part IV Museum and Institutional Responses. Parts I and II serve to map out the contextual foundations underpinning social value and the arts – both in terms of theory-based reflections and research on recent cultural policy – while Parts III and IV concern the lived experience of artists and arts institutions. Brief summaries of each chapter conclude the Introduction.