What is Cultural Capital?

The term ‘cultural capital is used to draw attention to the fact that the new cultural economy

asks us to take account of the economic component in cultural production. The term is not

intended to evoke the meaning of a cultural capital stock held by an individual, who has

acquired a rich set of cultural competencies. Rather, it emphasises the economic context within

which the relations of cultural production are embedded. The term refers to both tangible forms

of value (buildings, artworks etc.) and intangible forms of value (intellectual capital, ideas,

concepts, beliefs etc.). The term speaks to the economic value of cultural creativity but, in equal

measure, it insists that the cultural principles of intergenerational equity (sustainability) and

diversity become fundamental principles governing cultural production, in the context of the

cultural economy.

 The ACT project works at the interface of culture and economy and will seek commercial

support and will involve the private sector in its activities around cultural production. At the

same time, because it is a cultural project, it will advance the principles of independent access,

creativity and cooperative exchange. The Project promotes the idea of a ‘creative ecology’,

which implies a respect for sustainable development in the baseline relationships around

creative production and exchange.