»Kirchberg and Zembylas have produced timely and insightful intervention into the sociology of arts. By revisiting and reinterpreting established theoretical traditions, they reassert the importance of the social organization of the arts as a foundational concern for the field. Their compendium offers both a solid pedagogical framework and a critical mapping of key theoretical debates.«

»I recommend the book to those of you interested in sociological theory and its application to the arts world.«

»Kirchberg und Zembylas haben ein längst überfälliges Kompendium geschrieben, das für die Beforschung der Organisation von Kunst und Kultur sehr hilfreich ist. Ihr Kompendium bietet nicht nur der Soziologie der Kunst, sondern auch dem Kulturmanagement eine wertvolle Grundlage. Erstmals werden zentrale theoretische Perspektiven umfassend und aufschlussreich dargestellt und ermöglichen auf diese Weise die sonst so heterogenen Forschungen zu Kunst und Kultur einzuordnen.«

»With its rigorous analysis and multidisciplinary perspective, this book serves as a cornerstone in the fields of cultural sociology, art history and arts management. Its relevance extends beyond academic pursuits, making it an indispensable addition to a personal library of anyone who is deeply invested in understanding the social structures and dynamics that shape the world of art.«

»This important book on the social organisation of the arts provides an engaging tour through key theoretical perspectives and is packed with insights that will shape scholarship. The combination of arts sociology, arts-focused organisational studies, and social theory, looked at with an interdisciplinary lens, is unique, making a major contribution to the field.«

»Sociological research on the arts has generated a wealth of descriptive findings over the past several decades as well as some powerful theoretical insights, without much focus on either cumulation or synthesis. The current volume is a welcome intervention, providing a panoptically comprehensive overview of this field with admirable clarity and astute critical judgment.«

»This well-written and fascinating book of the social organisation of arts is a must-read for scholars, practitioners and students. It's not only suitable for sociologists, but also for arts managers, art historians and beyond, I couldn't put it down. This book sets a benchmark for research to come in the context of the arts, its organisations and the networks that sustain relationships.«

»›The Social Organization of Arts‹ assembles and explains the three most influential theoretical constructs for the study of art worlds, fields or systems. It also covers the dominating approaches for understanding what it is that is actually produced, distributed and consumed in music, literature, the visual and the performing arts. There exists hardly a more concise, up-to-date treatment of this expanding field of research.«

»A welcome addition to the literature on an important area: the social organization of arts. Based on a knowledgeable discussion of renowned theories, this compendium discusses conceptual tools useful to build-up meaningful empirical research while being sensitive to the complex, flexible, contingent and unpredictable dynamics of artistic organizations.«

»›The Social Organization of Arts‹ masterfully displays both the centrality of the arts to society and sociological theorizing, as well as the centrality of sociological theory to understanding the production and organisation of the arts and their impact on society. Whether one looks at the arts from a societal perspective or society from the perspective of the arts, this book is an essential guide.«

»This extremely accessible and well-structured book not only makes an important contribution to the communication of fundamental approaches in the sociology of art, but also serves as a fascinating source of inspiration for the application and further development of theories.« (translated from German)

»Kirchberg and Zembylas have written a long-overdue compendium that is extremely useful for research into the organisation of art and culture. Their compendium provides a valuable foundation not only for the sociology of art but also for cultural management. For the first time, key theoretical perspectives are presented comprehensively and insightfully, thereby enabling the otherwise highly diverse body of research on art and culture to be contextualised.« (Translated from German)

Volker Kirchberg is a professor for sociology of the arts at Leuphana Universität Lüneburg in Germany. His research fields are sociology of arts and culture, organizational arts sociology, studies of museums and society, and urban sociology. He has been section head and board member of the international sociological research networks of the European Sociological Association and of the International Sociological Association, as well as of the Association of Cultural Management Studies (of the German-speaking countries). His recent research interests lie in the interfaces of arts & culture, cities, and cultural sustainability.
Tasos Zembylas has been professor for cultural institutions studies at Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien since 2003. He is member of the Advisory Board of the Research Network Sociology of Arts (European Sociological Association) and founding member of the Research Network on Implicit Knowledge (Forschungsnetzwerk Implizites Wissen). His research specializations include the sociology of artistic practices, public cultural policies, and the institutional analysis of arts.

Preface
Chapter 1 | Introduction

PART I
Chapter 2 | Art Worlds as Collectives
Chapter 3 | Fields of Cultural Production
Chapter 4 | The Organization of Art as a Social System
Chapter 5 | A Comparative Discussion of the Theories of Becker, Bourdieu and Luhmann

PART II
Chapter 6 | The Production of Culture Perspective
Chapter 7 | Sociological Neo-Institutionalism: Organization of Arts as a Social Construction
Chapter 8 | Cultural Institutions Studies
Chapter 9 | Comparing the Production of Culture Perspective, the Sociological Neo-Institutionalism and the Cultural Institutions Studies
Chapter 10 | Networking the Arts – Going Beyond the Discussed Theories

APPENDIX
References
List of Figures
Name Index
Subject Index