A holistic approach to valuing culture in seven domains

Debates about the value of culture are ancient and apply equally to culture expressed as ‘tangible’ heritage assets, and to ‘intangible’ cultural activities. The notion of culture as an economic force has dominated Western public discourse, policy making and cultural practice, yet research from around the globe has consistently identified ‘non-monetisable value’ in cultural activities. Research exploring the many examples of the non-economic values of culture has tended to dig selectively into each identified source of the value of culture without seeking to link them into a holistic framework for appraising multiple values inherent in culture. This paper reports on a thematic analysis of a disparate body of available literature investigating the benefits of cultural activity. Adopting a broad and high-level definition of culture, it identifies seven domains of value: aesthetic, educational, financial, personal, socio-cultural, technical and well-being. It finds that these domains are not silos and prefers an ecological model of the values of culture.