Summoning the Genius Temporis: The Time and Place for Arts-Based, Creative Policy Making to Further Social Justice

This paper considers how conceptions of time might affect the transformative potential of arts-based and creative approaches to policy making. It draws on a project that employed the arts to tackle place-based health inequalities in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, arguing that conventional understandings of time as linear can be limiting. Space, time, and mattering are explored in relation to social justice through a montage of excerpts of creative and academic outputs, reflective diaries, conversations, and ongoing participatory action research in various underserved communities. The paper concludes that when we stay true to the essence of the creative process, rather than insisting activities lead to contrived outcomes, deep experiential learning unfolds.