Instrumental death of a reductionist

The terms “instrumental” and “instrumentalism” have been coined by writers in the cultural sector to describe the value and impact of cultural experiences that relate to areas such as educational achievement, economic regeneration, and health and well-being. Such terms have been adopted as part of a reductionist construct that seeks to tease out and classify the differing impacts of cultural experiences. The adoption of such a classification risks signalling that on the one hand, culture cannot make a major contribution to mainstream agendas such as health and education, whereas on the other hand, it almost suggests that if cultural experiences do contribute to personal, community or societal development, then this is incidental and therefore not the true role of culture and cultural activity. The author argues that the adoption of the term “instrumental”, and its application in this context, is not only meaningless, but also unhelpful and potentially damaging to the cause of the cultural sector.