State of the arts: Cultural policies: Mapping a field in reinvention

This article attempts to describe the state of "cultural policy" at a time of fundamental reinvention. While the digital transition has transformed culture, cultural policies have adapted only slowly to this new reality. Reviewing the main work and studies published in recent years, the article describes this fundamental shift in cultural policy as a result of the digital transition. It also looks at other ongoing changes, from the rise of the cultural industries to cultural diversity, not forgetting the ecological transition. Ultimately, the article observes a broadening of the notion of "cultural policy" and describes its different — and new — components: arts policy, the economy of culture and of course the cultural industries, digital policy and platform regulation; new philanthropy; arts education; algorithmics; creative cities; social networks; cultural start-ups; cultural diplomacy; the creative class; soft power, etc. This widened approach to "cultural policy" contributes to reconsidering the role of public and private actors and the place of artists in a digital society. (January 2020)