Prof. Dr. Anita Kangas is Director of the Unit for Cultural Policy/Politics Studies at the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy in the University of Jyväskylä and Director of the Multidisciplinary PhD School for Cultural Policy in Finland. Previously, she was previously a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Social and Public Policy. Professor Kangas has directed the Programme of Cultural Management in 1991-2000 and M.A. Programme of Cultural Policy from 2000. She has advised PhD students since the establishment of the PhD Programme of Cultural Policy. Prof. Kangas has served as the Vice-chair for the Arts Council of Finland for many years. She has also given consultative advice to a number of Finnish local and regional authorities on cultural policy and cultural planning.

What would be your main advice to the young researchers who plan to pursue a career in the field of cultural policy?

When I started my research work in the field of cultural policy, there were not so many researchers in the world who were concentrating on the questions relevant to this field. Still there were some, and the field seemed to be very multidisciplinary; relevant researches were produced by social scientists, economists, arts and media scientists, and statisticians.  The field of cultural policy research was exploring its own specific features in conceptualization, methodology, analytical tools etc. Ther field started to build up as a multidisciplinary or even interdisciplinary research area.

After all these years, the research field has developed significantly. We have our own scientific journals, which have been ranked among the high qualified scientific journals. We have the world conference on cultural policy research (ICCPR), as well as some regional conferences at least every two years. We have Master’s degree programmes and PhD Schools in cultural policy. We have academic posts in very many universities in the different part of the world, and we have very important networks. We have also self-reflexive analyses and writings, which are critically evaluating and questioning the identity of cultural policy as an academic main subject related to the other multidisciplinary subjects like cultural studies, media studies, cultural economics, arts managements or traditional  subjects like sociology, political science  etc.

What can I say as an advice? As a researcher you have nationally and internationally very interesting research field in the front of you. The field has developed and will still develop through the academic research and education. It is a real multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary research field, which will challenge you to interpretations concerned e.g. the development of societies, the relationships between art and society, between art and individuals, between art and market, between art and new technology.

I know that nowadays, if you will start your research work, there are many possibilities to find supervisors, PhD schools. You have also many possibilities to participate in different exchange programmes between universities, and your research work, your expertise is in great demand by the societies.

What was the worst professional advice which you might have heard throughout your career?

The worst professional advice…Some have told me that as a social scientist I should concentrate more on the much more serious research questions like the functioning of social security systems, or that I should find much more theoretically oriented research ideas than the cultural policy is. However, I could say that cultural policy is a serious research area, and it combines other branches of social, eocnomic and political studies (like artists and social security, cultural policy and public sphere, culural policy and diplomacy/international relattions, cultural policy and identity/etc.).

Who (or what) motivates you the most in your research work?

Many things motivate me: I am working with the brilliant and committed students in research teams, and after the 6th Iinernational Conference on Cultural Policy Research in October 2010, I know even more colleagues now, with whom I and our unit can cooperate and discuss issues related to cultural policy research. These are very important resources.  Then, I have starte d one new research project. It is always very inspiring to start to make new plans concerning research design, to read earlier researches, to concentrate on defining your concepts, research questions; data etc. and implement your research.

Could you share with the young researchers a concrete achievement or a failure throughout your career?

I could write some of the concrete results of my researches, but perhaps it is more useful here to be express my joy about that we managed to construct the PhD School of multidisciplinary cultural policy research in 2009. In the school we have very many supervisors from both Finland and abroad.  The school makes possible many interactive and internationally inspiring activities in the future. The school is multidisciplinary with following themes: (1) cultural economy; (2) authorship and agency; (3) multiculturalism and cultural participation; (4) cultural policy and decision making; (5) contracts and property rights; (6) geography of cultural policy and cultural diversity.

Naturally and concerning all researchers, one very concrete failure is that your research application might not be accepted for funding.

What still keeps you in the cultural research field?

Why did you write “still”?  I think that, because I am a professor who is responsible for the master’s degree programme and the PhD School, it is the most important for me to deal with research work. How could I develop my teachings or guarantee the quality of the programmes, if I and my colleagues would not work with their researches actively? So, for me it is a necessity, an inspiration, and a lifestyle.

What are you working on now, what’s next?

I am starting, together with my colleagues, to renew the requirements of our degree programmes of Cultural Policy,  and make a detailed schedule for the PhD Programme for the academic year 2010-2011.  My research work concerns two topics at themoment I start to sharpen a research plan concerning the new paradigms and restructuring of the local cultural policy. I also continue my writings under the topic ‘cultural sustainability and cultural policy.’