Theoretical models of the social organization of arts have all tried to answer one central question, how do contemporary societies organize various artistic activities from production to distribution to consumption? Putting the focus on “how” implies references to formation and institutionalization but also to transformation and unforeseen and unintended ruptures.
The presentation attempts to show how the social organization of arts is closely connected to social theories. Theories to be considered as explanatory for the social organization of the arts are seven sociological perspectives. Broader theories are (a) the interactionist theory of art worlds, (b) the structural field theory, and (c) the systems theory of arts. Narrower middle-range theories are (a) the production of culture perspective, (b) neo-institutionalist theory, (c) cultural institution studies, and (d) sociological network theory. What do these theories have in common, where do they deviate from each other? Our approach departs from an anti-essentialist understanding of arts and applies contextual and relational thinking. As the above listing of theories proves, our theoretical compendium has emerged from very different theoretical foundations and scholarly contexts, which makes it so versatile. Our comparison will not be evaluative – creating a ranking of theories – but epistemological, which presupposes an appreciation of each distinct perspective aiming to advance the understanding of theory building and theoretical innovation in arts sociology.