Documents 

Since the beginning of the millennium, artistic practices have been increasingly used as a response to austerity measures and policies of social exclusion. While social movements are drawing upon creative protest techniques, community organizations are launching arts-based social programs to offer tools to youth for surviving the ubiquitous culture of alienation. Whereas policies within this late capitalist (neoliberal) era tend to promote individuality, many of those resisting market-driven governance advocate for collectivity–that is to say, for acting together to navigate the various challenges and possibilities encountered. Sometimes social movements and artistic social a programs work in tandem toward a...

This article collection is the product of the Culture Has an Impact! seminar that was held in Tampere, Finland in December 2013. This celebration seminar was the high point of a 5-year run of two national social circus projects administrated by Tampere University’s Centre for Practise as Research in Theatre. The seminar was organized partly in collaboration with the Aladdin’s Lamp network of Pirkanmaa region and the Effective Circus project. The Effective Circus project (2011-2014) continued the work started with the national Social Circus
project (2009-2011). Both projects were funded by the European Social Fund (through the North Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, Finland). In these projects we established social circus as a permanent part of the Finnish circus scene and the wellbeing services purchased by municipalities. While the first project focused on finding the good practises in social circus teaching, the second project went a little further. The aim was to prove that there are indeed wellbeing effects that can be reached with social circus. The Culture Has an Impact! seminar served as a platform for the project to both broadcast its results,
and to ignite an international discussion on the future of social circus studies globally. As an immediate result of the seminar, a network for circus researchers, The Global Institute for Circus Studies was formed. This publication can be thought to be the first practical product of this new network, as it showcases the work done by many of the founding members of the network. These articles introduce different social circus projects and evaluations going on around the world, from New Zealand and Canada to Finland, France, Italy, Ireland and even afghanistan. We are proud and happy to present this publication and hope it to be the first of many to come! [editor summary]