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The Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change at the Open University and the University of Manchester is not only the most significant such project in Britain – it’s almost certainly the largest in the world.
 
The centre, known as CRESC and initially funded for five years, is the first major research centre in Britain to develop a broad, empirically focused account of cultural change and its economic, social and political implications.

“It’s significant because it is so wide-ranging, bringing together so many disciplines,” said centre director and OU professor Tony Bennett. “It covers disciplines including accounting, business, census and survey statistics, geography, history,  cultural and media studies, the history of science, technology and medicine, social anthropology and sociology.”

The centre, a £3.7 million, Economic and Social Research Council-funded partnership with the University of Manchester, was launched in January 2005 by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

CRESC research focuses on four main themes: cultural economy; transformations in media, culture and economy; culture, governance and citizenship; and cultural values and politics.

“We want our findings to shape academic research and be drawn upon by users of cultural research,” said Professor Bennett. “At the broadest level our programme will seek to overcome current barriers between academic disciplines and between academics and users.”

The Centre can already boast a number of achievements. Its research findings regularly appear in such high-profile journals as The British Journal of Sociology, Sociological Review, Cultural Studies, and Cultural Trends. And in January 2006 CRESC published its first book –Financialization and Strategy, which analysed the impact of shareholder value on US and UK giant firm strategy.  The Centre’s workshops have brought together respected international researchers and put it at the cutting edge of debate. This was amply demonstrated at its September 2006 conference on Media Change and Social Theory, which attracted more than 250 delegates to St Hugh’s College, Oxford.

For more details on the centre and its projects visit www.cresc.ac.uk