Street-level bureaucracy, a concept developed to describe how front-line professionals implement public policies through discretionary decision-making, remains highly relevant to contemporary policy studies across multiple sectors. The special issue seeks to extend this framework to arts and heritage organizations, an area where street-level bureaucracy has received limited scholarly attention despite growing evidence that cultural professionals operate as street-level bureaucrats navigating policy implementation, resource constraints, and complex social mandates.
The call invites manuscripts examining how arts professionals engage with street-level bureaucracy, particularly focusing on care work dimensions as cultural organizations increasingly participate in social cohesion and vulnerability integration initiatives. Submissions should explore the creative strategies, routines, and coping mechanisms that cultural professionals develop, and analyze how the street-level bureaucracy concept illuminates arts management across varied global contexts.