Dedicated to the investigation of hypotheses, original associations, and forward-looking research in established fields as well as more experimental areas, the collection “Culture prospective” is open to research developed by the Department of Surveys, Forecasts, and Statistics (DEPS) of the French Ministry of Culture, but also to outside works (research, theses, etc.) to generate debate and exchanges within the scientific community.

The Department of Surveys, Forecasts, and Statistics (DEPS) was founded in 1963 by Augustin Girard, making it one of the first research, planning, and statistics services for culture and communications in Europe.

Since then, this department has continued to conduct socioeconomic research on culture and to develop expertise in cultural statistics, working closely with the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (Institut national de la statistique et des études – INSEE), and also with Eurostat and UNESCO.

The DEPS is proud of its current achievement in increasing these types of services, in launching working groups on cultural issues with the European Commission, and particularly of the way it has improved statistical knowledge of the cultural sphere. The DEPS is committed to supporting these achievements on an ongoing basis as part of the initiative to establish a common database of consistent and comparable information at both the European and international level, which will prove an invaluable tool in national cultural policymaking.

These studies are international in scope, and as such, language can prove a barrier to the sharing of knowledge and theoretical and conceptual tools. The DEPS is therefore pleased to now offer English translations of select sociological and economic studies, covering such issues as cultural practice and computer usage, now a major area of cultural practice in France and throughout the rest of the world. Beyond our objective to share this research and analysis, we also ultimately aim to work collaboratively to extend scientific thinking and the debate on available options and methodological approaches.