Anthony Schrag

The Incoherence of Doing Good: Ethical Entanglements of Socially Engaged Arts

It is clear that cultural activities with communities aim to ‘do good’ and make the world a better place: but - is it the purpose of art to make the world ‘better’? If so, who decides upon the criteria for ‘goodness’? As the public domain becomes more diverse, but also more divisive, there can be no single agreed upon definition of ‘goodness’ and no single set of morals….how, then, can art make the world better? More importantly: can art actually make the world a better place? Or does this agenda become a weak bandage over a large wound, and avoids real and significant socio-political issues? How can artists make sure they are not just making the problems worse?

For the Arts in Action symposium, Schrag proposes to present some key insights from the recent publication Socially Engaged Art and Ethics: Power, Politics and Participation, including some provocations from contributors which challenge both underlying ethical assumptions about this work, but also the ways in which they occur. The aim is to complicate and challenge the assumptions of an ethical coherence within pluralistic contexts. He hopes to invite conversation and reflection about the way in which we consider the ‘ethics’ of socially engaged arts.

Dr Anthony Schrag (UK) is a practising artist and researcher, and Reader at Queen Margaret’s University (Edinburgh). The central focus of his work examines the role of art in participatory and public contexts, with a specific focus on social conflict, agonism and ethics. His PhD and research examines the notion of ‘Pro-Social Conflict’ within participatory and social-practice projects. Recent publications include Socially Engaged Art and Ethics: Power, Politics and Participation (2025) and The Failures of Public Art and Participation (co-edited with Cameron Cartiere) (2022). He is a member of the Young Academy Scotland, and has developed local, national and international projects, and has been the recipient of numerous grants. As an artist, he has worked nationally and internationally, including residencies in Iceland, USA, Canada, Pakistan, Finland, The Netherlands and South Africa, among others.