ABSTRACT The Aesthetic Agency of Popular Culture: In the Writings of Pierre Bourdieu and Arthur C. Danto Rebecca L. Farinas, Ph.D. Pierre Bourdieu and Arthur C. Danto are significant interlocutors in the areas of aesthetics and popular culture. This study affirmatively answers a question raised by both writers, that popular culture puts forward a strong enough aesthetic to change elitist views of society, which concern people's disrespect for the importance of commonplace and everyday experiences. Bourdieu approaches the problem by applying sociology to aesthetics, and Danto raises the question through a view of aesthetics based on his philosophy of culture, which he begins to cultivate in his late writings. Each approach is important, in that firstly through looking at culture through sociology we can omit highbrow abstractions of some philosophies, and look evidentially at the dynamics of aesthetic agency. Secondly, thinking about culture philosophically, we can reveal how people's feelings and actions make meaningful and ethically valuable aesthetic representations. Comparing the two perspectives, we find two different views of how contemporary societies change for the better through individual and communal aesthetic actions. It is Danto's theory of culture, however, which answers the question of the agency of popular culture fully, because his theory of the third realm of beauty is constituted through communal values, which grow out of people's relationships as they interact through everyday, commonplace experiences. Bourdieu and Danto's writings converge on many points, and we can notice several similarities and one major difference in their philosophies. The main similarities are; that feelings and perceptions change social conditions through ideas and actions, that popular culture is facilitated by people's common relationships with one another, and that people who contribute to a commonplace ethos of mutual respect and openness re-possess popular culture with agency, in contrast to a weak sense of culture that is controlled by abstracted concepts and elitist judgements. Danto's distinction in aesthetics through value making, is especially important because in our contemporary, interconnected, global world popular culture needs to do more than merely create nationalistic standards and static traditions. For Danto, people develop a more creative and fair world through understanding and acting on their commonality of inner beauty. Inner beauty is an aesthetic spirit of virtues made through our reciprocal participation in our cultural representations, and we use this agency to propagate our belief in each other as unique and caring human beings.

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Planning is important it helps the landowner develop a more thorough understanding of the value of forestland. Formal recognition of the forests many values leads to more informed decision-making regarding land-use. A review of the literature on forest management planning and its relation to landowner behavior and timber harvesting is presented. In 1990 the U.S. Congress recognized the importance of planning by passing the Forest Stewardship Act. A history of the Forest Stewardship Program (FSP) is presented. State-level data is analyzed to describe differences in the level of stewardship planning across states. Case studies of eight states, having either high or low levels of success in encouraging stewardship planning are presented. State forestry officials were interviewed regarding the techniques used, impediments, and success factors observed in implementing their states' FSP. Each states approach to stewardship plan development is described. An econometric model is developed to analyze causal factors that might lead to observed differences across states in the level of forest management planning, as measured by acreage under Forest Stewardship Plans. Factors including landowner characteristics, forest land characteristics, amenity values, and policy and information variables were tested. Results of the regression model found; base level of funding, Stewardship Incentive Program cost-share monies, agricultural property tax rates, number of forestry professionals, and region to be significant in explaining differences in the level of stewardship planning. A qualitative analysis of state case study interviews revealed a number of factors that affected the level of stewardship planning. High performing states: had a history of providing private forest landowner services, had property tax reduction programs that required management plans, provided management planning services free-of-charge, and collaborated successfully with related federal and state agencies, woodland owner and conservation groups. Impediments to achieving high levels of stewardship planning included: lack of a prior history of stewardship planning, a confusing and time consuming administrative process for plan approvals, friction between state service foresters and consulting foresters, lack of a financial incentive for consulting foresters to promote stewardship planning, and a focus on plan quality versus the quantity of acreage brought into planning.

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