Abstract

The article - based on the case of the music education - explores some of the effects of globalization on the institutions for the aesthetic, cultural and artistic reproduction and socialization. Several peculiar features of the institutes for music education in Greece were formed during the long period of its existence, that is in more than 130 years. These become more complicated in the new context created by changes in the broader fields of labor relations and the general education system - changes brought about by globalization. The changes introduced in the institution of general education restrict drastically or exclude almost entirely the advance of the aesthetic and artistic education, precisely during adolescence - a period important for the formation of aesthetic values and artistic culture. This is supported by the findings of an empirical sociological research. This study presents and interprets the data collected during this research with a self-completing questionnaire in conservatories of Northern Greece and with the method of participant observation.

The article argues that the developments discussed favor the education of the recipients of cultural goods as sentimental consumers rather than as critically thinking citizens. This tendency might - in the long run - have an impact on the value systems, the choices and preferences, and on collective attitudes towards the arts and the culture as well.