Contemporary Scandinavian LAMs and legitimacy

Currently, organizations in the culture sector are faced with increased pressure to demonstrate the worth of their work to a broad public, and managers of culture organizations need to engage in continuous legitimation work. This chapter contains discussions on a range of issues related to ongoing legitimation work in Scandinavian LAMs. We investigate the role societal missions play in LAM organizations’ public performances of legitimacy, how worth is ascribed to LAM organizations, what role the professionals play in the legitimation of contemporary LAMs, and what role “the national” plays as part of the legitimation of LAMs. Through this analysis, we get to understand key aspects related to the legitimation work of twenty-first-century Scandinavian LAMs.