a field of practice which argues that there is a critical difference between an art that engages in the politics of representation and the art institutions, and an art that engages in wider political practices. The development of socially engaged art has tended to follow particular patterns: (a) it has focused on communities defined by place; (b) artists have usually been in a strong position relative to the human community or environnment that forms the subject; and (c) it has been assumed that there is a clear distinction between the work of artists, who are able to give voice to disadvantaged communities, and the actions of business which has tended to ignore these voices.