Abstract
Creative Work beyond the Creative Industries explores a relatively under-examined phenomenon: the extent to which creative workers practise in sectors other than the creative industries. From a mostly, although not exclusively, Australian perspective, it highlights how the majority of academics exploring ‘creative work’ tend to focus on analysis of cultural production in the creative industries, and argues that this omits large numbers of ‘creative workers’ in other sectors. Throughout the book creative industries rhetoric and the work of key players in its rise to prominence as a discipline and policy influencer are questioned, including problematic categorizations of work and use of statistics. However, discussions throughout the book also rely heavily on statistics which point to there being more ‘creative workers’ outside the creative industries than within them. Curiously, given the argument, this notion of ‘creative work’ is barely questioned; for example, there is little analysis of the often nebulous concept of ‘creativity’ and how this is measured. That being said, the book includes many useful and informed discussions. An Australian perspective is a welcome addition since Australian Labour Party policy makers had been utilizing the term ‘creative industries’ from the early 1990s, arguably before it became a popularized and politicized term in the UK and globally. Furthermore, development of policy around the creative industries has had many similar characteristics in Australia, Canada and the UK (as well as the USA to a large extent), for example the use of arm’s length principles, intensifications in accountability, instrumentality and use of the arts to promote social change, regeneration and tourism. This book adds to the body of work which continues to contextualize and problematize creative industries rhetoric and raises pertinent questions for anyone interested in academic scrutiny of creative labour, precarity debates, creative services, creative learning and employment related to the creative industries.
The book is divided into three thematic sections. The first, ‘Foundational issues’, analyses the ongoing impacts of creative labour discourses, reiterating the importance of investigating conditions for workers. Cunningham analyses ‘precarity’ debates and the turn away from the overly positive writings of those such as Florida, Leadbeater and Howkins. Potts and Shehadeh continue this unpicking of precarious employment in the creative labour market, using household income data to question whether ‘creative workers’ fare better than others. Swan and Hearn focus on conditions for ‘creative workers’, using case studies from manufacturing, education and mining, which point to complexities involved in integrating ‘creative elements’ into products and services. Finally, Freeman discusses the importance of creative labour to the creative economy, focusing on London’s creative industries policy and specifically examining what the turn to ‘creative intensity’ measures and the impact of this.
The second section, ‘Case studies of embedded creative employment’, deals with key themes around attempts to understand creative work across industry sectors. This includes analysis of the influences and contributions made by creative work, the skills base needed and subjective experiences for these workers. Pagan and Rodgers use the 2008 Getting Creative in Healthcare report as a point of departure, analysing recent contributions, developments and growth of creative work within Australian healthcare. Rodgers then analyses the contributions of ‘creative workers’ in manufacturing and their subjective experiences of feeling undervalued. In the following chapter Goldsmith explores the identities, locations and growth of ‘digital creative workers’. Australian Census data are used to compare growth in digital creative services and cultural production with other sectors. Next Goldsmith looks specifically at ‘digital creative workers’ in the financial sector, and the effects that the rise in need for intuitive, highly visual interfaces and banking apps for mobile devices has had upon their work. Lastly, Bennet et al. utilize results of an Australian survey of ‘creatives’ to present the multifarious nature of life for the ‘creative worker’. The importance of self-managing a cross-sector portfolio career, identifying as a ‘creative’ and constructing personal meaning from different kinds of working to understanding ‘creative work’ is discussed.
Chapters in the third section, ‘Education, learning and careers’, analyse the connections between learning, aspiration and education and ‘creative work’. Hearn, Rodrigues and Bridgstock scrutinize creative learning outside of formal education, asserting that it is important both for individuals and for team problem solving across a range of sectors. Following this, Podkalicka examines how creative learning may benefit marginalized young people, arguing that the Youthworx Media project in Melbourne has empowered young people by raising aspirations to pursue further education and work. Zelenko and Bridgstock present a discussion around work-integrated learning; including reflections from students encouraged to shape their own specialist work identities through design- influenced teaching methods. Lastly, Bridgstock and Cunningham present results from a longitudinal study of journalism, media and communication studies graduate pathways, engaging with discussions around issues of ‘precarity’ in creative labour and suggesting ways in which higher education courses can prepare graduates for a range of destinations both in the creative industries and other sectors.
The book is informed by relevant theory, policy and empirical work and raises some interesting questions, and will be highly useful for a range of academic disciplines. It also paves the way for further research around how ‘creative work’ is defined, across different sectors.