The new cultural economy, the artist and the social configuration of autonomy

Abstract

Introduction Many recent commentators have identified the general features of a new economy within capitalism (Leadbetter, 1998; Kelly, 1999; Rifkin, 2000). At the most general level, this new economy can be identified as being increasingly global; increasingly about intangibles such as knowledge, information, images and fantasies; and increasingly decentralised, and characterised by networks and flexibility. Hodgson (1999) identifies changes in working practices and contractual relationships between employers and employees as a key facet of these general economic changes, which he sees as potentially leading to very different economic futures. It is clear that certain aspects of the cultural sector exhibit changed working practices and relations similar to those outlined by Hodgson, and that this new economy differs markedly from many other industrial sectors (Leadbetter, 1998; Leadbetter & Oakley, 1999; Heartfield, 2000; Howkin, 2001; Ellmeier, 2002; Florida, 2002). Within the cultural sector there is already evidence of the emergence of different economic futures, in micro-level zones of autonomy characterised by a work-life nexus, or 'creative ecologies'. The social configuration of such zones of autonomy in civil society is multi-layered, and has significant implications for radical social and economic policy. There are three basic elements to our analysis in this article. First, we explore some of the conceptual and methodological issues raised by the emergence of the new economy. We argue that the new economy gives rise to significant questions regarding the subjective meanings, values and objectives that artists and other creative producers bring to a world in which traditional boundaries between work and life have broken down. We suggest that orthodox economics--with its narrow focus on the motivations of 'economic man', operating in an environment of abstract markets in which social relations are reduced to price signals--is ill-equipped to analyse culturally-embedded economies. We argue that this creates a significant blind-spot in orthodox economics, which in turn leads to a fundamental undervaluation of the contribution made by the new economy's work-life nexus to general economic welfare, the quality of life and social wellbeing. Secondly, we examine the nature and cultural location of the artistic work that often develops within informal creative communities. These social, cultural and economic interactions are exemplars of the transformations in work and social life associated with the new economy. Within these creative communities, there is often a micro-and mezzo-level expression of the radically different, socially- and culturally-embedded forms of economic motivation and exchange. At the micro level, we identify and examine the emergence of a relatively autonomous work-life nexus, which we define as 'creative ecology'. We argue that this, in turn, gives rise to a new socio-economic resource at the mezzo level--namely, a form of social capital which we label the 'cultural commons'. Finally, we reflect on the precarious nature of the spaces for autonomy opened up by the new economy, given the wider structural context in which an orthodox economic rationality is imposed by the social dominance of capital and the imperatives of accumulation. Taking into account Andre Gorz's critical analysis of the contradictory nature of the new economy under capitalism, we foreground the need for a politics of autonomy and macro-level policy interventions--governance for autonomy--to support emerging autonomous micro spaces within artistic communities. 1. The new economy, culture, and the poverty of orthodox economics The transformation of economic relations identified in the literature of the new economy is an analytical starting point. In highlighting the nature of artistic work as an example of expanded work autonomy within this new economic context, recent research that has sought to examine the conceptual limitations of orthodox economics is informative, since it signals ways in which the 'economic' and the 'cultural' can be brought closer together. …