Abstract
Introducing this volume, this paper summarises the contents and offers an analysis of the place of creative work in a global economy, focusing in particular on the restructuring of global value chains and the commodification of knowledge in a process which simultaneously opens up the possibility for new creative tasks for some workers whilst deskilling others. It concludes with a discussion of the contradictions that this presents for creative workers who may be offered a choice between disappointing their own creative aspirations or collaborating in their own exploitation.
Highlights
One of the most famous celebrations of the joy of creative work is by William Morris whose utopian 1890 News from Nowhere was set in a future time in which: ‘all work is pleasureable; either because of the hope of gain in honour and wealth with which the work is done, which causes pleasurable habit, as in the case with what you may call mechanical work; and lastly because there is conscious sensuous pleasure in the work itself; it is done, that is, by artists.’(Morris, 1890) This ‘conscious sensuous pleasure in the work itself ’ isn’t limited to artists
Creative workers would appear to be in demand as never before, but their creativity is subject to control and contestation as never before
Across the world, motivated no doubt in part by the ‘cool’ of the new economy and media industries, and the enticing promise of autonomy, self-expression and social prestige, young people in large numbers seek out creative work even when they know that, compared with other kinds of work, it is precarious, competitive and may well involve long hours and poor rewards, and that the odds against achieving individual stardom are overwhelming
Summary
There are few greater pleasures in life than the satisfaction that comes from making something original and beautiful, whether this is a musical performance, a crafted object or the solution to an intellectual puzzle. Like playin’ a piano.’ (ibid:241-2) Perhaps because of some dogged refusal to believe that the long hours spent labouring could be entirely futile, and the amazing human ability to extract meaning and pleasure from any daily experience, there is a sense in which most work can be experienced as creative, at least some of the time. When most people these days speak of creative work, they have a somewhat narrower range of tasks in mind – typically those that involve ‘having ideas’ for new products or processes, adapting existing ones for new purposes or creating content for the mass media. Creative workers would appear to be in demand as never before, but their creativity is subject to control and contestation as never before
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