Persistent Creativity: Making the Case for Art, Culture and the Creative Industries (Sociology of the Arts)

"Campbell offers a forensic critique of the rise of creativity as central to economic and urban policy discourses in the UK over recent decades. Persistent Creativity is essential reading for anyone interested in the past and the future of the arts, culture and creativity, and how these can be used as the basis of urban policy."--Susan Luckman, School of Creative Industries, University of South Australia, Australia "In this punctiliously researched and incisive narrative, Campbell delves into the depths of the 'Creativity Agenda'. Taking to task a variety of policy documents, statistics and literature, Persistent Creativity offers a unique contribution, questioning 'what exactly is meant by the term creativity?'" - Oli Mould, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK "Campbell's book offers a lucid and balanced account of creative industries policy, fundamental to scholars and policymakers alike." - Kate Oakley, University of Glasgow, UK Recent years have seen the increasing valuation and promotion of 'creativity'. Future success, we are often assured, will rest on the creativity of our endeavours, often aligned specifically with 'cultural' activity. This book considers the emergence and persistence of this pattern, particularly with regards to cultural policy, and examines the methods and evidence deployed to make the case for art, culture and the creative industries. The origins of current practices are considered, as is the gradual accretion of a broad range of meanings around the term 'creative', and the implications this has for the success of the wider 'Creativity Agenda'. The specific experience of the city of Liverpool in adopting and furthering this agenda both in the UK and beyond is considered, as is the persistence of a range of problematic, and often contradictory, assumptions and practices relating to this agenda up to the present day.-- Provided by publisher Preface 8 Contents 11 List of Figures 12 1 Introduction: ‘Persistent Creativity’? 14 References 20 2 Presages of Persistent Creativity 21 Before Creativity 22 Creativity: Persistent Forever? 23 Cultural Policy and Its Justifications 24 Evidence, Numbers and Culture 27 Economic Value and Neoliberal Ideology 30 A ‘New’ Economy 35 Art for Economic and Social ‘Regeneration’ 41 Conclusion 44 References 46 3 The Creativity Agenda(s) 51 The Rise and Rise of the Creativity Agenda 52 A Global Agenda 55 The Many Meanings of Creativity 58 Creative Industries 61 The ‘Culture Industry’ 63 ‘Cultural Industries’ 66 ‘Creative Industries’ 69 The Overlap of Culture and Creativity 71 The Creative Economy 74 A Creative Class 75 Creative Innovation and Entrepreneurship 81 The Creative City 84 Conclusion 87 References 89 4 Making the Case for Art and Culture: Persistent Challenges 97 The Quest for Evidence and the Rise of Regeneration: A Brief History 98 The Quest for Evidence Continues 101 Considering Recent Evidence for ‘Regeneration’ 105 Persistent Challenges 107 Short-Term Data Will Not Establish Long-Term Outcomes 108 Limited Resources 110 A Lack of Clarity on the Terms of Research 113 An Over-Emphasis on the Economic 118 The Distinction Between Economic, Cultural and Social Outcomes 122 Round and Round in Circles? 125 Conclusion 129 References 130 5 The Persistent Case for the Creative Industries 139 Stage One: The Creative Industries Are Shown to Be Economically Important (1998–2011) 140 Aligning Data with Culture 144 Setting Definitional Boundaries 145 Considering Creative Industries Statistics in Detail—The DCMS 13 149 Data Sources: SIC Codes, SOC Codes, the ABI and the LFS 151 Data from the 2009 Creative Industries Economic Estimates 155 The Emergence of the Software Problem 159 Stage Two: Changing Definitions (2011–2014) 167 Repairing the Creative Industries Statistics 170 Stage Three: The Persistent Economic Success of Creativity (2014–?) 175 Does Software Become More Prominent in Discussions of Creativity? 177 The Separation Out of Culture? 180 Conclusion 184 References 187 6 Liverpool: A Case Study in Persistent Creativity 195 Liverpool Before Capital of Culture 196 The European Capital of Culture 201 Liverpool’s Successful Bid to Become European Capital of Culture 205 Evidence of Success 214 Continuing Creativity in Liverpool and Beyond 219 A Sustainable Narrative? 226 Conclusion 234 References 236 7 Clarifying the Creativity Agenda: More Persistent Challenges 246 Persistence Through Opacity? 247 What Is Now Creative About Creativity? 249 The Contradictions of Creativity 252 Replicable Exceptionality? 257 The Closure of Creativity 270 How Far Can Creativity Reach? 274 Conclusion 276 References 277 8 Epilogue: Ever Decreasing Circles? 285 References 292 Index 295 "Campbell offers a forensic critique of the rise of creativity as central to economic and urban policy discourses in the UK over recent decades. Persistent Creativity is essential reading for anyone interested in the past and the future of the arts, culture and creativity, and how these can be used as the basis of urban policy." - Susan Luckman, School of Creative Industries, University of South Australia, Australia "In this punctiliously researched and incisive narrative, Campbell delves into the depths of the 'Creativity Agenda'. Taking to task a variety of policy documents, statistics and literature, Persistent Creativity offers a unique contribution, questioning 'what exactly is meant by the term creativity?'" - Oli Mould, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK "Campbell's book offers a lucid and balanced account of creative industries policy, fundamental to scholars and policymakers alike." - Kate Oakley, University of Glasgow, UK Recent years have seen the increasing valuation and promotion of 'creativity'. Future success, we are often assured, will rest on the creativity of our endeavours, often aligned specifically with 'cultural' activity. This book considers the emergence and persistence of this pattern, particularly with regards to cultural policy, and examines the methods and evidence deployed to make the case for art, culture and the creative industries. The origins of current practices are considered, as is the gradual accretion of a broad range of meanings around the term 'creative', and the implications this has for the success of the wider 'Creativity Agenda'. The specific experience of the city of Liverpool in adopting and furthering this agenda both in the UK and beyond is considered, as is the persistence of a range of problematic, and often contradictory, assumptions and practices relating to this agenda up to the present day Front Matter ....Pages i-xvi Introduction: ‘Persistent Creativity’? (Peter Campbell)....Pages 1-7 Presages of Persistent Creativity (Peter Campbell)....Pages 9-38 The Creativity Agenda(s) (Peter Campbell)....Pages 39-84 Making the Case for Art and Culture: Persistent Challenges (Peter Campbell)....Pages 85-126 The Persistent Case for the Creative Industries (Peter Campbell)....Pages 127-182 Liverpool: A Case Study in Persistent Creativity (Peter Campbell)....Pages 183-233 Clarifying the Creativity Agenda: More Persistent Challenges (Peter Campbell)....Pages 235-273 Epilogue: Ever Decreasing Circles? (Peter Campbell)....Pages 275-284 Back Matter ....Pages 285-290