Transcript From the cultural industries to the cultural economy:

New policies for the
new cultural economy
Learning from the UK ‘creative
industries’ policy experience.
Andy C Pratt
Department of Geography &
Environment /
LSE Urban Research Centre
Aims and Objectives
 Examine the changing field of culture and
the cultural/creative industries (CCI)
 Policy ‘out of sync’, the need for a new
rationale
 ‘English’ CCI policy
 Challenges and lessons from the English
experience
The times, they are ‘a changing 1.
 The new economy




Declining manufacturing
Redirection of youth, identity, culture
Knowledge economy
Creative class
 Globalisation




National/regional competition
Clusters
Foreign direct investment
Innovation
The times, they are ‘a changing 2.
 Culture changed (see later : CCI changed)




‘Marketisation’ of culture
Massive growth in consumption
Changing spending patterns
Redrawn divisions of high/low; culture/non-culture
 The state
 Neo-liberal/ small state
 Regulation not investment
 Reduction in spending
 Especially, arts and culture
Cultural policy for ‘old times’
 State protection of the ‘good life’
 Rationale
 Market failure
 Public goods, welfare economics
 Baumol’s cost disease
 Cultural elitism
 ‘corruption of culture by the market/masses’
 Governance
 Cultural cohesion
 Result




State budget (subject to variation, uncertainty, to cuts)
Idiosyncratic selection of what is culture (elite)
Separation from commercial culture (by definition)
Conservative/ not dynamic/ backward looking
English Creative industries Policy 1.
 Devolution: nations and regions
 Historic role of urban authorities in CCI
 Concepts
 Tensions of:




Cultural/creative
Commercial/Non-commercial
Formal/Informal
Production/Consumption
 Breadth and Depth
 “Mapping”
 ‘Evidence based policy’, evaluation
 Output measures
 (what we need) Institutions and Organizations
 Capacity, sustainability, appropriateness
English Creative industries Policy 2.
Investment
Sources: Departments, Regions, Local
authorities, Lottery
Capital and Revenue funding
 Training
 National Endowment for Science Technology and the
Arts (NESTA)
 ‘Arms length bodies’
 Arts Council
 Museums and Libraries
 Film Council
 Crafts Council
 BBC
 Regional development agencies/ Regeneration
 Tensions of instrumental v. dedicated policy
English Creative industries Policy 3.
 Strategic guidance
 Education
 Creative Economy Programme
 British Council
 Trade partners UK
 Department of Trade
 Regulation
 Content
 Ofcom
 Business
 Competition Commission
The times, they are ‘a changing. 3
 Characteristics of the CCI; what we know
now (but need to know more)








Missing middle, informal intermediaries
Ecosystem
Project based companies
Overlapping networks
Winner takes all
Rapid turnover/ innovation/ product cycle
Massive market uncertainty
Content regulation v. Competition regulation
Cultural policies for ‘New times’ 1.
 Commercial v non-commercial boundary
 How to govern it
 New skills and agencies: institution building
 Industries converging and changing
 State agencies lack skills
 a third/ new sector?
 Funding/Support justification
 Old: market failure
 New: Exports, IPR, cultural value...?
 Employment status
 Precarious and freelance labour
 Social welfare issues
Cultural policies for ‘New times’ 2.
 Lack of substantive understanding of the
industry/-ies
 Institutional, regulatory, governance
 Reliance on generic policy
 Role of situated, collective/ social
knowledge




Reputation
Learning and Innovation
Excellence
Market/Audience/Consumer development
Andy C Pratt
[email protected]