Deconstructing the concept of 'Creative Industries'

Galloway, S. and Dunlop, S. (2006) Deconstructing the concept of 'Creative Industries'. Cultural Industries: The British Experience in International Perspective, pp. 33-52.

[img] Text
5243.pdf

258kB

Publisher's URL: http://edoc.hu-berlin.de.

Abstract

‘Creative industries’ and ‘cultural industries’ are terms that tend to be used interchangeably by UK policymakers. However their meanings and uses are in fact very different. In this paper we will be exploring the differences between the two and arguing that, despite how influential it has become, the creative industries definition adopted by the British government is ill conceived in relation to culture. First, it confuses or conflates culture and creativity, two quite different concepts. This is partly because of terminological confusion about the word culture, which we will look at later in more detail. Second, we argue that the UK creative industries definition is wedded to notions of the knowledge economy, within which culture is valued primarily for its economic contribution. The result is a creative industries definition that fails to take account of the importance and distinctiveness of culture – in policy terms the creative arts have been subsumed within a concept which, as we shall show, has no cultural content at all.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:ISBN: 9783860042038
Keywords:'creative industries' 'cultural industries' economics culture
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Galloway, Ms Susan
Authors: Galloway, S., and Dunlop, S.
Subjects:H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies
Journal Name:Cultural Industries: The British Experience in International Perspective
Publisher:Centre for British Studies. Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2006 The Authors
First Published:First published in Cultural Industries: The British Experience in International Perspective: 33-52
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record