Socio-Economic Approaches to the Creative Industries
Four-day doctoral course
Socio-Economic Approaches to the Creative Industries
Tuesday, April 26 through Friday April 29, 2005 (The course has been postponed till after the summer holidays)
Purpose
Creative industries are usually defined in one of two ways. Either, administrators, politicians and researchers talk about the advertising, fashion, film, media, music, publishing, theatre and similar
sectors of creative industries. Or, they focus on the
creative processes that are to be found in almost
all industries – ranging from automobiles to toys, by way of interior design and investment banking.
So far, the concept creative industries has been used as a policy concept by governments, and it is economists and geographers like Richard Caves (
Creative Industries: Contracts Between Art and Commerce, Harvard University Press, 2000) and Richard Florida (
The Rise of the Creative Class, Basic Books, 2002) whose work has had the most impact. But sociologists have also been studying the creative industries for many years under different guises – as art worlds, for example, or culture industries, as well as sector-specific studies – and they have a lot to offer when it comes to understanding the relations between what once were considered the two separate spheres of economy and culture.
The socio-economic approach to the study of creative industries focuses on the social aspects of economic processes. It thus examines markets, hierarchies and networks, as well as social interaction, social processes, organizations and industry institutions. This doctoral course will examine contributions sociologists have made to the study of the creative industries in terms of two main themes: (1) theoretical developments, particularly in the understanding of how humdrum and creative personnel are organized; and (2) the use of fieldwork and ethnography as a method of understanding, analyzing and writing about the organization of creative industries..
The objective of this four-day intensive course is to bring together doctoral students interested in the study of creative industries (ranging from theatre to toy design), from different nationalities, intellectual and methodological traditions, to discuss and share ideas with leading researchers in the field from Europe and the U.S.A. These include:
- Patrik Aspers (Associate Professor, StockholmUniversity)
- Howard Becker (Professor Emeritus)
- Brian Moeran (Professor, CopenhagenBusinessSchool)
- Keith Negus (Professor, GoldsmithsCollege, University of London)
- Lise Skov (Associate Professor, CopenhagenBusinessSchool)
(Please note that minor changes in the names of course teachers may occur.)
During the four-day course, participants will meet with creative industry practitioners to hear and discuss what kinds of challenges they face and how they meet such challenges. In addition, they will be asked to present their own and discuss other participants’ research projects, while also hearing lectures by distinguished scholars and engaging in discussion with them. A field trip to a creative industry site is also being planned.
Target Group
This doctoral course is aimed at doctoral students in management studies, the social sciences, area studies, media and cultural studies, whose research projects relate to the production, representation, distribution and consumption of cultural products. Students must be currently enrolled in a doctoral program and must be formally enrolled in this course.
Course Requirements
Extensive readings, presence for all hours of all days of the class, and active participation in discussion are expected of all enrolled students. (Students who must leave at 4 p.m. for day care are automatically excused from the last hour of the class). A binder will be provided and distributed to each student with the compulsory readings for the seminar. Literature for additional readings may also be suggested.
Credits
5 ECTS
Course Enrolment
Deadline for enrolment is
February 15, 2005. Interested PhD students are requested to fill in a registration form, please follow link at the bottom of this page.
Please sign up with:
Bente S. Ramovic
E-mail:
Direct phone: +45 3815 3208
Enrolment Requirements
When applying for enrolment, students will be asked to provide a short abstract of their research project. This must be submitted with the enrolment form.
Once accepted for the course, participants will be asked to submit by March 15, 2005, a 10-page (3,000 word) paper outlining their project in greater detail and focusing on research problems in their selected field of study. All participants will be expected to read other participants’ papers prior to the start of the course, and must be prepared to discuss them coherently at any time during the four-day seminar.
Participants’ papers will be posted on a website (to be announced) for mutual access.
A compendium of course readings will be sent to all students upon acceptance, or by March 15 at the latest. These must be read prior to the start of the course.
Further information will be forwarded by e-mail upon registration.
Venue
The course will be held either at the CopenhagenBusinessSchool, or at a conference centre within easy reach of the city.
Price
The basic price for a course held at the CopenhagenBusinessSchool is €800. This includes a compendium of readings, a workshop dinner, four days light lunches and refreshments, and a reception, but
not accommodation or transport costs.
If a suitable conference centre outside the CBS is preferred, with three nights’ accommodation and three meals a day provided, the price is likely to be in the region of €1,200. This will, once more, not include transportation costs.
The final choice of venue will be announced shortly and posted on this website.
Course Conveners
Brian Moeran
Lise Skov
Note
Changes and additions to the programme and course content will be posted immediately on this website.