Core Themes
The nature and organisation of cultural production
A key cross-cutting theme concerns the nature and organisation of cultural production. This is the focus of considerable research in the Centre and takes several distinct forms. Pratt’s work is focused upon space, organisational forms within the cultural and creative industries and (distinctive) types of employment such as project-based working and freelancing. Wilson’s work is also concerned with cultural production and makes a distinctive contribution by re-conceptualising creativity, exploring the nature and practices of aesthetic learning, social creativity and co-creation. Substantively his work is concerned with the early music movement. Gill’s work takes as its focus the nature and experience of cultural creative work, with particular interests in precariousness, affective and aesthetic labour and changing modalities of power such as the move to techniques of self-management within ‘creative’ jobs.
This body of work on the nature and organisation of cultural production in the cultural industries is further expanded by Adams’ research on subcultural production (e.g. women DJs), Cohen's research into the booking and accounting records of bandleader Duke Ellington and the general financial practices of the music and film industries, and by Lee’s analysis of fans as cultural producers. In this way, CMCI research extends far beyond traditional production studies with their exclusive focus upon large-scale organisations such as the BBC, to explore creative production across a range of different levels.