Date: Wednesday 25 November 2015
Time: 6.30-8pm
Venue: Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Professor Philip Schlesinger
Respondents: Professor Angela McRobbie, Professor Jonothan Neelands
Chair: Professor Robin Mansell

The discourse of the creative economy is everywhere. First developed by the British New Labour government in the late 1990s, it has influenced a global way of thinking about the relations between culture and the economy. The lecture will address its rise and diffusion and the role of political entrepreneurship in the continuous reworking and dissemination of an orthodox mode of thought, illustrated by examples from the UK, EU and UN. What are the appeals of the creative economy? Why have counter-arguments been so ineffective? What are the consequences for how we understand cultural work?

The lecture is informed by Philip Schlesinger's first-hand research into how cultural bodies work, published in two new co-authored books. Drawing on interviews with key players, The Rise and Fall of the UK Film Council analyses the shifting politics of support for the British film industry in a transnational market dominated by the US. Curators of Cultural Enterprise is an ethnographic analysis of a key cultural business support agency, that portrays how UK creative economy policy operates in devolved Scotland. Both studies raise questions about the rationality of public policy.

Angela McRobbie’s response will draw upon work related to her book Be Creative: Making a Living in the New Culture Industries which charts the ‘euphoric’ moment of the new creative economy, as it rose to prominence in the UK during the Blair years, and considers it from the perspective of contemporary experience of economic austerity and uncertainty about work and employment.

Philip Schlesinger (@PRSchlesinger1) is Professor in Cultural Policy in the Centre for Cultural Policy Research/CREATe at the University of Glasgow and Visiting Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE.

Angela McRobbie (@angelamcrobbie) is Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Jonothan Neelands is Professor of Creative Education at Warwick Business School and Research Project Director of the Creative Industries Federation.

Robin Mansell (@REMVAN) is Deputy Director and Provost and Professor of New Media and the Internet.

Read Philip Schlesinger’s blog post on the Media Policy Project blog following on from this lecture here. Professor Schlesinger also released a 2016 article incorporating elements of this lecture in the journal Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.

The Department of Media and Communications (@MediaLSE) undertakes outstanding and innovative research and provides excellent research-based graduate programmes for the study of media and communications. The Department was established in 2003 and in 2014 our research was ranked number 1 in the most recent UK research evaluation, with 91% of research outputs ranked world-leading or internationally excellent.

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSEcreative

This event is free and open to all with no ticket or pre-registration required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For any queries see LSE Events FAQ or contact us at events@lse.ac.uk or 0207 955 6043.

Storify

View a summary of this event in tweets via Storify, The Creative Economy: invention of a global orthodoxy.

Transcript

A copy of Professor Philip Schlesinger's speech is available to download. Download 'The Creative Economy: invention of a global orthodoxy' (pdf).

Slides

A copy of Professor Philip Schlesinger's powerpoint presentation is available to download. Download The Creative Economy: invention of a global orthodoxy (pdf).

Podcast & Video

A podcast and video of this event is available to download from The Creative Economy: invention of a global orthodoxy

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

Twitter and Facebook

You can get immediate notification on the availability of an event podcast by following LSE public lectures and events on Twitter, which will also inform you about the posting of transcripts and videos, the announcement of new events and other important event updates. Event updates and other information about what's happening at LSE can be found on the LSE's Facebook page.

CPD

This event has been certified for CPD purposes by the CPD Certification Service. Self-Assessment Record forms will be made available for delegates wishing to record further learning and knowledge enhancement for Continuing Personal and Professional Development (CPD) purposes. For delegates who wish to obtain a CPD Certificate of Attendance, it is the responsibility of delegates to register their details with a LSE steward at the end of the event and as of 1 September 2014 a certificate will be sent within 28 days of the date of the event attended by the CPD Certification Service. If a delegate fails to register their details at the event, it will not prove possible to issue a certificate. (For queries relating to CPD Certificates of attendance after a request please phone 0208 840 4383 or email info@cpduk.co.uk).