Posts Tagged ‘ cultural entrepreneur ’

What can the field of entrepreneurship learn from studying cultural entrepreneurship?

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This is one of the questions being asked in a special issue of entitled Cultural Entrepreneurship for the International Journal of Entrepreneurship Venturing.

I am preparing an article for this special issue in which I shall focus on the following themes:

o    How does research on artistic identities and creative work practices inform our knowledge on cultural entrepreneurship?

o    How are cultural entrepreneurs enabled (or hindered) by their professional self-concept and routine work practices?

I aim to explore these themes by revealing insights into the lived experience of cultural entrepreneurship; the worker’s identities and personal agency within a specific context. Continue reading →

2014
12/12
CATEGORY
cultural work
entrepreneurship
identity
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Finishing my PhD and I Cant See the Wood for the Trees

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This final part of the PhD is really difficult. It is not about the number of words or reading more. It is about writing the final sentences and getting it just right. Or at least feeling that’s it is good enough.

But honestly, I can’t see the wood for the trees.

So I’ve taking my supervisor’s advice (as always), and I’ve decided to write a few paragraphs as if someone was quoting me. In other words, as if someone is writing about cultural entrepreneurship and including my work in their literature review. For instance,

According to Naudin (2014), cultural entrepreneurship is….

Continue reading →

2014
10/31
CATEGORY
PhD
TAGS



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Post PhD: New Research Topics.

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As I am at the final stages of my PhD, I am starting to think about new areas for research. This is particularly important for me, as I want to be research active as a member of the Birmingham Centre for Media, Cultural and Research.

I started to articulate some potential ideas at the end of this blog post. Ideas which have emerged from my PhD research but which explore a narrow aspect of cultural entrepreneurship in the creative industries. I am specifically interested in women who work in the sector and investigating feminist literature such as the work of Rosalind Gill and Angela McRobbie. This has initiated an interest in agency and entrepreneurship and how that relates to female entrepreneurship. I discuss this in a post entitled Girl Power.

2014
09/29
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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The Entrepreneur as Jester.

imagesCACYS744In popular discourse, the identity of the entrepreneur is described as an individual’s life story, achieving entrepreneurial success in the face of adversity, thus creating a strong association with the innate attributes of the entrepreneur, acting as an autonomous ‘free agent’, and often against all the odds. For instance, Alan Sugar’s profile is that of someone who from humble beginnings has become a highly successful entrepreneur. This narrative is depicted by Warren and Anderson in their study of the ‘aesthetic performance of an entrepreneurial identity’ which illustrates the personality of Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of the airline Ryanair (2009). For the authors, O’Leary’s entrepreneurial character is playful in his interactions with the media; he adopts a ‘jester-like pose, where the freedom of the clown’s cap allots a broad license to lambast both figures of authority influential in setting governance structures and also, the greyed ranks of august established competitors’ (ibid, p. 149). Warren and Anderson expose O’Leary’s ability to use entrepreneurial rhetoric as a means of challenging the structures which stand in his way, as a business man (ibid). Here, the idea of the entrepreneur is similar to that of the maverick, the disruptive individual who acts differently from the establishment. According to Warren and Anderson, O’Leary is empowered by performing this role and employs the character of the entrepreneur to meet his business needs in a competitive marketplace.

Continue reading →

2014
04/03
CATEGORY
Capitalism
cultural work
entrepreneurship
identity
the entrepreneur
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Applying ‘fields’ and ‘habitus’ to Researching Cultural Entrepreneurs

As part of my research of Birmingham based cultural entrepreneurs, I aim to highlight the context in which they operate by outlining some key policies and selecting a few important developments and projects. I identify that cultural entrepreneurs are not working in a vacuum but that the language of enterprise, an emphasis on economic development and the role of the cultural industries as part of the city is an important factor in the space of production.

Bourdieu’s notion of a ‘fields of production’ is revealed through the policies, powerful agencies and is linked to ‘habitus’ represented by the networks of individual cultural entrepreneurs who play a role in influencing the ‘field’ by creating their own projects, blogs and events. There is a sense that spaces associated with the cultural industries, either through individuals or through policy making, have much in common. But which comes first, the strategy or the activities of cultural entrepreneurs? Continue reading →

2013
07/30
CATEGORY
Bourdieu
Cultural industries
cultural policy
entrepreneurship
field
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Identity and Personal Agency: We are not Robots.

1312-20130301-RobotsForeverAs part of my methodology chapter, I am exploring theories of identity and personal agency as the framework for my approach.

Identity is an important subject in cultural studies. As a means of challenging social norms, particularly, western notions of identity, cultural identities such as gender, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation, for example, are explored and contested.

The authors of Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds (Holland, Skinner, Lachicotte and Cain, 1998) research the dichotomy between humans as products of social discipline and the producers of the social worlds in which they live. In this contribution to anthropology, the authors argue that individuals play an active role in re-shaping themselves, their identity and their world. Continue reading →

2013
05/11
CATEGORY
identity
Methodology
Personal agency
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Position yourself

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I’ve just about finished my literature review and I’m feeling more confident about my ‘position’. The literature review is my first chapter and here is the introduction:

This chapter outlines the context for an exploration of cultural entrepreneurship. I draw on the academic disciplines of cultural studies, cultural policy studies and entrepreneurship to present different perspectives on the relationship between creative workers and entrepreneurial modes of work.

Critical debates, predominantly from cultural studies have sought to expose the paradox between on the one hand, a celebration of entrepreneurial and flexible work and on the other hand, evidence of self-exploitation (Hesmondhalgh and Baker, 2011, p.70-75). Many cultural studies critics depict policies embracing entrepreneurship as evidence of neo-liberal capitalism at play. In contrast, less politicized academics, view the focus on the cultural industries and enterprise as an opportunity to consider new working practices.

The literature associated with these polarized views forms the basis of this chapter and presents the conceptual framework for this research. My aim is firstly, to present key arguments that have shaped research on cultural entrepreneurship. Secondly, I hope to reveal clear distinctions between academic disciplines in terms of approach and purpose. And finally, I draw from both critical research and new movements in entrepreneurship to inform the basis for my empirical study.

 

2013
01/27
CATEGORY
Cultural industries
Cultural labour
cultural policy
entrepreneurship
literature review
self-exploitation
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