Oppossed devotions?

Creation and culture in the cultural precariat

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.28939/iam.debats-136-2.6

Keywords:

trabajo creativo, trabajo de cuidados, trabajo grauito, precariedad

Abstract

In this article, we shall address the specific logic of cultural precariousness, focusing on gender factors that place working women in positions of structural weakness. It is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. In our analysis, we have focused on the relationship between creative labour and care work as differentiated social spaces. We understand “care work” as the management of people's well-being, essential for the sustainability of life and the reproduction of the workforce. On the other hand, “creative labour” is the most visible dimension of artistic activity and implies the production of works that obtain a social value and are recognized as artistic. It includes, especially as a result of the recent precariousness processes, an important component of “free labour”, individual background work aimed at providing adequate conditions for creation and which today focuses on the construction and maintenance of social networks social and e-reputation.

In short, while creative labour constitutes the visible and socially recognized part of artistic practice, free labour and care work form the hidden part, without social recognition, but which largely determine individual achievements, beyond the romantic conceptions of the "genius" focused on the strictly creative sphere. In our article we reflect on the relationship between both works, the construction of their constitutive logics, generally incompatible with each other, and we identify their main contradictions.

Author Biographies

  • Juan Pecourt, University of Valencia

    Doctor en Sociologia per la Universitat de Cambridge i professor titular de la Universitat de València. Membre del grup de recerca Centre d'estudis sobre cultura, poder i identitats (CECPI). Investiga sobre cultura, mitjans de comunicació i esfera pública.

     

  • Sandra Obiol, University of Valencia

    Doctora en Sociologia per la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona i professora titular al Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social de la Universitat de València. Membre dels grups de recerca IPRODES (Universitat de València) i Copolis (Universitat de Barcelona). Investiga sobre famílies, cures, educació i precarietat.

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Published

2022-11-14

Issue

Vol. 136 No. 2 (2022): Special Issue: Culture and genders. Career paths, policies, and cultural management

Section

SPECIAL ISSUE

License

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How to Cite

Pecourt, J. and Obiol, S. (2022) “Oppossed devotions? Creation and culture in the cultural precariat”, Debats. Journal on culture, power and society, 136(2), pp. 95–109. doi:10.28939/iam.debats-136-2.6.