Cultural Industries & Social Change 1

Full course description

The course explores the relationship between cultural industries and social change. In period 3, the elective focuses on giving students theories and background knowledge that will allow them to critically understand this relationship. We start with the definition of cultural industries as ‘those institutions (mainly profit-making, but also state ... and non-profit organisations) that are most directly involved in the production of social meaning’ (Hesmondhalgh 2007). As such, the cultural industries comprise not only culture in the narrower sense, such as the fine or visual arts, but also broadcasting, content-related aspects of the internet, music, fashion, lifestyle, and the list goes on. Via theories and examples, we further profile the cultural industries, explore their history, and critically discuss the role cultural industries play in society. We examine how the advent of neoliberalism and globalization have, throughout the past decades, changed the ways in which cultural industries organize themselves and contribute to the economy. What are the benefits and challenges of this re-organization? Which advantages and which challenges have emerged for different actors and social groups that either belong to or are affected by the cultural industries? To answer these and related questions, we focus in particular on questions of labor and inclusivity in the cultural industries; on the clustering of cultural industries in cities and regions (‘creative cities’); on the interplay between cultural policy and the cultural industries; and on issues of power, logistics and value creation on the global art markets.