This book offers an original critical evaluation of how freelance careers can be established and sustained in the increasingly uncertain global creative economy.

Developing from the author's theoretical and empirical research at the nexus of precarious work and entrepreneurial learning, it provides an in-depth understanding of why and how creatives can learn to become entrepreneurial and how this relates to creative entrepreneurship. This book traces how arts work became creative labour and explores the contemporary organisation of artistic and creative practices to understand practical alternatives to the individualised careers we currently feel responsible for maintaining. Inspired particularly by the work of Raymond Williams, creative work is reconceptualised as practice-based collaborative learning encounters through which we might put shared feelings of precarity to work towards the production and practice of alternative possibilities.

Accessible and concise, breaking down complex concepts through practical examples and linking the creative process to entrepreneurial learning, this book will be of interest to students, educators and researchers studying and working in the creative economy.

About the Author

Tim Butcher is Associate Professor of Organisation Studies at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Reviews

"In this beautifully written and strongly engaged text, Tim Butcher shows how creative work might be liberated from precarious labour through a systematic focus on collaboration. Weaving skilfully between theories of affect, precarity and learning and stories of artistic practice, the outcome is an impassioned argument for realising new possibilities within creative economy" Steven D. Brown, Nottingham Trent University, UK

"Tim Butcher raises a number of provocative questions: Can we work creatively and freely without experiencing precarity and complicity with labour market logics? Can the creative arts contribute to discussions of equality, marginalization, and social change? He addresses these questions through a blend of academic sources, artist reflections, and his own experience." Ann L Cunliffe, FGV-EAESP, Brazil

Book Information
ISBN 9780367753290
Author Tim Butcher
Format Paperback
Page Count 90
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g