Youthful Creativity in Regional Australia

Panacea for Unemployment and Out-Migration

Bibliographic Data

ID5877333
AuthorsChris Gibson (0009-0007-6215-6579)
Year2008
Volume46
Issue2
Pages183-195
Publication date2008-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1745-5863 • E-ISSN: 1745-5871
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-5871.2008.00509.x
OpenAlexW2029591252
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited13

This paper addresses the theme of youth out-migration from rural Australia, in the context of recent policy discussions about creativity and its role in regional development. Ethnographic fieldwork in one rural location - the New South Wales Far North Coast - is drawn upon to highlight how creative industries are being cast as a potential way of promoting cultural activities and jobs for young people, and in turn, how they might be imagined as a means to mitigate youth out-migration. Yet, creative industries have contradictory employment and social outcomes. Creative industries are likely to generate higher rates of youth participation in economic activities than public data reveal. However, strategies for future job growth should also consider the limitations and instabilities of creative industry employment. Second, and more broadly, the paper discusses those socio-cultural dimensions of nascent creative industries that may have a more substantial impact when conceived as part of strategies to stem youth exodus from rural areas. Creative activities may contribute to rural development in indirect ways, especially if linked to policy goals of increased tolerance of youth activities, better provision of cultural services, and improved well-being for young people. While formal job-creation may be limited, creative industries could mitigate some of the impacts of youth migration to cities by enriching regional social life and mediating perceptions of the advantages and drawbacks of rural versus urban life. This kind of policy imagination requires a shift in attitudes towards young people and a more genuine commitment to encourage young people to feel that they belong in non-metropolitan areas

Creative industries · Creativity · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Political science · Public policy · Rural area · Sociology · Unemployment · Youth studies · Youth unemployment · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Gender Studies · Rural development and sustainability · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics