The English model of creativity

Cultural Politics of an Idea

Bibliographic Data

ID5813080
AuthorsJonothan Neelands (University of Warwick), Boyun Choe (University of Warwick)
Year2010
Volume16
Issue3
Pages287-304
Publication date2010-08-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Cultural Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1028-6632 • E-ISSN: 1477-2833
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10286630903111647
OpenAlexW2024012457
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited18

The paper presents a socio-political analysis of New Labour's rhetorical uses of the idea and values of creativity to shape cultural policy in England. It examines how the current idea of creativity in policy discussions has been politically reconceptualised as a means of responding to broader socio-political and economic agendas. The paper explores the extent to which the New Labour's social-market political paradigm has contributed to shaping and reshaping the government's creativity rhetoric. It is suggested that the English model of creativity in policy discourse is politically constructed rather than being based in the available literature and research associated with creativity in the fields of psychology and sociology. Drawing on these discussions, the paper suggests that there are five distinctive characteristics of the English model of creativity and offer a critical analysis about some underlying assumptions embedded in these rhetorical positions. Keywords: creativitycultural policysocial-market governanceCreative Partnershipscultural and creative learningpolitics of creativity Notes 1. The phrase 'Rhetorics of Creativity' was introduced by Banaji et al. (2006 Banaji, S., Burn, A. and Buckingham, D. 2006. The rhetorics of creativity: a review of literature, London: Arts Council of England. [Google Scholar]) in an Arts Council England monograph focusing on discourses about creativity circulating in the public domain. 2. DEMOS is an independent think tank in the UK, seen as being close to the Labour Party and believed to have influenced the policies of New Labour government. National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE) was jointly commissioned by Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Depart of Education and Employment (DfEE) and chaired by Ken Robinson a long time arts education advocate. The main task of the committee was to propose a series of suggestions for a new education vision for both departments of culture and education. 3. DfES (previously DfEE) stands for Department of Education and Skills. It became later split into DCSF (Department of Children, Schools and Families) and DIUS (Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills) in 2007. 4. The operation areas have accordingly expanded from 16 to 25 in 2004, then further to 36 in 2005. As of April 2009, CP becomes independent from Arts Council of England and transformed into a new governmental intermediary organisation Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE) that will further expand CP's education endeavours. 5. In this green paper (DCMS 2001 DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport). 2001. Culture and creativity: the next ten years, London: DCMS. [Google Scholar], p. 18), 'creative skills' refers to genre-based artistic skills as following: 'to dance, sing, and learn a musical instrument, act, paint, sculpt, make crafts, design, create television, radio internet content, write scripts, stage manage, choreograph, direct and produce; put on performance; exhibit their own work'. 6. There is consensus around this point in a number of different fields. In sociology, see Pierre Bourdieu 'The Field of Cultural Production' (1993 Bourdieu, P. 1993. The field of cultural production: essays on art and literature, Cambridge: Polity Press. [Google Scholar]) and Paul Willis 'Common Culture: Symbolic Work at Play in the Everyday Culture of the Young' (1990 Willis, P. 1990. Common culture: symbolic work at play in the everyday culture of the young, Milton Keynes: Open University Press. [Google Scholar]). In the field of psychology, see Howard Gardner 'Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences' (1984 Gardner, H. 1984. Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences, London: Fontana. [Google Scholar]) and Mihályi Csíkszentmihályi 'Implications of a System's Perspective for the Study of Creativity (1999 Csíkszentmihályi, M. 1999. "Implications of a system's perspective for the study of creativity". In Handbook of creativity, Edited by: Sternberg, R.J. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]). 7. In Eysenck's (1996 Eysenck, H.J. 1996. "The measurement of creativity". In Dimensions of creativity, Edited by: BODEN, M. 199-242. London: The MIT Press. [Google Scholar], p. 202) terms, 'creativity as a trait' refers to 'a dispositional variable, the characteristics of a person leading him to produce acts, items and instances of private novelty', whereas 'creativity by achievement' means 'actually producing works that are novel in the public sense'. 8. Eysenck (1996 Eysenck, H.J. 1996. "The measurement of creativity". In Dimensions of creativity, Edited by: BODEN, M. 199-242. London: The MIT Press. [Google Scholar], p. 209) suggests the variables affecting an individual's chances of being creative as follows: cognitive variables such as intelligence, knowledge, technical skills and special talents; environmental variables such as politico-religious, cultural, socio-economic and educational factors; personality variables such as internal motivation, confidence, non-conformity and trait creativity. 9. This claim is supported by various recent research projects funded by the Sutton Trust which is a charitable foundation committed to widening access to the highest levels of education and training. 10. The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial governmental department that inspects and regulates education and care for children and learners in England. 11. Both Howard Gardner and Margaret Boden maintain that creativity cannot be considered outside a system or a structure. Gardner (1984 Gardner, H. 1984. Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences, London: Fontana. [Google Scholar]), for instance, frames creativity within a theory of multiple and distinctive intelligences each of which has its own characteristics and valuational structures. Boden (1992 Boden, M. 1992. The creative mind, London: Abacus. [Google Scholar], 1994 Boden, M. 1994. Dimensions of creativity, London: MIT Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) similarly suggests that all forms of creativity require a pre-existing 'generative system' and that originality within this system requires the creative agent to know the limits of the 'conceptual space' associated with the system. 12. NESTA stands for The National Endowment of Science, Technology and the Arts. It was established under the 1998 National Lottery Act to support and promote talent, innovation and creativity in the fields of science, technology and the arts in the UK. 13. Find Your Talent is a new arts education programme currently operated in 10 areas in England. In 2008, it began as a five-year pilot project that aims to provide a comprehensive cultural learning offer of at least five hours a week for every child (Find Your Talent 2008a Find Your Talent. 2008a. About find your talent. find your talent [Online]. Available from: http://www.findyourtalent.org/content/about.html [Accessed 29 Jan 2009] [Google Scholar], 2008b Find Your Talent. 2008b. Find your talent, prospectus: five hours a week of quality arts and culture for every child, London: ACE. [Google Scholar]). Shine is a national youth talent festival that is held for a week every year. The programme has started running in England since 2008 and it aims to provide local showcasing opportunities for young people's talents in the arts (Shine 2009 Shine. 2009. About shine [Online]. Available from: http://www.shineweek.co.uk/content/about-shine-09 [Accessed 29 January 2009] [Google Scholar]). 14. As long ago as 1958, Williams (1958 Williams, R. 1958/1983. Culture and society 1780-1950, New York: Columbia University Press. [Google Scholar]/1983) recognised in his critique of R. H. Tawney's concept of 'equality' that there is an inherent contradiction in the idea that cultural growth can be combined with existing standards of excellence. In William's (p. 226) view, cultural growth implies a social and cultural redefinition, or democratisation of standards of 'excellence' hitherto associated with the tastes, preferences and the level of education of already dominant social and economic groups. 15. Nietzsche's radical redefinition of creativity as an amoral and irrational phenomenon combining both life affirming and life denying energies and possibilities is outlined in 'The Birth of Tragedy: From the Spirit of Music' (Nietzsche 1993 Nietzsche, F. 1993. The birth of tragedy: from the spirit of music, London: Penguin. [Google Scholar

Creative industries · Creativity technique · Cultural policy · Rhetorical device · Creativity in Education and Neuroscience · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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