scholarly journals “There’s No Way That You Get Paid to Do the Arts”: Unpaid Labour Across the Cultural and Creative Life Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-588
Author(s):  
Orian Brook ◽  
Dave O’Brien ◽  
Mark Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Career Stage ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Unpaid Labour ◽  
Creative Workers ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Creative Life

Unpaid labour is an important element of how precarity has been theorised. It is also an issue that is often seen as endemic to cultural and creative work. Questions as to the role of unpaid work, including but not limited to unpaid internships, have become central to understanding how the social exclusiveness of many cultural and creative jobs is reinforced through their precarity. This article uses survey and interview data to outline the differing experiences of unpaid labour in cultural jobs. It contrasts the meaning of ‘free’ work over the life courses of a range of creative workers, showing how it is stratified by social class, age, and career stage. By exploring the stratification of unpaid work as a form of precariousness in cultural jobs, and of who describes their experiences of unpaid work as benign, the article offers new empirical evidence for those challenging the negative impacts of precarious working conditions.

scholarly journals ‘There's no way that you get paid to do the arts’. Unpaid labour across the cultural and creative life course

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orian Brook ◽  
Dave O'Brien ◽  
Mark Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Career Stage ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Unpaid Labour ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Creative Life

Unpaid or ‘free’ labour is an important element of how precarity has been theorized. It is also an issue that is often seen as endemic to cultural and creative work, rightly attracting a range of criticism. Questions as to the role of unpaid work, for example internships, have become central to understanding the social exclusiveness of many cultural and creative jobs. This paper develops this existing analysis by comparing and contrasting the meaning of 'free' work over the life course of a range of creative occupations, historicising the impact of unpaid labour on the creative sector and showing how it has been stratified by social class, age and career stage. The paper uses two datasets drawn from the Panic! What happened to social mobility in the arts? project, to outline the differing experiences of unpaid labour in cultural and creative occupations. By demonstrating the stratification of unpaid work as a form of precariousness in cultural jobs, along with the social distribution of benign narratives of unpaid work, the paper aims to offer new empirical evidence for those seeking to resist precarious forms of labour.

Imagination and Art

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Swedberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines the role of imagination and the arts in helping social scientists to theorize well. However deep one's basic knowledge of social theory is, and however many concepts, mechanisms, and theories one knows, unless this knowledge is used in an imaginative way, the result will be dull and noncreative. A good research topic should among other things operate as an analogon—that is, it should be able to set off the theoretical imagination of the social scientist. Then, when a social scientist writes, he or she may want to write in such a way that the reader's theoretical imagination is stirred. Besides imagination, the chapter also discusses the relationship of social theory to art. There are a number of reason for this, including the fact that in modern society, art is perceived as the height of imagination and creativity.

Dislocation as method

2019 ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
David MacDougall
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Visual Anthropology ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
Research Questions

Research in the sciences, including the social sciences, is usually supposed to be conducted in a systematic way, working from research questions to the gathering of empirical data, to conclusions. But in an analogy drawn from the art of fencing, the author argues for an alternative approach in visual anthropology. Films look at the world differently from the ways we conventionally see, and these differences have optical, social, and structural origins. To overcome these differences, filmmakers may have to voluntarily ‘dislocate’ themselves in order to put themselves in a position to view their subject from a different perspective, and so uncover new knowledge. The argument is supported by a discussion of the realities of ethnographic fieldwork, the processes of filmmaking, and the role of play and improvisation in the arts and other human endeavours.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Bahraini Construction Companies

2016 ◽  
pp. 40-51
Author(s):  
Asma Ayari
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Construction Sector ◽  
Ethical Business ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Gulf Countries ◽  
International Labor ◽  
The Social ◽  
Corporate Social

The purpose of this study is to give a description of ethical business cultures in Bahraini construction companies. Construction companies in the Middle East are facing charges in terms of exploitation of workers and poor working conditions. The construction sector is one of the most dynamic in Bahrain, and its participation in national GDP is increasing. It is also the most important sector in the creation of jobs. Bahrain, as in the Gulf countries, employs a workforce from India and Asia, one of the lowest in the international labor market. This study analyzes the reality of the CSR in the construction sector and proposes some guidelines for the role of Bahraini stakeholders in the implementation of the social responsibility.

Archive Fevers

2020 ◽  
pp. 24-41
Author(s):  
Albena Yaneva
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Paul Ricoeur ◽  
Architectural Practice ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Paul Ricœur ◽  
Empirical Turn

This chapter reviews several developments in the social sciences and the arts that date back to the 1990s and motivated this study of archives as practice. It refers to Jacques Derrida and Paul Ricoeur as key protagonists that led to the rethinking of the role of archiving as a tool of memory. It also details the emergence of the trend of “archival ethnography,” which witnessed the advent of the archival turn in anthropology. The chapter elaborates how archival scholarship took an empirical turn in the mid-1990s, coinciding with the “archive fever” in the arts and the “archival turn” in anthropology that opened venues for investigating architectural archiving. It explores the realm of architectural practice wherein the computer radically changed working dynamics and led to the practice's own archival turn in the mid-1990s.

Social, Political, and Environmental Impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa

2018 ◽  
pp. 183-219
Author(s):  
Rhys Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Ssa Countries

Some of the most controversial aspects of China’s economic presence in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) relate to the social, political, and environmental impacts. Many of the claims that are made are based on anecdotal evidence, and there is a need for more systematic research on these aspects. In terms of social impacts, the chapter discusses employment, wages, working conditions, and labour rights. Political issues addressed include claims that China’s involvement supports authoritarian regimes, encourages corruption, and leads to conflict and political instability. These claims are not generally supported, and SSA countries have benefitted from the increased policy space that Chinese involvement gives them. The environmental effects of both increased exports to China and the activities of Chinese firms in SSA are analyzed. Contrasting case studies illustrate the negative impacts of China on forestry, and the positive effects of Chinese support for wind and solar power.

Mutual aid for the arts in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Milan: The ‘Pio Istituto Teatrale’

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 602-624
Author(s):  
Mariarita Pierotti ◽  
Alessandro Capocchi ◽  
Paola Orlandini
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Theatre Arts ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

In the nineteenth century, when the theatre arts were at their peak, Milan was considered the intellectual and artistic capital of Italy. This article explores the objectives and the functioning of an important mutual aid company based in Milan – the Pio Istituto Teatrale – through its accounting system. These accounting documents clearly convey the dual nature of this organization, which was dedicated to protecting both social welfare and the arts. This study confirms the social role of accounting and its implications. In recent years, the attention paid to accounting in artistic institutions has been increasing. However, while many studies have explored Italian mutual aid societies in general, few have considered those in the artistic field specifically. This article attempts to rectify this oversight by examining a mutual aid society functioning in the world of theatre via its accounting records.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document