scholarly journals Creativity, Labour, and the Politics of Profit in the Improvised Music Field

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter David Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Recent Trend ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Business Organization ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Economically Marginalized ◽  
Improvised Music ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
Cross Fertilization

Despite its ubiquity in everyday life and non-Eurocentric musics, improvisation is discursively constructed in Western culture as an edgy, radical, and subversive activity. Although there is no agreement on an ontology of improvisation in either the popular or scholarly domains, recent writings in music studies and the humanities propose that the improvisatory practices of jazz and related musics can be applied to contexts outside of the arts to address static, unethical, or otherwise outmoded ways of organizing society. A problematic example of this cross-fertilization of ideas is the recent trend in management studies of exploring the value in bringing improvisatory practices traditionally associated with the arts into the business field. Proponents of this idea suggest that applying the operational frame of improvisation to business organization can help companies develop new products and labour practices to respond to the shifting demands of the market. In this article I argue that much of the recent work in management studies fails to meaningfully address the real world material conditions under which artists work, nor the ethical implications of incorporating the practices of economically marginalized subjects into profit-based enterprises. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the improvised music fields in London, England, and Toronto, Canada, I will explore the issues raised by this trend in management studies by putting the ideas and experiences of improvisers in dialogue with those of theorists who are looking to the arts for new and innovative business strategies.

‘You’ll be very far from this place’: Temporal and spatial aspirations at Bridge International Academies in Kenya

2021 ◽  
pp. 0308275X2110596
Author(s):  
Manya Kagan ◽  
Yonatan N Gez
Keyword(s):  
Primary Education ◽  
Private Schools ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Economically Marginalized ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
A Chain

The association between aspirations and education across the African continent is widely recognized. However, it is only in recent years that scholars began observing this connection in the context of the booming low-fee private schools (LFPS) sector. In this article, we consider the case of one of Kenya’s most prominent LFPS actors, a chain of primary schools called Bridge International Academies (BIA). Despite catering for a lower-class clientele, BIA bears ostensible markers of privilege, in the form of a veneer of internationality and intensive application of technology. Indeed, while BIA’s main promise relates to performance on the critical Kenyan Certificate Primary Education exam as a gateway to a better future, such promises are profoundly infused with ideas that appear disconnected from the harsh material conditions of the schools’ clients and staff. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in BIA schools in Nairobi focused on teachers and staff, we show the appeal of the language of internationalism to socio-economically marginalized Kenyans and consider its multiple interpretations within local imaginations.

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.

Art and Brand Contamination

2019 ◽  
pp. 339-354
Author(s):  
Marta Massi ◽  
Chiara Piancatelli ◽  
Sonia Pancheri
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
The Other ◽  
Brand Awareness ◽  
Arts Organizations ◽  
High Culture ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Low Culture ◽  
The One ◽  
Cross Fertilization

Albeit often perceived as two worlds apart, low culture and high culture are increasingly converging to collaborate in mutually advantageous ways. Brands—including the name, term, sign, symbol, or combination of them that identify the goods and services of a seller or group of sellers, and differentiate them from those of the competitors—are the new territory where high culture and low culture co-exist and collaborate, creating new possibilities of cross-fertilization and hybridization between the two. Through the analysis of successful examples coming from different industries, this chapter aims to highlight how brands have blurred the distinction between low culture and high culture. On the one hand, brands can use the heritage of the arts world to gain authenticity and legitimate themselves in the eyes of consumers and the society. On the other hand, artists and arts organizations, such as museums and other art institutions, can indulge in popular culture in order to become appealing to younger target markets and enhance their brand awareness and image.

Place Management/Making

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoe Su Fern
Keyword(s):  
Urban Spaces ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Place Management ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The City

This chapter examines the role of the arts and artists in rejuvenating urban spaces in Singapore, where place management ideas are currently being used to rejuvenate parts of the city centre. Coexisting alongside state-driven initiatives are artist-led strategies where local art practitioners and organizations activate latent and/or under-utilized spaces. Through an analysis of policy documents and qualitative ethnographic fieldwork, this study explores the interplay between top-down aspirations and formal place management efforts, and the organic ways artists have activated and engaged with spaces. Ultimately, I argue that there is a need to balance formal governance structures with more support for artists engaging in organic, ground-up initiatives.

Synthetic Beings and Synthespian Ethics

Projections ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Stadler
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Digital Imaging ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
Virtual Humans ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Screen Media ◽  
Blade Runner ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Virtual Actors

The screen is the material and imaginative interface where biology meets technology. It is the nexus between science and fiction, where technological and ethical concerns surrounding synthespians, representations of replicants, and manifestations of synthetic biology come into play. This analysis of digital imaging and cinematic imagining of virtual actors and synthetic humans in films such as Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017) examines the ethical implications of digital embodiment technologies and cybernetics. I argue that it is necessary to bring together science and the arts to advance understandings of embodiment and technology. In doing so, I explore commonalities between ethical concerns about technobiological bodies in cultural and scientific discourse and developments such as the creation of virtual humans and “deepfake” digital doubles in screen media.

Improvisation and new frontiers in creative practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Raymond A. R. MacDonald ◽  
Graeme B. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Music Industry ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Spontaneous Generation ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Improvised Music ◽  
The Media

This chapter draws together recent advances across musical fields to frame improvising as an innovative and vibrant way of doing creative practice at a professional level and in everyday life. It presents examples of cross-disciplinary improvised work and festivals at the cutting edge of the performing arts. Improvised music is discussed in relation to broader social and cultural change and transformations within the media and music industry. The possibilities of new digital technologies for expanding improvising are reviewed and help set the context for the proceeding chapters. It shows how group improvisation involves the spontaneous generation of novel music, dance, or art by two or more people. It describes the groundswell of interest across the arts in improvisation with artists, festivals, and venues dedicated to pushing this creative approach beyond genre boundaries.

Utilising the arts to tackle child sexual exploitation

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Claire Cody
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Community Safety ◽  
Creative Arts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Potential Use

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential use of creative, arts-based methods to address child sexual exploitation (CSE) through connecting with and supporting young people affected by CSE; and engaging the wider community through awareness-raising and education to help keep young people safe. The use of the arts in building understanding, promoting agency, educating and countering negative portrayals of those affected by CSE are also explored. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review identified that there is currently a limited evidence-base surrounding the use of arts in addressing the negative outcomes for young people affected by CSE and promoting the inclusion and safety of young people in the community. To explore the potential use of the arts in engaging young people and the communities they inhabit, this paper draws from research with other “hard to engage” and stigmatised groups, and learning from efforts to tackle other sensitive and challenging issues that impact on communities. Findings – The paper suggests that despite the relatively young evidence base concerning the role of creative, arts-based methods to tackle CSE, there is relevant transferable learning that suggests that there is potential in utilising the arts to help prevent CSE and promote community safety. Research limitations/implications – There is a clear need to consider the ethical implications of this work and to further examine how the arts may be utilised to tackle CSE and bring about positive outcomes for both individuals and for the wider community. Originality/value – The paper brings together bodies of literature from other fields to explore the potential use of creative arts-based methods to tackle a significant contemporary issue of community safety.

scholarly journals Gastarbeiters' old age: strategies of life choices among the migrant population of pensioners

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Dragana Antonijević ◽  
Ljubica Milosavljević
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Recent Trend ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Life Strategies ◽  
Migrant Population ◽  
Life Choices ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Labor Migrants ◽  
Economically Marginalized

The focus of our research was on the old age life strategies of retired gastarbeiters. For labor migrants who went to work "temporarily" abroad, becoming pensioners opens up a slew of problematic issues about their social status in host countries. This is a topic which has been neglected in Serbian academia, and has recently attracted the attention of the global scientific community through the attempt to make an interdisciplinary connection between studies of migration and studies of age. So far, the literature on migrant-pensioners has mostly dealt with the topic of "returning" to the home country, however it became evident that a large number of migrants stays in host countries well into old age, hence the recent trend in Europe to consider the issue of their status, pensions and social welfare as well as other forms of support for this, still largely nationally, socially and economically marginalized population. We wanted to examine the situation with Serbian gastarbeiters - are they coming back to their homeland after retiring or not, how they value their old age and what life strategies do they adhere to in retirement.  

scholarly journals Evaluasi Sistem Informasi Rumah Sakit Ananda Purwokerto Menggunakan Domain Edm Dan Apo Cobit 5

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-123
Author(s):  
Ito Setiawan ◽  
Ranggi Praharaningtyas Aji ◽  
Yuliawan Adi Wibowo
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
General Hospital ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Business Organization ◽  
Management Domain ◽  
Current Business

Governance and planning for aligning business strategies with strategies in managing Information systems (SI) is the main key in winning business competition in each organization. Ananda Purwokerto General Hospital as a business organization engaged in health cannot be separated from this, but the problem of governance and the lack of alignment between the current business strategy and the SI strategy make the Ananda General Hospital Purwokerto less in terms of service issues. For this reason, an evaluation of the existing SI governance is needed at Ananda Purwokerto General Hospital. COBIT 5 can be used to evaluate SI governance, because in COBIT 5 there are 5 domains consisting of 2 categories, namely the category of governance domain and management domain, for problems experienced by Ananda Purwokerto General Hospital can use the EDM and APO domains on COBIT 5. The results expected are in the form of measuring the level of governance implementation of SIR Ananda Purwokerto General Hospital in the EDM and APO domains, so that the best recommendations can be given based on the COBIT 5 framework.  

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