Dr Roberta Comunian and Dr Lauren England
In the first of our DISCE Webinars Dr Roberta Comunian, DISCE researcher, presented some of her work (with colleague Dr Lauren England at King’s College London) on the impact of Covid-19 on creative and cultural workers.
The review article “Creative and cultural work without filters: Covid-19 and exposed precarity in the creative economy” has been published on 4 June 2020 by Cultural Trends and is available (open access) for everyone to read.
In the article, Dr Comunian and Dr England review the existing literature on the precarious nature of creative and cultural work. They point out that as soon as the spread of Covid-19 started impacting local and national economies, many industry and policy bodies rushed into researching the impact of Covid-19 on the creative and cultural industries (CCIs) and the workers in the sector through a series of surveys. The paper reviews the content – reflecting on what is being asked and what is not being asked – of these surveys. The results highlight common concerns in relation to visible and invisible issues that need addressing in the sector. The paper concludes by questioning if Covid-19 represents a moment of crisis for the sector or has simply exposed the unsustainable price of creative and cultural work.
Abstract
The precarious nature of creative and cultural work is widely acknowledged in academic literature. However, it has often been invisible in the eyes of policy and policymaking. As soon as the spread of Covid-19 started impacting local and national economies across the globe, many industry and policy bodies rushed into researching the impact of Covid-19 on the creative and cultural industries (CCIs) and the workers in the sector. The paper offers an insight into the key concerns of these organizations through the meta-analysis of the survey and research projects that are currently being undertaken in the context of the UK. The results highlight common concerns in relation to visible and invisible issues that need addressing in the sector. The paper concludes by questioning if Covid-19 represents a moment of crisis for the sector or has simply exposed the unsustainable price of creative and cultural work.
The full article can be downloaded here
Culture Media and Creative Industries @ Kings 