The Economy in Germany

The demand for creativity is ubiquitous. Hardly an organisation or future scenario can do without the requirement for creativity. This is particularly evident in the paid employment sector.

The so-called culture and creative industries are regarded as a beacon of hope for the future of employment. This economic sector is not only one of the most dynamic economically, but has also become representative of contemporary work.

Creativity as an industry

Since the late 1980s, the term culture industries has brought together in one concept two previously separate areas: culture and business. “Culture industries” refers to the sector where artistic and cultural contents are produced and communicated primarily to make a profit. The creative industries are also commonly described as the “culture industries and Media PLUS”. While the submarkets music, literature, museums and galleries are regarded as components of the culture industries, new sectors, such as architecture, design and the software and games industry, are being added, and tend to be placed in the creative industries category.

Herein lies a central problem of surveying the culture and creative industries – there are different ways of defining them. Different concepts are proposed, depending on the perspective, which is why there are often no standard distinctions, either at national or international level. What all the approaches have in common is their focus on creative and knowledge-intensive areas of work which are involved in producing and distributing cultural goods and services.

Creativity as a resource for the future

The euphoria surrounding the culture and creative industries is usually explained by reference to its strong growth. A report commissioned by the German government calculated that the industry had top rankings in the statistics in 2008 with some one million employees and gross value creation of 2.6 per cent of gross domestic product, with an upwards trend.

However, that in itself does not explain the great social importance of the culture and creative industries. Rather, a normative reassessment may be observed. That became evident back in the creative industry’s hour of birth, in the British Labour Party’s 1997 election campaign. It referred to the creative industries, an economic sector that was at the cutting edge of the modernisation programme to which the party aspired. Above all, the high level of self-organisation, flexibility and openness to innovation made creative and cultural producers a model for the country’s economic development as well as for its political and social development. The idea of creative and flexible work subjects was also applied to sectors other than the creative industries. As a result, creativity is seen as a skill detached from individual genius and made into a general expectation on the basis of the view that everyone has the ability to be creative.

Creativity as representative of developments in employment

This emphasis on creativity also influences work practice itself. Creativity becomes generally representative of developments in employment as well as a specific requirement of daily work. Thus, forms and ideas of work are subsumed under “creativity” that contrast with the traditional model of normal working relationships: self-realisation as opposed to financial security and self-employment as opposed to permanent employment. These ideas often involve the ideal that the artist’s prime motives are passion and autonomy.

This ideal is criticised for exploiting a view of art that differs fundamentally from the business context. The criticism is that the concept of the creative industries has emphasised market radicalisation and economisation, ignoring social ills. Moreover, the economic policy initiatives and reports are not adequately orientated to the stakeholders themselves.

Creativity in work practice

An equally critical view is to be taken of the precarious situation of the stakeholders. Time and again, there is tension between the ideal of creative self-realisation and the social situation. Self-realisation often serves as a strategy to justify long hours, unpaid overtime, low salaries, short-term employment contracts and an uncertain future, which may even lead to a kind of self-exploitation.

The praised autonomy also has to be seen in a less favourable light when one realises that it involves taking responsibility for oneself and constantly optimising one’s profile. That leads to paradoxical situations such as spending one’s holiday attending an advanced English course or extending one’s working hours by a night shift to learn a new computer program.

Thus, the creative industries bring in their wake not only growth and an ability to meet the challenges of the future but also insecure employment relationships. This is heightened by the increasing pressure of competition on account of the growing number of enterprises in the creative industries and organisational and sector-specific structures.

The stakeholders in the culture and creative industries are well aware of these tensions and problems. It remains to be seen to what extent these issues will have any impact on the structural policy decisions of the Federal and regional governments. The establishment of the “Competence Centre for the Creative Industries” and analytical progress in current industry reports are a first indication that the sector’s specific features and the need for specific promotion have been recognised.