Co-operatives in the creative industries : think-piece

The creative economy has a pattern of growth and development which can be cast in a much less positive light. Despite the rhetoric of diversity and meritocracy, employment favours white middle-class male graduates over other groups, regional distribution is uneven and focused on the urban and many of the sectors – film, TV, videogames and so on - have been at the centre, not only of campaigns like #metoo and #oscarssowhite, but of accusations of long hours working culture, low levels of skills investment, exploitative practices and bullying. This question of who works in the creative industries and under what conditions affects all of us – it is these industries that help to produce our national culture and shape our self-understanding as a society. Recent media and activist work has drawn attention to these problems. From this perspectvie, authors want to look at the potential for co-operatives in the creative industries and what they might have to offer to those who work in them and the wider creative economy.