First published on April 2013.
In 2009, we had no idea what a new, post-crunch British economy would look like. What we did know was that whatever shape a new economy took, it would depend increasingly on creativity. At the time, there was very little public recognition of this fact, prompting us to invite over forty commentators from across the creative and cultural sector to present their thoughts on the future of the creative economy to provoke and stimulate wider debate.
In this 2009 essay, Philip Dodd warned of the dangers of the complacent belief that Britain’s place in the global cultural economy is necessarily assured, and called on policy makers and practitioners to pay more attention to China, the education system and the need to integrate entrepreneurial approaches into the creative economy.
SEIZE THE DAY, AS THE ROMANS SAID. IF BRITAIN'S CREATIVE ECONOMY IS TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN THIS NEW LEANER WORLD, THEN HERE ARE FIVE INJUNCTIONS:
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1 Thou shalt not talk as if Britain were the saviour of the world
AN END TO THE HUBRIS THAT PROCLAIMS -
BRITAIN WILL LEAD THE WAY TO A FINANCIAL NEW DEAL FOR THE WORLD (THE PRIME MINISTER, RECENTLY);
LONDON IS THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD (SAID TO A CHINESE FRIEND BY A TOP LONDON GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL. MY CHINESE FRIEND ASKED ME: IS THIS WHAT IS MEANT BY ENGLISH IRONY?);
BRITAIN IS A WORLD LEADER IN CREATIVE INDUSTRIED (EVIDENCE, PLEASE)
COUNTER EVIDENCE: THERE ARE BETWEEN 500,000 AND ONE MILLION DESIGNERS IN CHINA, LARGELY UNDER THE AGE OF 30; CHINA WILL HAVE A MARKET - ESTIMATED - OF AROUND 600 MILLION MIDDLE CLASS CONSUMERS BY 2020; THE CHINESE ARE TOUCHINGLY LOYAL TO THEIR OWN BRANDS; AND THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO STIMULATE DOMESTIC DEMAND USING ITS OWN CREATIVE BUSINESSES. SEE ALSO INDIA, DITTO.
WHAT IS BRITAIN'S PLACE IN SUCH A FUTURE? IF IT CONTINUES, ARROGANTLY, TO PRETEND IT IS THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD, THEN IT IS LIKELY TO FIND ITSELF THE BATES MOTEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY - SOMEWHERE OFF THE MAIN ROAD, WHERE SOMETHING HAPPENED IN THE PAST.
THE FINANCIAL TSUNAMI OFFERS BRITAIN AN OPPORTUNITY TO STOP NARCISSUS-GAZING AND TO RECALIBRATE ITS SENSE OF ITSELF. YES, LONDON IS A MARVELLOUS EUROPEAN PLATFORM FOR WORLD TALENT. YES, BRITAIN IS A VALUABLE PART OF A GLOBAL CREATIVE INDUSTRIES NETWORK (QUITE STRONG ON POLICY). BUT BRITAIN AS THE CENTRE OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES WORLD - NO.
GET OVER IT.
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2 Thou shalt not treat foreign students like cash cows, because they will not return home as ambassadors for Britain
BRITAIN'S HIGHER EDUCATION IS EVER MORE DEPENDENT ON OVERSEAS STUDENTS - AND MANY ARE DRAWN TO OUR EDUCATIONAL 'CREATIVE' DEGREES. YET, WE TREAT THEM LAMENTABLY, AS MINISTERS WILL ACKNOWLEDGE, OFF THE RECORD.
OUR CURRICULA ARE WOEFULLY PAROCHIAL - LARGELY EUROPEAN AND NORTH AMERICAN HISTORY AND TRADITIONS;
RECENT RESEARCH SAYS THAT CHINESE STUDENTS DISLIKE BRITAIN MORE AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN HERE ONE YEAR;
BRITISH CREATIVE BUSINESSES DO NOT SEE ASIAN STUDENTS AS AN INVALUABLE RESEOURCE, AS THEY SHOULD.
IF BRITAIN IS TO ENGAGE IN OVERSEAS NON-WESTERN MARKETS, NOT TO MENTION HAVE THE GLOBAL CITIZENS THAT EVERYONE WANTS, THEN IT NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND 'FOREIGN' CULTURES, LEARN THEIR STORIES, THEIR WAYS OF LIFE.
EDUCATE THE BRITISH.
3 Thou shalt not countenance the phrase ‘creative class’ – which is just old twentieth century Leninism (vanguardism), minus the politics
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IS AT THE MOMENT LARGELY A GHETTO FOR WELL HEELED PROFESSIONALS - OR AT LEAST, IF WE ARE NOT CAREFUL, THIS IS HOW IT CAN BE REPRESENTED. THE IDEA OF A 'CREATIVE CLASS' SIMPLY ENCOURAGES COMPLACENCY. RATHER ASK: HOW CAN BUREACRATIC AGENCIES - UKTI, DCMS, BRITISH COUNCIL, ARTS COUNCIL, RDAS, UNCLE TOM COBLEY ET AL - BE REIMAGINED TO DEAL WITH CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS? HOW CAN THE GOVERNMENT MAKE SUPPORT LESS BUREAUCRATIC?
ALSO, IF BRITAIN IS TO MAKE A SUCCESS OF ITS CREATIVE ECONOMY, THEN IT ALSO NEEDS TO ROOT IT IN THE LIVES AND IMAGINATIONS OF THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN. ISSUES OF TRAINING, OF 'CREATIVE' APPRENTICESHIPS, OF LOCAL CREATIVE QUARTERS REGENERATION THAT DOESN'T SIMPLY PRICE LOCALS OUT OF THE LOCAL HOUSING MARKET, OF METROPOLITAN OR LARGELY BIG CITY DOMINATION OF THE CREATIVE ECONOMY - ALL THESE ISSUES AND MANY MORE NEED TO BE SORTED.
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4 Thou shalt see that the creative economy must be part of a sustainable economy
THE TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF BRITAIN AS A 'GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND' HAS SUDDENLY A NEW AND URGENT CONTEMPORARY RESONANCE - IN A WORLD WHERE NEW CARBON-SAVING INDUSTRIES ARE THE ORDER OF THE DAY. TRADITIONALLY, BRITAIN'S INNOVATIONS HAVE HAD A GREEN DIMENSION - FROM ITS PUBLIC PARKS TO THE DISCOVERY OF PENECILLIN TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
BRITAIN'S CREATIVE ECONOMY MUST INTEGRATE ITSELF WITH NEW GREEN TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES AND WITH NEW BIOTECH INDUSTRIES. ALL THESE STAND OR FALL TOGETHER - AND ALL OF THEM CAN MAKE USE OF AND DEVELOP IN INNOVATIVE WAYS BRITAIN'S TRADITIONAL 'GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND' STORY.
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5 Thou shalt remember that Shakespeare was a very rich man by the time he died
SHAKESPEARE TOOK EQUITY IN THE GLOBE THEATRE; ALL DICKENS FICTION WAS PUBLISHED BY COMMERCIAL HOUSES; DAMIEN HIRST IS A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR.
WE NEED TO STRESS TO OURSELVES AND EVERYONE THAT BRITAIN'S DISTINCTIVENESS IS THAT THE COUNTRY HAS A VERY LONG HISTORY OF CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP - BACK TO SHAKESPEARE. WE NEED TO STRESS THE 'ENTREPRENEURSHIP' AS MUCH AS THE 'CREATIVITY'.
THIS DUAL IMPERATIVE OUGHT TO RUN THROUGH THE EDUCATION SYSTEM LIKE BLACKPOOL THROUGH BLACKPOOL ROCK.
Further contribution by Philip Dodd to 'After The Crunch: Revisited' can be found here.
Creativity Money Love: Learning for the 21st Century by Creative & Cultural Skills is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Illustrations by Paul Davis - http://copyrightdavis.blogspot.com/