CRESC: ESRC CENTRE FOR RESEARCH ON SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE 

The Creative Industries: Ten Years After
A one day symposium

Wednesday 27 February 2008
Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes.
Central Meeting Room 1

Organisers
Mark Banks, Department of Sociology/CRESC, The Open University
Justin O'Connor, Cultural and Media Industries Research Centre, University 
of Leeds. 

In 1998 the recently created UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport 
added some popular glamour to New Labour’s modernising agenda by placing 
the newly named ‘creative industries’ – media, design and arts based 
enterprises - at the heart of the nation’s economic future. Very quickly 
the notion of ‘creative industries’ became a glittering ‘jewel in the 
crown’ of New Labour’s vision. The antecedents of 'creative industries', 
the so-called 'cultural industries' of the 1970s and 80s were carefully 
steered from view, as the use of the term 'creative industries' signalled 
a desire to harness cultural production to the new economic agenda. 

What has happened in the decade since 1997? On the one hand the creative 
industries can be seen to have gone from strength to strength. The DCMS 
has re-launched its creative industry strategy with renewed vigour. The 
Creative Economy Programme sets out an ambitious strategy which once again 
places the creative industries at the heart of the UK’s economic future. 
The ‘UK model’ has been internationally exported, across Europe, and into 
territories as diverse as Australia, China and South Korea, shaping and 
being shaped by pre-existing policy frameworks, contributing to the rapid 
globalization of creative industry debate. Yet there are some hard 
questions to be asked and key issues to be addressed – this symposium 
attempts to address these issues and in doing so take forward an agenda 
for critical debate on the creative industries.

A series of invited key speakers will address the following themes: 

the historical formation and context of 'creative' industries;
creative industry policy and the legacy of ‘New Labour’; 
creative industries and local and regional development;
creative industries in comparative international contexts; 
the changing politics of creativity and creative industry work ;
the future policy agenda for creative industries.

Speakers include: Justin O’Connor, David Hesmondhalgh (Leeds), Andy Pratt 
(LSE), Kate Oakley (City), Chris Bilton (Warwick), Mark Banks, Jason 
Toynbee (Open). 

Attendance is free for Open University and CRESC students and staff, with 
a nominal charge of £15 for external attendees (coffee and lunch 
provided). Please contact Karen Ho [log in to unmask] by February 15th if 
you wish to register for this event.