At the request of Robert Kloosterman, University of Amsterdam:

 

--

 

4th Global Conference on Economic Geography

University of Oxford, 19-23 August 2015

 

Call for papers for the Global Conference on Economic Geography in Oxford 2015, sponsored by the International Geographical Union (IGU) - Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces:

 

 

Crafts and Arts: The role of craft in creative industries

 

Martin Banks: [log in to unmask]

Barbara Heebels: [log in to unmask]

Robert C. Kloosterman: [log in to unmask]

 

 

Call for Papers

 

Creative industries are seen as one of the mainstays of advanced urban economies. Quite a few studies have been conducted on the role of these activities in the wider urban economy and on how the spatial and social organization of creative industries contributes to knowledge reproduction and innovation in these industries. Research has typically focused on the “creative workers” – the persons who tend to come up with the ideas, concepts and innovations that characterise these activities. Much less attention has been paid to the role of craft work in creative industries. Behind the creative front persons, however, we may find a whole array of craft workers taking care of, for instance, sound engineering, lighting, post-production, or the actual making of mock-ups, prototypes and high-end fashion clothing, as Mark Banks has pointed out. This whole infrastructure of craft workers seems to constitute a crucial, but largely neglected component of the creative industries.

 

In this session, we want to investigate the role of craft workers in various creative industries in different national institutional contexts and look at:

 

·         The division of labour between “creative” and craft workers: who is actually doing what?

·         What is the spatio-organisational format of craft work: in-house production, outsourcing, project-based organisations and how is this related to spatial patterns? 

·         Under which labour conditions (hierarchical relations, precariousness) does craft work take place and what determines this?

·         How are craft skills reproduced in different creative industries and institutional contexts given the importance of tacit  knowledge and embodied learning: through formal or informal schooling, apprenticeships, or a combination?

·         Are digital technologies changing the production processes and what are the consequences for the role of craft work? 

 

 

Therefore, this session aims at bringing together submissions on topics including:

craft work in various creative industries, apprenticeship-based learning in communities of practices in craft, technology and embodied learning in creative work spaces and the relation between arts and crafts. If you are interested in presenting a paper on this theme please email Martin Banks ([log in to unmask]); Barbara Heebels ([log in to unmask]); or Robert C. Kloosterman ([log in to unmask]) with an abstract up to 300 words by Monday 2^nd March 2015.