Digital creativity and new professions: biographies in action to overcome the crisis Tatiana Mazali Politecnico di Torino / ISI Foundation / Torino Nord Ovest European Sociological Association 11th Conference Turin, 28 31 August 2013
Field research over a sample group of young-adult professionals of digital creativity Media-oriented digital professions Videomaking Animation Web/mobile apps Visual and Graphic Design
Knowledge workers in Italy 40% of the workforce. But, in Italy only 12% of the workers hold a degree! Source: Butera, Bagnara, Cesaria, Di Guardo, Knowledge working. 2008 1995 2005 Italy 29% 41% UK 34% 52% France 38% 43% USA 34% 38% Spain 23% 33% Germany 48%
source: UNCTAD, Creative Economy Report 2010
Comparison of four european countries: definitions of the creative/cultural industries (source: British Council s Creative And Cultural Economy Series/2, Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit. 2010)
THE ITALIAN MODEL: MiBAC (Italian Ministry of National Heritage and Cultural Activities), Libro Bianco sulla Creatività (White Paper on Creativity) (2007). This model focuses on quality of life and well-being, include among the cultural and creative industries also Industria del gusto (wine and fine food industry). Italian classification of Creative and Cultural Industries Material culture (as defined by the Fashion relationship between artifacts and Industrial design and craft social relations) Industria del gusto (wine and fine food industries) Contents, information and communication production Cultural Heritage Software Publishing TV Radio Advertising Cinema Cultural Heritage Music and Performing Arts Contemporary Art Architecture
METHODOLOGY FIELD RESEARCH PHASE 1: test questionnaire basic sample of Italian key informants (June 2013) PHASE 2: in-depth one-on-one interviews to the first sample of key informants (starting September ending November 2013) PHASE 3: national web based survey (starting September ending December 2013)
n. of professionals Employed 6 Entrepreneur 3 Free lance 12 Atypical contracts 7 Without pay 4 does not answer 1 total 33 Income (2012). euros n. of professionals Under 5000 8 between 5.000 and 10.000 between 10.000 and 20.000 between 20.000 and 30.000 between 30.000 and 50.000 between 50.000 and 100.000 8 11 2 1 0
Four-fold model 1. self learning + high education 2. Teamwork prevails 3. The fundamental dimension of concrete praxis (and authorship) is a specific hallmark of digital creativity professionals 4. All creatives adopt and maintain self-marketing strategies on the web, BUT contrary to what could be expected, and in contrast with the general mainstream trends, the outcome of such strategies is declared as not satisfactory by many
Follow up TEAMWORK Since digital media projects are complex, they demand a high amount of interdisciplinary work, usually delivered through the cooperation of highly specialized experts. Also, a confluence and friendly confrontation of different know-hows and work experiences is needed for higher results. Follow up FABLAB CULTURE "Individuate in your activity the amount of time dedicated to the phase of designing/developing of a work/project and to the subsequent phase of realization n. of professionals 30% design 70% realization 50% design 50% realization 70% design 30% realization The two phases are indistinguishable 15 10 6 2 total 33
Follow up CRITICAL ONLINE SELF- MARKETING Various Social Networks are being used in order to self-promote, with recourse to the whole range from person-centered to media-centered. Interestingly, the use of Vimeo prevails with regards to Youtube. Effectiveness of the use of the web in the search for jobs Very much 10 Enough 8 n. of professionals A little 12 Not usefull at all 0 I don t know 3 Total 33
NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS / Lights and Shadows "What do you like about your profession? Which aspects of your work do you treasure most, and would rather not give up?. The emotional approach. The social-relational approach. The explorative approach. The free style approach. The expressive and creative approach
I wish to underline the fact that while creatives mostly belong within two of these five semantic areas, the explorative approach is an exception since it almost always represents an exclusive choice.
SHADOWS economical crisis, market crisis lack of available job & currency + "a chronical lack of acknowledgement from the surrounding world" = discrepancy between the "enacted role" (that is, the way a professional works, maintains social relationships, pursues and achieves results) and the "profession" (the social acknowledgement of an individual's "enacted role ) (Federico Butera, 2009)
ACTIONS TO OVERCOME THE CRISIS Professionals + Institutions protectionist measures versus provocative statements
ANY SUGGESTIONS? tatiana.mazali@polito.it tatiana.mazali@gmail.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The research is funded by a research grant from Fondazione CRT, co-funded by Torino Nord Ovest, supported by DIST Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (Politecnico di Torino Università degli Studi di Torino) SOME REFERENCES DCMS (1998), Creative Industries Mapping Document 1998, DCMS, London DCMS (2001), Creative Industries Mapping Document 2001, DCMS, London KEA European Affairs (2006), The Economy of Culture in Europe, European Commission UNCTAD (2008, 2010), Creative Economy Report MiBAC (2007), Libro Bianco sulla creatività Unioncamere, Fondazione Symbola (2012), L Italia che verrà Butera F., Di Guardo S. (2009), Il modello di analisi e progettazione del lavoro della conoscenza, WP Fondazione Irso Florida, R. (2002), The Rise of the Creative Class, Basic Books, New York Howkins, J. (2001-2007-2013 forthcoming), The Creative Economy, Penguin, London