Creative labour, cultural work and individualisation

This paper distinguishes between creative labour as a universal human attribute and cultural work as specifically a meaning‐making practice in order to offset the way in which that distinction has become blurred in recent cultural policy rhetoric. It discusses the enduring relevance of Marx’s theory of alienation, the separation of conception and execution in the modern labour process and issues concerning individualism and collectivism. Institutional transformation of television is traced as an exemplary instance of the transition from organised to neoliberal capitalism. The consequences for cultural work of this transition are examined, and the concept of individualisation is used to illuminate the conditions of work at the present time for young entrants to the ‘creative industries’. In conclusion, the urgent need for research on the sociology of occupational experience in the arts and culture today is stressed in order to rectify its neglect in cultural policy studies.