Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Hip Hub? Class, Race and Gender in Creative Hubs

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Creative Hubs in Question

Part of the book series: Dynamics of Virtual Work ((DVW))

Abstract

This chapter builds on a growing body of research about inequalities in the cultural and creative industries to ask how creative hubs are situated in relation to class, race and gender. Drawing on our research in London hubs, we examine whether hubs contribute to greater diversity in the CCI workforce or whether they could be said to entrench privilege. Our analysis revolves around two interrelated questions: first, we ask what contextualises and constitutes inequality in creative and cultural hubs; and second, does an emphasis upon ‘getting the community right’ in these types of spaces contribute to a heightening rather than a diminishing of inequalities, particularly as decision-making gets concentrated in the opaque process of ‘curation’?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acker, J. (2006). Inequality regimes: Gender, class, and race in organizations. Gender & Society,20(4), 441–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acme Studios. (2011). Unearthed, the creative history of a brownfield site. Available at http://www.acme.org.uk/residencies/unearthed?admin=1.

  • Amin, A. (2002). Ethnicity and the multicultural city: Living with diversity. Environment and Planning A, 34(6), 959–980.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arts Council. (2018). Equality, diversity and the creative case. Available at https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/equality-diversity-and-creative-case-data-report-2016-17 (Report downloaded on 24 August).

  • Banks, M., & Hesmondhalgh, D. (2009). Looking for work in creative industries policy. International Journal of Cultural Policy,15(4), 415–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodmerkel, S., & Barker, R. (forthcoming). Hitting the ‘glass wall’: Investigating everyday ageism in the advertising industry. The Sociological Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brook, O., O’Brien, D., & Taylor, M. (2018). Inequality talk: How discourses by senior men reinforce exclusions from creative occupations. Available at https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/y6db7/.

  • Catungal, J. P., Leslie, D., & Hii, Y. (2009). Geographies of displacement in the creative city: The case of Liberty Village, Toronto. Urban Studies,46(5–6), 1095–1114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christopherson, S. (2008). Beyond the self-expressive creative worker: An industry perspective on entertainment media. Theory, Culture & Society,25(7–8), 73–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Directors UK. (2018). Who’s calling the shots? A report on gender inequality among directors working in UK TV. Available at https://www.directors.uk.com/news/who-s-calling-the-shots.

  • Edley, N., & Wetherell, M. (2001). Jekyll and Hyde: Men’s constructions of feminism and feminists. Feminism & Psychology,11(4), 439–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmond, M., & McGowan, J. (2017). We need more mediocre women! Overland,229, 81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florida, R. (2002). The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R. (1993). Justifying injustice: Broadcasters’ accounts of inequality in radio. In E. Burman & I. Parker (Eds.), Discourse analytic research: Readings and repertoires of texts in action. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R. (2014). Unspeakable inequalities: Post feminism, entrepreneurial subjectivity, and the repudiation of sexism among cultural workers. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society,21(4), 509–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R., & Pratt, A. (2008). In the social factory? Immaterial labour, precariousness and cultural work. Theory, Culture & Society,25(7–8), 1–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grugulis, I., & Stoyanova, D. (2009). ‘I don’t know where you learn them’: Skills in film and TV. In Creative labour: Working in the creative industries (pp. 135–155). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry, L. (2017). Ofcom is practising ‘fake diversity’ with on-screen targets. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jul/19/lenny-henry-ofcom-practising-fake-diversity-on-screen-tv-targets.

  • Holgate, J., & Mckay, S. (2007). Institutional barriers to recruitment and employment in the audio visual industries. The effect on black and minority ethnic workers. London: Working Lives Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • HoneyBook. (2017). 2017 gender pay gap. Available at https://www.honeybook.com/gender-pay-gap.

  • Hope, S., & Figiel, J. (2015). Interning and investing: Rethinking unpaid work, social capital and the “Human Capital Regime”. Triple C: Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society, 13(2), 361–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, D., & Ramon, A. C. (2015). Hollywood diversity report: Flipping the script. Los Angeles, CA: Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles. Retrieved 10 February 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, D., & Pringle, J. K. (2015). Unmanageable inequalities: Sexism in the film industry. The Sociological Review, 63(1 suppl.), 37–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelan, E. K. (2007, November). ‘I don’t know why’—Accounting for the scarcity of women in ICT work. Women’s Studies International Forum, 30(6), 499–511. Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelan, E. K. (2009). Gender fatigue: The ideological dilemma of gender neutrality and discrimination in organizations. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences/Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l’Administration,26(3), 197–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khaleeli, H. (2014, June 20). Lenny Henry: Diversity in the TV industry “is worth fighting for”. The Guardian. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/20/lenny-henry-interview-diversity-tv-industry.

  • Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, D. (2011). Networks, cultural capital and creative labour in the British independent television industry. Media, Culture & Society,33(4), 549–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayor of London. (2014). Artist’s workspace study: Reports and recommendations. Greater London Authority. Available at https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/artists_workspace_study_september2014_reva_web.pdf.

  • Merkel, J. (2015). Coworking in the city. Ephemera,15(2), 121–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, G., & Nelligan, P. (2018). The creativity hoax: Precarious work in the gig economy. London and New York: Anthem Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nixon, S., & Crewe, B. (2004). Pleasure at work? Gender, consumption and work‐based identities in the creative industries. Consumption Markets & Culture, 7(2), 129–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, D. (2018a). Tackling class discrimination. Arts Professional. Available at https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/article/tackling-class-discrimination (Downloaded on 24 August).

  • O’Brien, D. (2018b). Inequality talk: How discourses by senior men reinforce exclusions from creative occupations (draft paper under review).

    Google Scholar 

  • ONS. (2018). Understanding the gender pay gap in the UK. Available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/understandingthegenderpaygapintheuk/2018-01-17.

  • Pratt, A. C. (2009). Urban regeneration: From the arts ‘feel good’ factor to the cultural economy: A case study of Hoxton, London. Urban Studies, 46(5–6), 1041–1061.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randle, K., Leung, W. F., & Kurian, J. (2007). Creating difference, Creative industries research and consultancy unit. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosner, N. (2010). The temporality of practice space: Towards a theory of the live/work community on Fish Island (MSc dissertation Cities Programme). London School of Economics and Political Science, East London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruth Eikhof, D., & Warhurst, C. (2013). The promised land? Why social inequalities are systemic in the creative industries. Employee Relations,35(5), 495–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saha, A. (2018). Race and the cultural industries. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiach, M., Nakano, D., Virani, T., & Poli, K. (2017). Report on creative hubs and urban development goals (UK/Brazil). Creative hubs and urban development goals (UK/Brazil). Available at https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/28705.

  • Thanki, A., & Jeffreys, S. (2007). Who are the fairest? Ethnic segmentation in London’s media production. Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation,1(1), 108–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Throsby, D., & Petetskaya, K. (2017). Making art work: An economic study of professional artists in Australia. The Australia Council for the Arts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Virani, T. E., & Malem, W. (2015). Re-articulating the creative hub concept as a model for business support in the local creative economy: The case of Mare Street in Hackney (Creativeworks London Working Paper Series).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wing-Fai, L., Gill, R., & Randle, K. (2015). Getting in, getting on, getting out? Women as career scramblers in the UK film and television industries. The Sociological Review, 63(1 suppl.), 50–65.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Tarek E. Virani

  2. Department of Sociology, School of Arts and Social Sciences, City, University of London, London, UK

    Rosalind Gill

Authors
  1. Tarek E. Virani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rosalind Gill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tarek E. Virani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. City, University of London, London, UK

    Rosalind Gill

  2. City, University of London, London, UK

    Andy C. Pratt

  3. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Tarek E. Virani

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Virani, T.E., Gill, R. (2019). Hip Hub? Class, Race and Gender in Creative Hubs. In: Gill, R., Pratt, A.C., Virani, T.E. (eds) Creative Hubs in Question. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10653-9_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10653-9_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-10652-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-10653-9

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation