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Creative Work Under Capitalism

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Labour in Contemporary Capitalism

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

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Abstract

This chapter examinest the special, and contradictory, role of creative workers in capitalist development. Necessary for any innovation, they are also expendable, once their originality as been milked of its value. It looks at the contested ownership of their intellectual property, their motivation, the forms of alienation they may experience and the particular challenges posed by their management.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Braverman, H. (1974) Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century, New York: Monthly Review Press.

  2. 2.

    I used this metaphor in Huws, U. (2007) ‘The Spark in the Engine: Creative Workers in a Global Economy’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 1 (1), on which this chapter draws in part.

  3. 3.

    Huws, U. (2010) ‘Expression and Expropriation: The Dialectics of Autonomy and Control in Creative Labour’, Ephemera, 10 (3/4): 504–521: 504. This article is another source from my already-published work on which this chapter draws.

  4. 4.

    Morris, W. (1990) News from Nowhere, Chapter 15: ‘On the Lack of Incentive to Labour in a Communist Society’. Retrieved, November 2, 2006 from the William Morris Internet Archive, http://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1890/nowhere/chapters/chapter15.htm.

  5. 5.

    Kraft, J. P. (1996) ‘Stage to Studio: Musicians and the Sound Revolution, 1890–1950’ in Studies in Industry and Society, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press: 9.

  6. 6.

    See, for example: McKercher, C. & V. Mosco (2006) ‘Divided They Stand: Hollywood Unions in the Information Age’, Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation, 1 (1): 130–143; Atkinson, W., & K. Randle (2014) ‘“Sorry Mate, You’re Finishing Tonight”: A Historical Perspective on Employment Flexibility in the UK Film Industry’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 8 (1): 49–68.

  7. 7.

    Kelly, T. (1966) A Competitive Cinema, London: The Institute of Economic Affairs; Reid, I. (2008) The Persistence of the Internal Labour Market in Changing Circumstances: The British Film Production Industry During and After the Closed Shop, PhD Thesis, London School of Economics.

  8. 8.

    See, for example, Hesmondhalgh, D., & S. Baker (2011) ‘“A Very Complicated Version of Freedom” Conditions and Experiences of Creative Labour in Three Cultural Industries’, Variant, 41, Spring: 34–38; Banks, M., R. Gill, & S. Taylor (2013) Theorizing Cultural Work, Abingdon: Routledge; and Randle, K., & N. Culkin (2009) ‘Getting In and Getting On in Hollywood: Freelance Careers in an Uncertain Industry’ in A. Mckinlay & C. Smith (eds.) Creative Labour, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

  9. 9.

    Simon, J.-P., & M. Bogdanowicz (2013) The Digital Shift in the Media and Content Industries: Policy Brief, Seville: European Commission, Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

  10. 10.

    Gurstein, P. (2007) ‘Navigating the Seamless Environment in the Global Supply Chain: Implications for Canadian Regions and Workers’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 2 (1): 76–97.

  11. 11.

    Huws, U. (2014b) ‘Shifting Boundaries: Gender, Labor, and New Information and Communication Technology’ in C. Carter, L. Stener, & L. McLoughlin (eds.) Routledge Companion to Media and Gender, London and New York: Taylor and Francis: 147–156.

  12. 12.

    Huws, U., & J. Flecker (2004) Asian Emergence: The World’s Back Office? Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies.

  13. 13.

    Percival, N., & D. Hesmondhalgh (2014) ‘Unpaid Work in the UK Television and Film Industries: Resistance and Changing Attitudes’, European Journal of Communication, 29 (2): 188–203; Perlin, R. (2012) Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy, London: Verso.

  14. 14.

    See, for example, Blair, H., S. Grey, & K. Randle (2001) ‘Working in Film: Employment in a Project Based Industry’, Personnel Review, 30 (2): 170–185; Wakso, J. (2003) How Hollywood Works, London: Sage.

  15. 15.

    For an interesting analysis of how this functions in the video games industry, see: Legault, M.-J. (2013) ‘IT Firms’ Working Time (De)regulation Model: A By-product of Risk Management Strategy and Project-Based Work Management’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 7 (1): 76–94.

  16. 16.

    Commonly used in the entertainment industry, ‘residual’ payments are made when parts of a work or recorded performance are re-used, for example if a song is reused in a film soundtrack.

  17. 17.

    For a fuller discussion of this, see Sayers, S. (2003) ‘Creative Activity and Alienation in Hegel and Marx’, Historical Materialism, 11 (1): 107–128.

  18. 18.

    For the relationship between customer ratings and earnings on online platforms, see Gandini, A., I. Pais, & D. Beraldo ‘Reputation and Trust on Online Labour Markets: The Reputation Economy of Elance’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 10 (1): 27–43.

  19. 19.

    Singh, S., M. Kretschmer, & A. A. Gavaldon, 2018 Authors’ Earnings: A Survey of British Writers, London: ALCS: 5. Accessed on September 29, 2018 from: https://wp.alcs.co.uk/app/uploads/2018/06/ALCS-Authors-earnings-2018.pdf.

  20. 20.

    Singh, S., M. Kretschmer, & A. A. Gavaldon, 2018 Authors’ Earnings: A Survey of British Writers, London: ALCS: 4. Accessed on September 29, 2018 from: https://wp.alcs.co.uk/app/uploads/2018/06/ALCS-Authors-earnings-2018.pdf.

  21. 21.

    I have discussed these developments in greater depth, focusing particularly on their gender impacts, in Huws, U. (2015) ‘Shifting Boundaries: Gender, Labor and New Information and Communication Technology’, in C. Carter, L. Steiner, & L. McLaughlin (eds.) Routledge Companion to Media & Gender, London: Routledge: 147–157.

  22. 22.

    Huws, U. (2015) Online Labour Exchanges, or ‘Crowdsourcing’: Implications for Occupational Safety and Health, Bilbao: European Occupational Safety and Health Agency.

  23. 23.

    See Huws, U. (2015) Online Labour Exchanges, or ‘Crowdsourcing’: Implications for Occupational Safety and Health, Bilbao: European Occupational Safety and Health Agency.

  24. 24.

    The Economist (2015) ‘Freelance Workers Available at a Moment’s Notice Will Reshape the Nature of Companies and the Structure of Careers’, January 3.

  25. 25.

    Green, A., M. de Hoyos, S.-A. Barnes, B. Baldauf, & H. Behle (2014) Exploratory Research on Internet-Enabled Work Exchanges and Employability: Analysis and Synthesis of Qualitative Evidence on Crowdsourcing for Work, Funding and Volunteers, Seville: EU Science Hub. Accessed on October 3, 2018 from: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/exploratory-research-internet-enabled-work-exchanges-and-employability-analysis-and; Mandl, I. (2014) European Foundation for the Improvement of Living & Working Conditions, ‘Status quo and First Findings on Crowd Employment and ICT Based, Mobile Work’, Presentation to Dynamics of Virtual Work (COST Action IS 1202) Meeting, University of Bucharest, March 28, 2014.

  26. 26.

    Statista (2018) Accessed on October 3, 2018 from: https://www.statista.com/outlook/335/100/crowdfunding/worldwide.

  27. 27.

    CNN Money (2015) ‘Etsy Now Worth Over $3 billion. Stock Jumps 88% After IPO’ Stockswatch, April 16. Accessed on August 24, 2015 from: http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/15/investing/etsy-ipo-16-a-share-wall-street/.

  28. 28.

    Polanyi, M. (1967) The Tacit Dimension, Garden City, New York: Doubleday.

  29. 29.

    Braverman, H. (1974) Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century, New York: Monthly Review Press.

  30. 30.

    I have written at greater length about this in Huws, U. (2003) The Making of a Cybertariat: Virtual Work in a Real World, New York: Monthly Review Press.

  31. 31.

    Hales, M. (1980) Living Thinkwork: Where Do Labour Processes Come From? London: Free Association Books.

  32. 32.

    See, for example, Bourdieu, P. (1983) ‘Forms of Capital’ in J. C. Richards (ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, New York: Greenwood Press.

  33. 33.

    Huws, U. (2010) ‘Expression and Expropriation: The Dialectics of Autonomy and Control in Creative Labour’, Ephemera, 10 (3/4): 504–521.

  34. 34.

    Doeringer, P. B., & Piore, M. J. (1971) Internal Labor Markets and Manpower Analysis, Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.

  35. 35.

    Braverman, H. (1974) Labor and Monopoly Capital, New York: Monthly Review Press.

  36. 36.

    Burawoy, M. (1979) Manufacturing Consent, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

  37. 37.

    Cooley, M. (1982) Architect or Bee? Boston: South End Press.

  38. 38.

    Beynon, H. (1975) Working for Ford, Wakefield: E.P. Publishing.

  39. 39.

    Schumacher, L. (2006) ‘Immaterial Fordism: The Paradox of Game Industry Labour’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 1 (1): 144–155.

  40. 40.

    Sometimes exercised in a tacit way through ‘communities of practice’.

  41. 41.

    Leys, C. (2003) Market-Driven Politics: Neoliberal Democracy and the Public Interest, London: Verso.

  42. 42.

    Steinko, A. F. (2006) ‘Rethinking Progressive and Conservative Values: Spain’s New Economy Workers and Their Values’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 1 (1).

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  1. Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK

    Ursula Huws

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Huws, U. (2019). Creative Work Under Capitalism. In: Labour in Contemporary Capitalism. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52042-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52042-5_5

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-52040-1

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