Modeling the Cultural Industries (David Throsby)

2340 Words10 Pages
Modeling the cultural industries (David Throsby) 1. Introduction The definition of the “cultural industries” remains a contested topic. This is due to continuing confusion and disagreement as to the distinction between cultural and creative industries and to differences between the discourses in which the term “cultural industries” is used. To add to the confusion, terminology arises and is put to use in a political context, such that the meaning of concepts may be imposed by a particular policy-making agenda rather than evolving from definitional first principles. Different emphases in defining the cultural industries lead to the construction of different models of the cultural production sector of the economy and hence to a different array of specific industries which are contained within the sector. This implies differing estimates of the contribution of the cultural industries to output and employment in the economy and significant differences in the way economic analysis can be applied to the cultural sector as a whole. As a consequence, the sorts of policy implications flowing from analyses of the cultural industries can also be expected to vary according to the model used. 2. Scope of the cultural industries Usage of the terms “creative” and “cultural” industries varies widely. The term “cultural industries” was in use in the UK and elsewhere during the 1980s, but reference to the “creative industries” came later. The description “creative industry” was used in Australia in 1994 in a major government policy statement Creative Nation, which sought to chart a cultural policy combining the arts with new communications technologies. Subsequently the term gained much wider acceptance with its adoption in the UK by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in 1997. Elsewhere the “cultural industries” nomenclature has remained more prominent. How might
Open Document