Cultural Entrepreneurship?

Panel discussion on We Are Europe´s 2016 theme

Creative urban milieus of the present are a double-edged sword: on the one hand they facilitate playful engagement with new opportunities, but on the other give rise to attendant problems that are bound up in living conditions which are increasingly precarious. Cultural production plays a pivotal role in today's capitalist productivity. Cultural entrepreneurs, scenes and subcultures are tied increasingly to economic aspects of society. Passion, courage, risk-taking, creativity, flexibility or improvisation have become prerequisites of a new work world and key resources of the neoliberal regime. In this process the borders between work and non-work, between professional life and private life are increasingly blurred. Freelance jobs, short-term contracts and minimum wages characterise many of the jobs in the artistic, cultural or creative arena.

The panellists offer and discuss a range of perspectives and experiences. What could be possible strategies to come to terms with those increasing insecurities, inequalities and exclusions? Could the unconditional basic income be a tool?