Global cultural economy

The global cultural economy by Christiaan De Beukelaer, Kim-Marie Spence ... The book indicates that the success of the cultural economy depends on a core assumption, which is that the cultural economy stimulates economic growth at a higher rate than other parts of the economy, creates jobs, increases exports, and improves the level of welfare and health. Moreover, it is said that the creativity at the heart of the cultural economy is the true wealth of nations in the twenty-first century, and the overall statement is that the cultural economy is a contributor to the economy, although artistic and cultural activities have faced the problem of failing to generate income from sales sufficient to cover their costs, let alone make a profit. How can this contradiction be explained? One way to study this phenomenon is to provide a teleological reading of the cultural economy, by identifying four different models of creative industries. The first is the "welfare model," which assumes economic failure, meaning that market prices do not cover costs. The second is the "competition model," which assumes that this sector is not much different from other sectors of the economy, meaning some commercial projects will succeed and others will not, but this failure is not due to a flaw in the sector's structure. The third is the "growth model," which sees the cultural economy outperform other sectors of the economy. The fourth is the "innovation model," which also produces significant economic gains, but these stem from the impact of innovation on the economy as a whole, not from the products or services directly offered by the sector. This book aims to spark debate and challenge accepted concepts by anchoring the discussion in the reality of the cultural economy's work in various local regions around the world; and this without reverting to the term "cultural industries" instead of "creative" or vice versa. Such a reversal closes the door to the future interaction that the book proposes. It employs four interconnected methods to achieve this, including shifting focus from creative industries to cultural industries, exploring the role and meaning of these cultural industries within their broader economic, cultural, and social contexts. Therefore, the focus is on the cultural economy and on what surrounds these industries in terms of social organization, important cultural context, and political economy. The book adopts a clear global approach to the cultural economy, allowing an exploration of how the global discourse relates to initiatives and policies at the urban, national, and regional levels. It also reveals the underlying tension in culture, as both heritage and innovation, aiming to encompass the complexity of culture and its relationship to the economic sphere, and to delineate the boundaries of the cultural economy.