Neoliberals Dressed in Black; or, the Traffic in Creativity

In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic.

Karl Marx The German Ideology

It is now impossible to tell an espresso-sipping artist from a cappuccino-gulping banker.

David Brooks Bobos in Paradise

With the publication of The Rise of the Creative Class (rcc) in 2002, Richard Florida became almost instantly an influential figure across a range of fields and disciplines. An academic by training, over the past decade Florida has advanced ideas that have shaped discussions of current affairs and the decisions made by businesses and governments. Although he did not invent the term “Creative Class,” his thorough analysis and description of the characteristics and function of what he sees as this newly hegemonic socio-economic group guaranteed that he would be identified as its progenitor and primary spokesperson. Florida has remained a staunch defender and advocate of the Creative Class and its related concepts (creative cities and creative economies) over a series of follow-up books that answer criticisms and provide further nuance to the central ideas developed in rcc²; for him, the financial crash only further confirms the need to place creativity at the centre of how we imagine the economy.³ Nevertheless, it is the first book that remains the most significant, in terms of the articulation of the concepts and ideas he continues to advance, the attention and criticism it has generated, and its lasting impact on the language in which contemporary economic and urban planning decisions are framed.

In Canada, Florida’s ideas have generated more praise than criticism, more acceptance than dismissal. His appointment in 2007 at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management as Professor of Business and Creativity, and as Academic Director of the newly established Prosperity Institute, was celebrated by local and national media alike. Here was an example of just the kind of Creative Class migration that Florida himself wrote about, with the bonus being that his move from Washington dc to Toronto seemed to confirm the latter’s growing importance as a creative city. Even before his physical arrival in Canada, the discourse of creative cities had been taken up fervently by city governments anxious to find an urban planning narrative to match the challenges and expectations of a neoliberal age. If organizations such as the Creative City Network of Canada (ccnc) or the series of Creative Places + Spaces conferences organized by the non-profit group Artscape are any indication, the idea that creativity is essential to economic growth has been swallowed whole by urban governments across Canada—in big cities such as Vancouver and Montreal, but also in smaller places from Moncton, New Brunswick, to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan⁴; the Canada Excellence Research Chairs program to bring highly coveted scientific and medical researchers to Canada suggests that the federal government also believes in the economic impact of innovation and creativity. For artists and arts and cultural groups, this attention to the material conditions of creativity might not seem to be a problem. In an effort to create urban environs attractive to members of the Creative Class, local, regional, and national governments have created new programs to support and encourage culture. Instead of being a drain on economies, around the world the arts and culture sector is now seen as a potential financial boon: a segment of the economy in which it is necessary to invest given its overall fiscal impact.⁵

Is there anything wrong with this interest in the economic spinoffs of creativity? Even if only strategically—focusing on the outcome as opposed to the concepts, arguments, and theories employed by Florida and others championing creativity today—doesn’t this development represent a productive and positive situation...