Fire, pestilence and the extractive economy: cultural policy after cultural policy

Abstract

Australia has witnessed long-standing cuts in the arts and culture federal budget. Most recently, the disappearance of the arts portfolio into a "super-ministry" along with infrastructure, transport, regional development and communications further signals the lack of support, both ideologically through public rhetoric, and financially through (absent) support packages, the current federal government holds towards the arts and arts workers. This paper accounts for how such ideological fractures have underserved freelancers, casuals, temporary and part-time workers in the arts who missed out on the critical initial support packages, and how state governments were more willing to make up for this initial shortfall. This paper further accounts for how the federal government lacks the necessary understanding of working patterns of those engaged in creative occupations, and over emphasizes funding bailouts for primary industry. This also has broader implications for how women are disproportionately impacted by sectors the federal government chooses to support.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the creative industries: A literature review and future research agenda

“…The subsectors, such as museums and libraries have been unable to fully exploit the digital technologies and infrastructure made available for online delivery of their products. Through our literature review, it became evident that the creative industries have been one of the most overlooked in economic recovery efforts in many countries ( Joffe, 2020 , Pacella et al, 2020 , Comunian and England, 2020 ; Ratten, 2020a).…”

“…Recent publications on this theme have focused on the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the creative industries ( He and Harris, 2020 ; Meyrick and Barnett, 2020; Joffe, 2020 , Banks and O’Connor, 2021 ). The cancellation of cultural events, exhibitions, concerts, performances and festivals, along with the restrictions on social distancing and limited economic activity in many countries, have negatively affected cultural workers, freelancers, the self-employed and other stakeholders in the creative sector ( Joffe, 2020 , Ratten, 2020 , Ratten, 2020 , Pacella et al, 2020 ). .…”

“…Many authors stated that policymakers should reconsider their approach when designing policies and change their strategies with regard to the creative industries ( Banks and O’Connor, 2020 , Joffe, 2020 , Pacella et al, 2020 , Dümcke, 2021 ). It has also been argued that in order to maintain the productivity of the sector, greater inclusiveness of stakeholders in the creative industries should be promoted ( Eikhof, 2020 ).…”

“…This ongoing pandemic has brought significant losses for countless businesses, leading to serious disruptions for many industries ( Leite et al, 2020 , Ivanov, 2020 , Prentice et al, 2020 , Mehrolia et al, 2021 ). Along with the travelling, hospitality and retail trade sectors, the creative industries have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ( Banks and O’Connor, 2020 , Harper, 2020 , Pacella et al, 2020 ; Ratten, 2020a; Serafini and Novosel, 2020 ). Gaining a better understanding of the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as formulating potential responses to this crisis, is part of the current research agenda ( Banks and O’Connor, 2020 ; Ratten, 2020a, 2020b; Verma and Gustafsson, 2020 ).…”

Street performers and donations in an online environment in the wake of COVID-19

“…The spread of COVID-19 has had many impacts. For creatives it has introduced a layer of difficulties not just for street performers but for all performers’ capacity to create a livelihood in these challenging times ( Betzler et al, 2020 ; Pacella et al, 2021 ). We use daily time series data from November 2015, when the busk.co platform commenced the facility for donations to performers from the public (donors) to August 2020 to investigate some of the potential impacts of the first wave of COVID-19 on activity by street performers and their donors on this online platform.…”