Uses and Abuses of Creativity. Sociology of creative processes, transitions to digital and creative policies

Abstract

Creativity is a notion awakening growing interest in the social sciences. This attention mirrors the debate on the potential economic and social development of creativity as a skill, profession or industry. However, there is also rising critical interpretation of the abuse of this concept, exploited to legitimize the hasty digitization of the cultural field, and of the instrumentalization of culture in pursuit of economic interests. This article is grounded on the contributions of numerous sociologists (Bourdieu, Collins and Menger) in an attempt to reconsider the conditions under which creativity develops, and examine how the framework of digitalization and instrumentalization is shifting (not always positively) the structure of this field, and the interaction frameworks that favour the development of this creation of culture.