The precarities of cultural and creative work through pandemic times

Abstract

In recent years, we have experienced a renewed public awareness of the importance of creative and cultural work for personal and national wellbeing. Contributors to this special issue turn their attention to the diverse experiences of creative and cultural workers, to understand how creative work has been disrupted, abandoned, transformed or reinvented across distinct cultural and economic contexts. In various circumstances reshaped by the pandemic, creative and cultural workers soon realized that paid work as they knew it would no longer be possible, and they had to quickly recalibrate their breadwinning strategies, in turn affecting their understandings of labour and value. This special issue considers the experiences of workers across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Australia, adding still-needed geographic diversity as part of ongoing efforts in research on creative and cultural work in pandemic times.