Five - Varieties of creative citizenship

Summary

Introduction

In this chapter we identify some varieties of creative citizenship, not with the expectation of achieving a comprehensive taxonomy, but in order to test the scope, robustness and potential value of creative citizenship, both as an idea and as a set of practices, with reference to the case studies undertaken in the Creative Citizen project.

Creative citizenship as a concept can help us consider how ‘everyday’ creative acts – such as cooking, dancing, knitting or debating – can generate community engagement. It gives us a way of rendering coherent an array of otherwise disparate phenomena: for example, when pictures and messages in social media from the streets of a turbulent neighbourhood become a catalyst for mobilising people around an issue or cause; or when cultural or artistic activities transform a planning consultation meeting into a creative experience, where urban issues are deliberated upon in a more collaborative and dynamic spirit. These are examples of creative citizenship in action.

‘Creative citizenship’ conceptualises the everyday creativity of ordinary people (that is, not just creative professionals) as a core civic resource, something that adds to the capacity of the community and which harnesses their combined energy for change. Such everyday creativity cannot be understood in isolation from the civic networks within which it is situated. Creative citizenship does not merely describe the acts of creative individuals. It depends upon and contributes to the civic networks where it occurs, especially now that the boundaries between producers and consumers are diminished by digital abundance. It is more about the creativity of groups than the creativity of individuals. This chapter explores a range of ways in which acts of creativity occur within a civic and communicative context.

We test our theoretical approach by applying it to case studies in the Creative Citizen project, including examples of activism, community journalism, hyperlocal publishing, insurgent and formal community-led planning practices, and to informal and formal creative practices developed around music and media production.

Rage, renewal and everyday acts: initiation and purpose

Acts of citizenship can be considered creative in various ways. They may be creative in the same way that Schumpeterian ‘creative destruction’ is, where innovation is disruptive or a threat in circumstances where renewal is needed.