The ‘Creative Industries’ Revisited

This lecture reappraises the concept of the ‘creative industries’ two decades after its pivotal adoption by the UK government. Against the background of the episodic development of industrial strategy since 2017 and the conclusion of a dedicated ‘sector deal’ in March 2018, the author queries the continuing usefulness of the creative industries as a policy construct, primarily from the perspectives of political economy and business economics but also practitioner self-identification. He concludes by highlighting the unknowns which underpin the research agenda in the context of the setting up of the AHRC-financed Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC), a five year project which culminates in 2023.