Creative Labour and Cultural Production

Research

Members of the group have research interests, expertise and experience in a range of areas relating to creative labour and cultural production:

Samantha Warren has been interested in creative occupations since beginning her career as a researcher in 1999 – her PhD explored the impact of aesthetic office design on the experience of software engineers and designers in the south of England. Since then she has been pioneering the use of photography as a creative method to visualise the hidden, expressive, dimensions of work and identity construction and latterly has moved into exploring how other senses (e.g., smell) impact on individuals’ everyday working lives. Her current project is looking at the work of DJs in underground dance music scenes, exploring the blurring of boundaries between commerce and art, work and play, and the dynamics of new technologies. She moved to Wales as a Cardiff Business School Professor in 2015, having held a Chair at Essex Business School and worked at the universities of Surrey and Portsmouth previously.

Caitriona Noonan’s expertise lies is television production cultures and creative identity.  Her most recent project critically examines the contribution of the BBC and its Roath Lock development to the Welsh creative economy. This research is published in the Journal of Popular Television (McElroy and Noonan 2016) and will feature in her forthcoming co-written book, ‘Mobile Fictions: Television Drama Production from Dr Who to Game of Thrones’. Caitriona has also published in the International journal of Cultural Policy, the European Journal of Cultural Studies, the International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, and she co-edited the volume Cultural Work and Higher Education (Palgrave McMillan, 2013). She is a lecturer in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture.

Dimitrinka Stoyanova-Russell’s research focuses on careers and employment in the creative industries. She is also interested in learning mechanisms and skills development in creative freelance environments. Themes in her research involve communities of practice, labour markets, social capital, freelance careers, networks, skills, and small independent production companies. Dimitrinka has researched the UK film and TV industries and has conducted research in various parts of the UK. She has also studied careers, skills development and working lives of comedy performers. Dimitrinka’s work has been published in journals such as Organization studies; Work, Employment and Society, and British Journal of Industrial Relations. She has contributed to edited volumes on Creative Labour (2009) and Careers in Creative Industries (2012), and has co-edited special issues on comedy, and diversity in the creative industries.