Abstract
How equitable and co-operative are creative hubs? Whilst their image is often one of creative conviviality, their political economies are often fairly diverse, including a range of forms of cultural industry from the corporate to the co-operative. Drawing on a range of historical archival material and contemporary interviews with worker’s co-operatives in the cultural sector, this chapter considers the benefits brought by worker’s co-ops to cultural hubs in London in both their contemporary and recent historical manifestations. Taking a critical and polemical stance, it argues that supporting worker’s co-operatives should be central to any strategic provision for creative hubs.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
This quote is taken from an interview Marisol Sandoval conducted together with Greig de Peuter at Workspace Co-operative 115 in April 2017.
- 3.
Co-operatives UK directory. https://www.uk.coop/directory?loc%5Bdistance%5D=20&loc%5Bunit%5D=3959&loc%5Borigin%5D=&keys=&cat=6. Accessed on 17 May 2016.
- 4.
- 5.
https://www.theroco.org/join-us/. Accessed 1 November 2017.
- 6.
The oral history project “The GLC Story” has been recently constructing a history and collating resources on the GLC for younger generations. See http://glcstory.co.uk/ and their GLC Story Oral History Project zine (2017).
- 7.
http://www.cooperationjackson.org/. Accessed 10 November 2017.
- 8.
http://www.cooperationjackson.org/. Accessed 10 November 2017.
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Sandoval, M., Littler, J. (2019). Creative Hubs: A Co-operative Space?. In: Gill, R., Pratt, A.C., Virani, T.E. (eds) Creative Hubs in Question. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10653-9_8
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