More than just a Job? Towards a History of Work in the Cultural Economy

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Martin Rempe
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 507692168

The planned network brings together historians with scholars from neighbouring disciplines to put work in the cultural economy - including music, film, and literary publishing - in a historical perspective. The initiative identifies two gaps in existing research: On the one hand, while “creative labour” has attracted considerable attention of social scientists in the past twenty-five years, their research is noticeably presentist. The first aim of the network is to address this presentism by historicising both cultural work and its study. On the other hand, historians have largely neglected work in the cultural sector, regardless of the fact that labour history proposes to research work beyond industrial wage labour. Studying work in the contemporary cultural economy since its emergence in the late nineteenth century from diverse angles, including cultural, social, and legal history as well as the history of knowledge, the second aim of the network is to establish a topic that answers the demands of a new labour history and promises important insights into post-industrial work more generally. In addition, the network will help with preserving important social-scientific archives. It will support young scholars who presently study relevant topics by creating opportunities to present, discuss and publish their work. Finally, the network will promote initiatives for follow-up research projects in the field.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• International Connection: Norway
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Klaus Nathaus