This document discusses inclusion in the arts and culture sector. It notes that artists born in the 1940s-50s like David Bowie benefited from greater socioeconomic equality and freedom from debt, allowing them to experiment and innovate freely. However, current economic conditions make it more difficult for artists to take risks. The document argues that for arts organizations to truly embrace inclusion, they must address both artistic practice and the underlying social and economic conditions that enable creative work. It suggests arts and culture can help shape new social contracts and norms as jobs are lost to automation.

1. SOME NOTES ON
“INCLUSION”
PAT KANE,THE PLAY ETHIC
FOR CREATIVE SCOTLAND, 1/2/16

5. John Lennon: b. 1940
Bob Dylan: b. 1941
Lou Reed: b. 1942
David Bowie: b. 1947
PRUDENTIAL: 1948 –THE LUCKIEST
AGETO BE BORN: 3 DECADES OF
WELFARE STATE – FOLLOWED BY 3
DECADES OF RISINGASSET PRICES
Joni Mitchell: b. 1941
Aretha Franklin: b. 1941
LaurieAnderson: b. 1947
Chrissie Hynde: b. 1951

6. “The Political Economy of David Bowie’,Will Davies
Thomas Piketty: “The past devours the
future” (previous inequalities dictate
present ones; returns to capital
exceeds rising wages)
Davies: “Those born in the 1940s
and ’50s owed nothing to the past,
because the past had been blitzed,
flattened, written off, cancelled.
That trough in Piketty’s graph
above was a unique opportunity for
playfulness, uninhibited by fear of
what one’s creditors or benefactors
might think”.
Now…
Where artists live with parents, or
work three jobs, to stay viable...
Where the data we generate enforced
our credit ratings...
Where the shadow of debt, hangs
over any bold life experiments...
Is what we mourn about Bowie’s loss
the sheer freedom from the overhang
of the past?

7. Equality Act (2010) – Protected characteristics
Age * Disability * Gender reassignment * Race/ethnicity * Religion or
belief * Sex/gender * Sexual orientation * Pregnancy and maternity *
Marriage and civil partnership
Bowie & Co – benefitted from being “luckiest” generation, free to
genuinely transform, shape-shift, innovate, BE EXACTLY WHOTHEY
WANTTO BE, under conditions of greater socio-economic equality.
(Ellie Harrison just presumed she could do this…?)
But for CS to ”include” economic “inclusion” in EDI is a HUGE challenge –
for which a creative agency, on its own, is poorly equipped...

8. ...HOW DOES/SHOULD INCLUSION IN ARTS AND CULTURE RELATE TO
GENIUS, WORLD-CHANGING TALENT? IRRELEVANT/RELEVANT?
WHAT ARETHE ENABLING CONDITIONS, IN AN AGE WHERE SOME OF
THE ETHICAL BATTLESTHESE ARTISTS FOUGHT HAVE BEEN WON?

9. THE ‘10,000 HOURS’
RULE (Gladwell)
THE ‘SOCIALTURN’ IN
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Experts at practising – they push
themselves to the exact limit of
their skillset and thus expand
their abilities day after day
What conditions support a mass
culture of practising?
Artists/creators feel their role is to
have an impact on communities,
their skills serving ascertained
needs (eg, Assemble,Turner Prize
winners). Gives purpose to artists –
but does it make MORE artists?

10. “ALL PROBLEMS OF NOTATION WILL BE SOLVED BYTHE MASSES”, SIMON
YUILL, 2008
“A practice that is collaborative coheres the production of
many under a single goal, thereby directing the disposition
of their labour.”
”A practice that is distributive enables the disposition of
labour by others under their own direction.” [musical
notation, computer code…black jazz collectives, FLOSS]
Artistic inclusion must be about both collaborative
practice AND distributive practice – directing the
creative labour, AND enabling creative labour of others?

11. WHAT DOES IT MEAN
TO ”MAINSTREAM”
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION INTO
THE ARTS AND
CULTURE...
WHEN ARTS AND
CULTURE WILL BECOME
THE MAINSTREAM
ACTIVITY OF A
SOCIETY?

12. Job categories most at risk
• office and administrative support;
• sales and services;
• transport;
• construction and extraction;
• manufacturing
Job categories least at risk
• skilled management * financial services
• computing, engineering, science
• education * legal services
• community services * ARTS AND MEDIA
• healthcare.
Three types of task that come
naturally to us, but are hard for robots
• Originality
• Social intelligence
• Interacting with complex objects in
unstructured environments
Osborne and Frey: 35-47% of Anglo-American jobs to be lost to automation
over next 10-30 years

13. TO ME,THIS HASVERY OBVIOUS IMPLICATIONS…
”ARTS AND MEDIA” (ALONG WITH “EDUCATION”, ”COMMUNITY SERVICES”,
“SKILLED MANAGEMENT”, “HEALTHCARE”) ARE GOINGTO BE STITCHING
TOGETHER A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT, IMPLYING NEW SOCIAL NORMS…
CREATIVE SECTORWILL HAVE ITS HANDS FULLVALUING “EQUALITY, DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION” -WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE SO MANYWILL FEEL LIKETHEY’RE BEING
“LEFT BEHIND”...THREATENING INTOLERANCE, IMPATIENCE, ANGRY EXCLUSION...
UNLESS DEFINITIONS OFTHE MAINSTREAM RADICALLYTRANSFORM AND
CHANGE...

14. DEFINITIONS OFTHE
MAINSTREAM
RADICALLY
TRANSFORMING AND
CHANGING...?
SO, AMIDST ORGANISATIONAL PRESCIRPTIONS FOR
EDI, DON’T FORGETTO:-
• SUPPORTYOUR MAVERICK, CATEGORY-DEFYING,
DIFFERENCE-BLENDING VISIONARIES
• ENGAGE WITH SOCIO-ECONOMIC FUTURE -
CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS CAN & MUST ENVISION

15. THANKYOU!
SOME NOTES ON
“INCLUSION”
PAT KANE,THE PLAY ETHIC
FOR CREATIVE SCOTLAND, 1/2/16