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A number of recent studies have responded to neoliberal understandings of entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation in the cultural and creative industries, and beyond. Although in recent years, the features of working life in this sector have been well-documented, little research seems to have looked at the psychosocial impact on the working lives of individuals.
Fantasy, Neoliberalism and Precariousness draws on the results of an original empirical study of independent musicians based in Brooklyn, San Francisco, Portland, Stockholm and Paris, and considers how experiences of precariousness and insecurity under conditions of neoliberalism threatens the well-being and self-realisation of aspiring musicians. Vachet examines anxiety, narcissism, recognition and self-esteem from a sociological perspective, considering them through the lens of social class and gender.
Contributing to debates within cultural studies, sociology and the political economy of communication about working lives in the cultural and creative industries, Vachet answers to-date unexplored questions around the psychosocial impact of precariousness and other problematic features of work in the cultural industries.
At a time when connections between gig work and neoliberal discourses of entrepreneurialism, autonomy, flexibility, and freedom are increasingly invoked, Jeremy Vachet’s well researched and theoretically rich treatise illuminates the pernicious psychosocial effects of the precarious working conditions of independent cultural workers. Integrating Interviews with independent musicians across five global cities, participant observations, and his own experiences as a musician, this work deftly illuminates the ways structural, normative, gendered and class pressures become enmeshed within a complex set of coping strategies and defense mechanisms, mechanisms which ultimately prevent individuals from flourishing. Filled with irony, compassion, insight, and hope, this book builds upon previous sociological, communicative, and psychoanalytic work on cultural labor and has wide ranging significance for anyone interested in the personal and collective impact of new forms of labor.
Jérémy Vachet is Assistant Professor at the Culture and Communication department at Audencia, Nantes (France), where he is Head of the Program Management of Audiovisual Creation and Production. Jeremy is also an associate member of the LabSIC at the Sorbonne Paris Nord University (France). In the past decade, Jeremy has developed a career as an independent musician and producer. He received his PhD from the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds in 2019.
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Consequences of Individualisation: Pathologies of Freedom
Chapter 3. Coping strategies and Defence mechanisms
Chapter 4. Conclusion