Andrea Burris 

BA (University of Wollongong 1997), MA (University of New South Wales 1998)

Neoliberal Discourses of Creativity and the Dvision of Labour between “East” and “West” in ICT production

Supervisors: Professor Tim Unwin (Geography, RHUL), Advisor Dr Katie Willis (Geography, RHUL) Email: a.burris@rhul.ac.uk

International trade and the distribution of profits in the industrial age contributed to the polarisation in the distribution of wealth around the world.  Whilst ICTs appears to raise standards of living for those with access, a pattern is emerging in the production of ICTs where well paid, “creative” labour is concentrated in the industrialised countries and lower paid programming jobs are being outsourced to “emerging markets” like India and China.  The drive for novelty, fuelled by the shift in power from the producer to the consumer in the marketplace is transforming the discourse of creativity.  Advertisers are increasingly promoting the creative promise of its products whilst employers are seeking creative manpower in order to be at the forefront of innovation.  This change takes place in the globalised production context where workers are competing in a single globalised labour market.  The uneven global division of labour in ICT production is supported in much of the literature on creativity, which often claim that Asian cultures are not creative in the “Western” sense due to their culture and upbringing (Lau, Hui & Ng: 2004).

The aim of the research is to explore the influence of creativity discourses on the international division of labour in the production of new ICTs particularly in the UK and China.  The questions leading the empirical part of the research explore the meanings associated with the term creativity in the ICT sector.  For instance, what are the cultural and economic origins of beliefs about creativity?  How do these beliefs influence human resource practices in innovative ICT companies? 

The research started out with a study of how rote learning affects creativity in software engineers.  However, a closer review of the literature led to an examination of the power relations and the economic context of the drive for creativity.  Using a combination of research methods, I will consider the discourse of creativity within the workplace and explore the relationship between the pressure to innovate and power structures in IT design organisations.   Whilst creativity depends largely on risk taking behaviour and a willingness to challenge hierarchy, the term creative is also often used as a merit badge to reward productive employees and those who are higher up in the organisational hierarchy.  The research challenges the creative and non-creative dichotomy and attempts to construct a taxonomy of creativity which will accommodate culturally influenced definitions of creativity.  It is hoped that this taxonomy will help employers to understand creativity in its different forms and recognise and nurture creative ability in all aspects of software production.