''The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World'' is a
nonfiction
Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...
social sciences
Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...
and
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
book by sociologist Paul H. Ray and
psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...
Sherry Ruth Anderson (born 1942).
The authors introduced the term "Cultural Creatives" to describe a large segment in
Western society
Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...
who since about 1985 have developed beyond the standard
paradigm
In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( ) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. The word ''paradigm'' is Ancient ...
of
modernists or
progressives versus
tradition
A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...
alists or
conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
. Ray and Anderson claim to have found 50 million adult Americans (slightly over one quarter of the adult population) can now be identified as belonging to this group. They estimated an additional 80–90 million "Cultural Creatives" exist in Europe as of 2000.
Two types
Ray and Anderson divide "Cultural Creatives" into two subdivisions:
Core "Cultural Creatives"
Just under half of the CC population comprises the more educated, leading-edge thinkers. This includes many writers, artists, musicians, psychotherapists, alternative health care providers and other professionals. They combine a serious focus on their
spirituality
The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
with a strong passion for
social activism.
Green "Cultural Creatives"
The more secular and extroverted wing of the "Cultural Creatives". They tend to follow the opinions of the core group and have more conventional religious outlooks. Their
world view
A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. However, when two parties view the s ...
s less thought-out than the core group and less intensely held.
Characteristics
Ray and Sherry Anderson created a questionnaire to identify "Cultural Creatives" in Western society. The characteristics below were identified as qualities of a "Cultural Creative". Agreement with 10 or more indicates status as a "Cultural Creative".
* love of
nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
and deep caring about its preservation, and its natural balance.
* strong awareness of the planet-wide issues like
climate change and poverty and a desire to see more action on them
* being active themselves
* willingness to pay higher
tax
A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...
es or spend more money for goods if that money went to improving the
environment
* emphasize the importance of developing and maintaining
relationships
* emphasize the importance of
helping
Helping behavior refers to voluntary actions intended to help others, with reward regarded or disregarded. It is a type of prosocial behavior (voluntary action intended to help or benefit another individual or group of individuals, such as sharing ...
others and developing their unique gifts
*
volunteer with one or more good causes
* intense interest in spiritual and psychological development (personal growth)
* see spirituality as an important aspect of life, but worry about religious
fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...
* desire
equality
Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value.
In specific contexts, equality may refer to:
Society
* Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people
** Political egalitarianism, in which ...
for women and men in business, life and politics
* concern and support of the well-being of all women and children
* support spending more money on
education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
, community development programs, and the support of a more ecologically
sustainable
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
future
* unhappy with the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relativ ...
and
right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
in politics
*
optimism
Optimism is the Attitude (psychology), attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is Is the glass half empty ...
towards the future
* involved in creating a new and better way of
life
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
* concerned with
big business
Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...
and the means they use to generate profits, including destroying the environment and exploiting poorer countries
* unlikely to overspend or be heavily in
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...
* dislike the emphasis of modern cultures on "making it" and "success", on consuming and making
money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...
* like people, places and things that are different or exotic
Values
Ray and Anderson assert "values are the best single predictor of real behavior". The list below outlines the values dictating a "Cultural Creative"'s behavior:
* Authenticity, actions consistent with words and beliefs
* Engaged action and whole systems learning; seeing the world as interwoven and connected
* Idealism and activism
* Globalism and ecology
* The growing cultural significance of women
Core "Cultural Creatives" also value altruism, self-actualization, and spirituality.
In business
The concept of "innerpreneurs" to denote persons who create a business that focuses mainly on their own inner goals and development was first introduced by Rebecca Maddox in her 1996 book ''Inc. Your Dreams''
The "innerpreneurs" concept is also central to Ron Rentel's 2008 book ''Karma Queens, Geek Gods and Innerpreneurs'', in which he identified the "Cultural Creative" subculture in entrepreneurship. Rentel named entrepreneurial "Cultural Creatives", "innerpreneurs". "Innerpreneurs" have the defining characteristics of an entrepreneur:
* high need for achievement
* high need for independence
* low need for conformity
* internal focus of control
* love of ambiguity
* propensity for risk-taking
* obsession with opportunity
But while entrepreneurs use their business for monetary gain, "innerpreneurs" use their business to find personal fulfillment (creatively, spiritually, emotionally) and create social change.
In 2008, there was much discussion in the Western media on the 'creative economy' and the importance of the '
creative class
The creative class is the posit of American urban studies theorist Richard Florida for an ostensible socioeconomic class. Florida, a professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of ...
'.
Richard Florida
Richard L. Florida (born 1957) is an American urban studies theorist focusing on social and economic theory. He is a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU's School of Profess ...
published a series of books on this identified 'creative class' and their upcoming economic importance.
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
spoke at the World Economic Forum 2008 on the need for 'creative capitalism' as a solution to the world's problems. They theorize that being creative and inventive will be the key to business success in the 21st century and that a country's economic success will be determined by its capitalists' ability to mobilize, attract and retain human creative talent. See Douglas Rushkoff for an update on how this evolved.
Use of the term ''integral''
Ray gives the term "Integral Culture" to the growing subculture. He also refers to this as
transmodernism, which he refers to as the "Cultural Creatives". They are concerned with
ecological sustainability
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
and in the case of a core group have a commitment to personal and spiritual development. These are individuals who can meld the best of
tradition
A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...
alism and
modernism
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
to create a new synthesis, having a cognitive style based on synthesizing varied information from many sources into a big picture.
This term can also apply to
integral theory, a conceptual framework expounded by
Ken Wilber
Kenneth Earl Wilber II (born January 31, 1949) is an American theorist and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory, a four-quadrant grid which purports to encompass all human knowledge and experience. Starting publishing ...
. Use of the term 'integral' in reference to the creative-spiritual growth and transformation of human species was first made in early 1900s by Aurobindo Ghosh, who published teachings on Integral Yoga along with Mirra Alfassa, who founded the first international community of 'Cultural Creatives' in 1968, known as Auroville.
See also
*
Creative class
The creative class is the posit of American urban studies theorist Richard Florida for an ostensible socioeconomic class. Florida, a professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of ...
*
Conscious business
*
Purple economy
Purple is a color similar in appearance to Violet (color), violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern print ...
Notes
References
*Hamilton, Clive (November 2003). ''Downshifting in Britain: A sea-change in the pursuit of happiness''. "The Australia Institute Discussion Paper No. 58". pp. 14–16
ISSN 1322-5421
Further reading
* Cole, Gary, "''Artless: The Odyssey of a Republican Cultural Creative''". Portland: Ooligan Press, 2006. .
*
Lietaer, Bernard
Bernard Lietaer (7 February 1942 – 4 February 2019) was a Belgian civil engineer, economist, author, and educator. He studied monetary systems and promoted the idea that communities can benefit from creating their own local or complementary ...
(2001) Sustainable Abundance. In ''The Future of Money'' (pp. 260–298). London: Century. Describes the connection between Cultural Creatives and new vision of the global economy.
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2000 non-fiction books
Social sciences books
Sociology books
Anti-corporate activism
Subcultures
Non-fiction books about consumerism
Harmony Books books