Historicising the Creative and Cultural Industries as a Global Policy Construct

This chapter historicises the emergence of the creative and cultural industries (CCIs) as a global policy construct, examining their consolidation during the 1990s and early 2000s within the broader framework of neoliberal economic restructuring. It traces key policy milestones and subsequent international diffusion, arguing that the institutionalisation of the CCIs was not only a recognition of cultural production’s economic significance but also a product of neoliberal logics privileging entrepreneurship, flexibility, and market orientation. The chapter analyses how neoliberalism shaped the organisational ecology of the CCI, leading to the predominance of SMEs, project-based labour, and urban regeneration strategies tied to cultural policy. It also explores the vulnerabilities exposed by the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the limitations of neoliberal frameworks in addressing precarity and inequality. Contemporary policy responses suggest a recalibration toward hybrid approaches that blend market mechanisms with targeted state intervention. The chapter concludes by arguing that the CCIs should be understood as coconstitutive of neoliberalism, with critical implications for the future design of cultural and creative economy policy.