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  4. Rethinking Class in the Creative Economy

Research project

Rethinking Class in the Creative Economy

  • Start date: 01/09/26
  • End date: 31/08/27
  • Funder: AHRC / Research Ireland
  • Primary investigator: smcblj; Caroline Ann O'Sullivan (Technological University Dublin)
  • External co-investigators: Sara De Benedictis (Brunel); Dave O’Brien (Manchester); Bernadette Quinn (TUD); Deirdre McQuillan (TUD); and Mary Ann Bolger (TUD)

Value

£35K

Partners and collaborators

BBC; Arts Council England; Arts Council Ireland; BFI; Arts Emergency; Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet; Screen Ireland.

Rethinking

Description

Rethinking Class in the Creative Economy is a 12-month AHRC-Research Ireland Research Networking Award, led by the University of Leeds in collaboration with researchers at TU Dublin, the University of Manchester and Brunel University London, alongside creative industry, cultural and policy partners across the UK and Ireland.

The network addresses a persistent challenge in the creative economy: while people from working-class backgrounds remain significantly underrepresented, class is understood and measured inconsistently across research, policy and industry. Approaches developed in one national or sectoral context do not necessarily translate effectively into another.

Rather than undertaking new large-scale empirical research, the project brings together researchers, policymakers, funders and creative-sector organisations to develop a theory-led, intercultural approach to understanding and measuring class. Through workshops in Dublin and Leeds, supported by ongoing network activity, it will explore how class intersects with issues including gender, ethnicity, disability, place, creative labour and cultural representation.

The network will produce two main outputs:

  1. An intercultural framework for understanding and measuring class in the creative industries - providing a theoretically robust, intersectional and context-sensitive approach that can inform future research, policy and funding discussions.
  2. A concise, policy-facing white paper - translating the framework into accessible recommendations and implications for creative economy policy and practice, while identifying priorities for future research and evidence development.

The project is designed to strengthen long-term UK-Ireland collaboration and create a foundation for future research and policy engagement on class inequality in creative work.