Discourses of Creativity in Shanghai Andi Burris 2015
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Discourses of Creativity in Shanghai Andi Burris Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of London 2015 Department of Geography Royal Holloway, University of London 1 2 ABSTRACT Creativity is celebrated for its ability to generate economic growth, but despite the strong GDP growth in China in the last two decades, Chinese workers are often assessed as less creative than their Western counterparts. This lesser level of creativity is usually attributed by observers to the influence of culture, education, and political history. However, these influences are not static in China's rapidly changing economic landscape and neither do Chinese workers uniformly accept the assessment of themselves as less creative. Furthermore the thriving cultural industries in China's cities demonstrate a profusion of indigenous creativity, yet the idea that Chinese people are less creative seems to be an enduring one amongst critics. This thesis investigates the meanings associated with creativity, with a view to understanding the Chinese workers are perceived as less creative than Westerners. Based on ethnographic work carried out in Shanghai, this thesis argues that the creativity discourses are deployed as a means to mobilise the workforce and transform workers into self-governing employees and obedient corporate subjects (Foucault, 1999). Psychologists and management academics have largely approached creativity through a logical positivist lens, and in the processes, turned creativity studies into a science, although some qualitative methods have been applied in the area of innovation research (Crossan et al., 1996; Lanzara, 1999). Increasingly the study of creativity has become focused on the production of creative outputs and tied to economic objectives. This thesis develops existing knowledge on creativity by untangling the concept from productivity discourses. It focuses on two primary sites of investigation, namely the software engineering and fashion design sectors of the creative industries. I examine the meanings associated with creativity and how particular personality traits, processes, places, and products come to be considered more creative than others. I then explore the strategies applied by indigenous workers, students, and parents in responding to the dominant creativity discourses. I also make a further theoretical contribution to creativity scholarship by introducing an alternate way of conceptualising creativity that includes multiple perspectives. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ................................................................................................ 4 List of Figures ...................................................................................................... 7 List of Appendices ............................................................................................... 8 Glossary of Chinese Terms ................................................................................. 9 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Creativity Then and Now – Literature Review and Analytical Framework ........................................................................................................ 18 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 18 2.2 Power, Discourse, and Creativity ............................................................... 19 2.3 Western Creativity Discourses ................................................................... 21 2.3.1 Historical context .................................................................................... 22 2.3.2 The modern creativity discourse ............................................................ 24 2.4 Creativity in China ...................................................................................... 26 2.4.1 Origins of Creativity in Chinese Culture ................................................. 29 2.4.2 Creativity in Maoist China ...................................................................... 33 2.4.3 Creativity Discourses Post Mao ............................................................. 37 2.5 China’s perceived creativity inhibitors ........................................................ 40 2.5.1 Cultural Factors ...................................................................................... 40 2.5.2 Economic System .................................................................................. 43 2.5.3 Political System ...................................................................................... 46 2.5.4 Education ............................................................................................... 47 2.5.5 Discussion .............................................................................................. 49 2.6 Creativity Studies ....................................................................................... 53 2.6.1 Person .................................................................................................... 56 2.6.2 Processes .............................................................................................. 59 2.6.3 Place ...................................................................................................... 62 2.6.3.1 Social and political aspects of place and creativity ........................... 63 2.6.3.2 Economic aspects of place and creativity .......................................... 63 2.6.3.3 Office spaces, workplaces, and creativity .......................................... 64 2.6.4 Product ................................................................................................... 66 2.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 67 Chapter 3: Researching Creativity – Study Context and Methodologies ......... 69 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 69 3.2 The Setting ................................................................................................. 69 3.2.1 Selecting the Organisation ..................................................................... 70 3.2.2 Gaining Access ...................................................................................... 72 3.2.3 Shanghai, China .................................................................................... 74 3.2.4 Beyond USCo ........................................................................................ 74 3.3 Ethnographic Methods ............................................................................... 76 3.3.1 Management of ethical concerns ........................................................... 77 3.3.2 Personal connections ............................................................................. 78 3.3.3 Shadowing ............................................................................................. 80 3.3.4 Field Notes ............................................................................................. 81 3.3.5 Interviews ............................................................................................... 85 3.3.6 Sampling ................................................................................................ 87 3.3.7 Limits ...................................................................................................... 89 3.3.8 Language and Translation ..................................................................... 90 3.3.9 Analysis .................................................................................................. 91 4 3.4 The Survey ................................................................................................. 93 3.4.1 Web survey ............................................................................................ 93 3.4.2 Design and pilot ..................................................................................... 94 3.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 96 Chapter 4: corporate discourses of Creativity ................................................... 97 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 97 4.2 Creativity as Customer Service ............................................................... 100 4.3 Creativity as Self-Motivation .................................................................... 106 4.4 Creativity as Self-Expression ................................................................... 113 4.5 Creativity as Diversity and Divergent Thinking ........................................ 123 4.6 Creativity as Managerial Imperative ........................................................ 129 4.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 135 Chapter 5: Wider Discourses of Creativity – Beyond the corporate setting ... 137 5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 137 5.2 Creativity Discourses of Individualism and