Creativity at work: the production of work for sale by brand ambassadors

ABSTRACT

Creative work has emerged at the core of the new economy and is primarily studied in the art and the media, music and advertising business. This article presents data from an ethnographic research with professional rock climbers. It argues that the production of work for sale by these climbers is a form of creative work. The thread of the argument is twofold. First, their work is inextricably intertwined and paced with highly creative activities. Second, it is anchored in a complex system of communication aiming for the production and dissemination of experiences through media production.

KEYWORDS:

• Creative work
• independent contracting
• ethnography
• rock climbing
• media work

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

Guillaume Dumont is a researcher at the Sociological Research Center on Everyday Life and Work (QUIT) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Building on ethnographic fieldwork, his research integrates economic and labour sociology with theories of entrepreneurship and organizations. He examines how people produce different types of value at work and how the outcomes of their work are evaluated in relation to the market.

ORCID

Guillaume Dumont http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2473-5488