Creative Work and Distributions of Power

Michael Hanchett Hanson is a developmental psychologist; Director of the Masters Concentration in Creativity and Cognition at Teachers College, Columbia University, USA; a founding board member and Secretary of the International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI); a member of the Chair Homo Creativus, Université de Paris Cité, and President of Contexts R+D, a research and consulting practice.

• Section 1: Launch 1. Metalogue: What are we doing here? 2. Metalogue: Do we need a map? 3. Metalogue: What do we mean by “participation”? Section 2: Toward an Ecological Epistemology 4. Introduction: Gregory Bateson 5. Gregory Bateson: The art of science 6. Metalogue: Wait! Did he say free will is a rat in a maze? 7. Metalogue: Is purpose good or bad? 8. Dolphins, Context, and Creative Power 9. Metalogue: Do we need this ladder? Section 3: Through Enchanted Mountains of Theory 10. Introduction: Power Theories and Their Metaphors 11. Budgets, Economies, and Ecologies 12. Investments, Games, and Fields 13. Metalogue: What field is this? 14. Enchanted and Haunted Fields 15. A Mediation Model of Purpose and Power 2.0 16. Metalogue: Why not “mind”? Section 4: Sojourn in a Land of Semiotic Disruption 17. Introduction: Tyler, The Creator 18. Tyler, The Creator: The Local Creative Eco-system 19. Tyler, The Creator: Audiences, Contexts, and Controversies 20. The Artist as Young Ironist 21. Metalogue: Are we studying, genius, perfect storms, or collusion with the world? Section 5: Return 22. Metalogue: What did we do here? 23. Freedom, Power, and Work 24. Invitation

This book has a powerful message: that power itself is distributed across flexible, connected systems. Through thought provoking analyses, dialogues and metalogues, we learn to see power and creativity anew. A classic in participatory analysis.Vlad Glăveanu, Dublin City University, IrelandWhat do Gregory Bateson and Tyler, The Creator have in common? From these case studies, Hanchett Hanson with his colleagues reveal the inside story of creative eco-systems. An essentiel read to understand the complex ingredients, including purpose and power, that combine to yield creative work.Todd Lubart, Université Paris Cité, FranceMichael Hanchett Hanson and his colleagues broaden the discussion of creativity from the narrow focus on ideas and individuals to systems, both ecological and economic. Creativity is about broadening our world and this book does exactly that.Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Yale University, USA