Network Evolution in Cultural Industries (journal article)
by Udo Staber
from Industry & Innovation, Vol 15, No 5, October 2008 , pages 569 - 578
Most of the research on social networks in cultural industries has taken an actor-centered perspective on individuals and organizations, often based on the (implicit) assumption of relative stability in actor attributes and relationships. This poses problems for an understanding of networks in a cultural context that is characterized by spontaneity, variation, and disequilibrium. To give more credit to processes related to “doing creative work”, I propose an evolutionary framework that focuses on ideas as the unit of analysis and draws attention to the dynamic distribution of ideas in an environment where ideas compete for human attention.