Re-thinking the creative economy through informality and social inclusion: changing policy directions from Latin America

This chapter examines the extent to which a focus on the informal creative economy can support peripheral cultural scenes that remain invisible to policy and society. The first part briefly outlines the key features of informal settlements in Latin America; the second looks at policy initiatives in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires that have sought to develop, encourage and support creative economies in disadvantaged or peripheral areas; the third part reflects on how these initiatives might help expand, challenge or rethink predominant views and policies on the creative economy from other contexts, assessing whether they might also help overcome ‘creative injustice’ (Banks, 2017) in the sector. Overall, the chapter shows how Latin American countries are starting to launch initiatives for the creative sector that are motivated by concerns with social inclusion and development in marginalised locations. However, these goals can be at odds with the frameworks from which the programmes develop, as they are often underpinned by a market-oriented logic based on individualistic entrepreneurialism and commercialisation