The creative economy: an ethnographic framework for handcrafts in the Alto Solimões region of the Brazilian Amazon
International Journal of Social Economics
ISSN: 0306-8293
Article publication date: 23 October 2020
Issue publication date: 13 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw on concepts from the creative economy literature to present a proposal for conceptualizing the creative industries from the perspective of the ideas underlying the concepts of industrial districts and the triple helix. The analysis lays out the foundations with a review of the literature on the creative economy and builds upon them with the terminology of creative industries and industrial districts.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis lays out the foundations with a review of the literature on the creative economy and builds upon them with the terminology of creative industries and industrial districts. A three-dimensional representation is developed, from a perspective in which the three dimensions comprise university, creative industries and government, combined with seven underlying factors that define the archetypal framework from the perspective of the creative economy of the region's handcrafts.
Findings
Working from the principal of an analysis of underlying factors, the paper presents an ethnographic study of the potentials and obstacles present in the handcrafts sector and delineates the work that remains to be done to enable construction of a creative economy.
Originality/value
A prominent possibility based on the ethnographic study of the potentials listed, the creative economy of the handicraft sector is underexplored in the Amazon. Based on the Amazon heritage of the people in the Alto Solimões region, future prospects such as establishment of guilds, clusters and internationalization of production in a tourism association represent sui generis potentials for the economic development of the Alto Solimões region of the Brazilian Amazon.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank both the anonymous reviewers for their detailed and cunning feedback. We would to thank also the UFAM (Universidade Federal do Amazonas) and the CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for the support our research.
Citation
Petry, J.F., Uchôa, A.G.F., Mendonça, M.B.d., Magalhães, K.d.L. and Benchimol, R.M.B. (2020), "The creative economy: an ethnographic framework for handcrafts in the Alto Solimões region of the Brazilian Amazon", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 47 No. 12, pp. 1651-1667. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-04-2020-0262
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited