Bastian Lange
Sociospatial strategies of culturepreneurs. The Example of Berlin and its new professional scenes
Pages 81 - 98

One of the key urban and cultural developments in post-reunification Berlin has been the emergence of new hybrid cultural as well as entrepreneurial agents, the so-called culturepreneurs. Germany's new capital has been suffering under continuous socioeconomic crises for the last six to eight years. In this situation, the catchword of a new entrepreneurship alludes to individualised marketing strategies and social hardships, but also to skilful alternation between unemployment benefit, temporary project based jobs and selfemployment structures as practiced by numerous young agents in the field of cultural production. Semantically supported since 1998 by terms like Generation Berlin , new entrepreneurial trajectories and professional careers in the field of popular culture, the production of symbolic goods, and the new digital media oriented economy of Berlin can be analysed from an individual perspective. Declining financial support from the government forced many cultural activists and artists to open their professional practices towards corporate firms, new forms of project based cooperation as well as specific spatial practices in order to economically, culturally and socially sustain on the targeted market. Based on qualitative empirical research, the interpretation of these spatial strategies offers insights into new models of urbanity shaped by design-intensive professional group members and their associated locally based scenes in the fragmented and moving city of Berlin.


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