What is intersectionality?

The term ‘intersectionality’ was first coined about 30 years ago by Kimberlé Crenshaw, professor at Columbia University, USA. The Victorian government defines intersectionality as ‘the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation.’

Aspects of identity can include First Nations identity, gender identity, sex, colour, race, visa status, language, age, disability, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and criminal record. 

Forms of discrimination can include ableism, ageism, sexism, racism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, intersex discrimination and social stigma.

What are digital content monetisation models?

Content creators earn income from digital content via:

• Direct transactions with consumers e.g. subscriptions, content sales

• Patronage relationships with consumers e.g. donations via Patreon, crowdfunding campaigns

• Ad-stream revenue from aggregators e.g. YouTube, Twitch

• Sales of content to aggregators e.g. Netflix

• Revenue from sales and royalties e.g. Spotify, Apple Music

• Revenue from downstream licensing e.g. music in games

• Digital sales of in-person and digital live experiences and merchandise

These methods each have pros and cons. For example, placing content on an aggregator like YouTube has low barriers to entry, but makes content creators vulnerable to changes in company policy (e.g. the YouTube ‘Adpocalypse’).

Direct transactions with consumers mean greater proportions of each sale goes directly to the creator, and are not vulnerable to aggregator policy changes. However, it can be difficult to create a large enough online community to earn revenue. One way is to first uses the tools of the aggregators to build an audience, then convert a proportion of users to direct consumers.

Revenue from digital uses of content can depend on the ability of rights management societies to manage micro-transactions and background music rights.

What is portable long service leave?

Australian States have legislated portable long service leave schemes for the building and construction industry, the community services industry, the contract cleaning and security industries. This means that workers can take their long service entitlement with them if they change jobs, but are still in the same industry.

 For example, in Queensland, legislation states that building and construction industry ‘workers are entitled to long service leave payments regardless of whether they work on different projects for one or more employers.’

The Queensland construction industry scheme is funded by levies imposed on the total cost of a building and construction work costing $150,000 or more (ex GST). The industry is also required to pay a health and safety levy and a skills levy.

Community services industry, contract cleaning industry and security industry schemes generally require that employers pay a long service levy for each worker.

What is impact investment?

According to the NSW Office of Social Impact Investment,

Social impact investment seeks to generate social impact alongside financial return. The investment often brings together capital and expertise from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to achieve a social objective. Investments can be made into companies, organisations or funds, whether they be not-for-profit or for-profit.

Types of social impact investment can include bonds, payment-by-results contracts, layered investments and outcomes-focused grants.

Examples of impact investment and social enterprise

Creative Land Trust, London

The Creative Land Trust London is securing artist workspaces through a combination of outright purchase of properties or long leases, and through planning policies. The funding comes from a blended capital model leveraging grant funding to attract impact investment at scale. Investment is structured as debt with a fixed rate of return to investors over an initial term.

Fairbnb.coop

Fairbnb is a social enterprise which promotes an ethical sharing economy, developed in response to the rise of ‘airbnb’ and similar platforms. Fairbnb invests 50% of its commission in community projects, which can include cultural development for local neighbourhoods.

For more ideas on how to fund the arts, please see my article on ArtsHub ‘How can we fund the future of the arts?’ and Kiley Arroyo’s great report on value-capturing and the report ‘Arts Plus: New models new money.’

What is a living wage and a universal basic income?

The rationale of a living wage is to tackle the poverty of low-paid workers. Australia has a ‘minimum wage,’ a legal requirement to pay employees a wage that guarantees ‘a standard of living reasonable for a human being in a civilised community.’ The right to an adequate standard of living is also enshrined in Article 11 of the International Convention for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In Australia the national minimum wage is set each year by the Fair Work Commission.

Some commentators argue that the minimum wage is too low, resulting in many low-paid workers with families living in poverty. They call for a ‘living wage’, pegged to average weekly earnings to ensure that the living wage ‘holds its relative value over time’ and allow people to live healthily.

Universal basic income

The rationale of a universal/unconditional basic income (UBI) is to tackle the poverty of unemployed and low-paid workers. A UBI would provide a guaranteed minimum income, without eligibility or work tests. The UBI is seen as a potential solution to job losses predicted to increase as a result of the rapid automation of jobs.

Examples of local governments as test sites for living wage / UBI

Artist basic income, San Francisco

San Francisco has introduced a basic income pilot program for 130 artists who will receive $1,000 per month for six months. The program is considered a pilot of a living wage for artists in the city, with the local council recognising the need to support artists to continue to live and work in San Francisco and contribute to the city’s recovery.

Living Wage accreditation, South London

In London, the South Bank Business Improvement District, in partnership with the Living Wage Foundation and London Citizens, assesses the value to South Bank employers of paying the London Living Wage and becoming accredited. They found that 75% of consumers would be prepared to pay more for the same product or service from a company that ensures its staff earn a wage they can live on. Lambeth Council campaigns for businesses in the district to support the Living Wage and now has 145+ businesses signed up.

What is algorithmic bias?

Algorithms are ‘a set of step-by-step instructions that computers follow to perform a task.’[1] Algorithms are ‘trained’ by drawing on certain sets of data (known as ‘training data’) to ‘learn’ what output is correct for certain people. The algorithm can then apply this model to other people. 

Algorithms are ultimately not value-neutral, colour-blind or gender-blind. Bias, exclusion, and ‘data-centric oppression’ can arise due to unrepresentative or incomplete training data, and reliance on the programmer’s unconscious prejudices.[2]

Algorithms have the capability to shape individuals’ decisions without them even knowing it, giving those who have control of the algorithms an unfair position of power.[3]

The harms of new technology will be most experienced by those already disadvantaged in society…effectively penalis[ing] people based on race and similar issues. – Justin Reich, ED at MIT Teaching Systems Lab[4]

 Algorithmic bias comes from historical human biases amongst programmers, incomplete and unrepresentative training data, and a failure to take into account context when seeking to detect biases. It impacts artists livelihoods as arts and culture increasingly moves online to reach audiences. 

If the arts and culture industries remain fixed in their silo, it will continue to be the global technology companies who accelerate the distribution of the plethora of digital arts and cultural content coming down the product development pipeline. It will be the digital platforms that adapt to expand delivery channels, broaden markets, reach audience and own the data generated. – Leanne de Souza[5]

Suggestions to address algorithmic bias and the impacts on society include:

• Anti-discrimination laws be updated to include the unfair impacts of algorithmic bias

• Public education to develop ‘algorithmic literacy’

• Government and civil society to hold algorithmic operators accountable for bias and encourage algorithmic transparency

• National governments to enforce local content quotas on digital platforms and work with the arts industry and tech companies to ensure national culture is not unintentionally homogenised

[1] N. Turner Lee, P. Resnick and G. Barton (2019) Algorithmic bias detection and mitigation: best practices and policies to reduce consumer harms, Brookings Institute.

[2] L. Rainie and J. Anderson (2017) Code-Dependent: Pros and Cons of the Algorithm Age, Pew Research Center.

[3] As cited in L. Rainie and J. Anderson (2017) op. cit.

[4] Ibid.

[5] L. de Souza (2020) What next? The convergence of arts, culture and distribution technology,’  Medium.

What is cultural equity?

Writer and nonprofit advocate Vu Le writes that cultural equity is ultimately about money and resources for marginalised groups.

Equity is about ensuring the communities most affected by injustice get the most money to lead in the fight to address that injustice, and if that means we break the rules to make that happen, then that’s what we do. Some of you are probably thinking, “Money? That’s your definition? That’s simplistic AF. Maybe you should stick to writing nonprofit jokes.” Yes. It’s money. Equity is about money and whether that money is going to the people most screwed over by our society. All of us need to stop avoiding this basic premise. – Vu Le

Americans for the Arts agree that cultural equity fundamentally involves the fair distribution of resources:

Cultural equity embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people—including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion—are represented in the development of arts policy; the support of artists; the nurturing of accessible, thriving venues for expression; and the fair distribution of programmatic, financial, and informational resources.

The related concept of racial justice is about affirmative actions taken to create and sustain racial equity. Race Forward defines racial justice as:

The systematic fair treatment of people of all races, resulting in equitable opportunities and outcomes for all. Racial justice—or racial equity—goes beyond “anti-racism.” It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities, but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racial equity through proactive and preventative measures.

Racial Justice [is defined] as the proactive reinforcement of policies, practices, attitudes and actions that produce equitable power, access, opportunities, treatment, impacts and outcomes for all.

 I recommend the Diversity Arts Creative Equity Toolkit which has links to rich resources in this space.

What is racism?

According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, racism can take many forms and includes offensive comments or jokes, verbal abuse, harassment or intimidation, commentary in the media which inflames hostility towards certain racial groups, and the unfair treatment of people because of their race.

Institutional racism

Luke Pearson, Gamilaroi man, founder and CEO of IndigenousX, explains how institutional racism perpetuates white privilege, even if individual white people do not perceive themselves as racist.

If you remove most of the explicit rules enforcing whiteness…but you do not change or challenge the social norms and the thinking that underpinned it, you see a continuation of the status quo within [institutions] – disparities in power, in representation, in decision making, in reaping the benefits of these institutions […]

For those who are experiencing the barriers of exclusion within these institutions the continuation and perpetuation of racism is obvious, but for those who think racism is only encapsulated by the dictionary definitions…they do not see it. They cannot see it. They don’t want to see it. And their inability to confront it ensures its perpetuation. – Luke Pearson, CEO of IndigenousX

What is ableism?

Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies entire groups of people as ‘less than,’ and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalisations of people with disabilities.[1] 

Examples of ableist actions include using an inaccessible venue, casting non-disabled actors to play disabled roles, wearing perfume in a scent-free environment, and not having captioning or audio description on content. Ableist micro-aggressions can include using derogatory language e.g. describing oneself or others as OCD, retarded, crazy or blind.[2]

[1] A. Eisenmenger (2019) ‘Ableism 101: what it is, what it looks like, and what we can do to fix it,’ Access Living.

[2] People With Disability Australia, ‘What is ableist language and what’s the impact of using it?’

What is public value?

I define public values as follows.

Public value refers to benefits which are (theoretically) equitably accessible to all members of the public, e.g. public parks, the rule of law, clean air, a national defence system, arts and culture. Public value also refers to what people value beyond their self-interest. For example, people might want to leave a legacy for future generations or feel a sense of responsibility to ancestral generations; they may have ambitions about shaping society, the nation and the planet.

The Australia New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) explains that public value is ‘consumed collectively,’ but can be produced by both private and public actors. Public value also includes addressing market failures i.e. where the market, left to its own devices, does not maximise all citizens’ welfare.

I think about public value in terms of different aspects of ‘the public.,’ which includes:

• Ancestors

• Individuals

• Communities

• Society

• Environment

• ‘Nations’

• Future generations

I think of the type of value which can be created for these various aspects of the public, including:

• Legacy - ‘bequest value’, what we leave for future generations

• Statecraft, soft power - this is to do with ‘nations’

• Ecological wellbeing and the wellbeing of the planet - thinking of the environment not only in service to humans but in its own ‘personhood’

• Support for social equity, justice and cohesion

• Identity, resilience and belonging in and for communities

• Personal development and wellbeing

• Contributing to the long arc of history which includes ancestors and future generations

Diagram of public value.

Types of public value

Here you can view my presentation on communicating public value which I delivered for the Australia Council for the Arts COVID-19 series in 2020.

What is lateral violence?

The Australian Human Rights Commission defines lateral violence, also known as horizontal violence, as ‘a product of a complex mix of historical, cultural and social dynamics that results in a spectrum of behaviours that include: gossiping; jealousy; bullying; shaming; social exclusion; family feuding; organisational conflict; and physical violence.’

[Lateral] violence comes from being colonised, invaded. It comes from being told you are worthless and treated as being worthless for a long period of time. Naturally you don’t want to be at the bottom of the pecking order, so you turn on your own.[2]

Lateral violence is ‘trying to feel powerful in a powerless situation’[3] and is a term often used to describe the types of violence perpetrated within subjugated groups, such as First Nations communities, people of colour, and people working in low paid professions. According to the Australian Human Rights Commission,

Acts of lateral violence establish new hierarchies of power within colonised groups that mimic those of the colonisers. That means, not only are we dealing with the harm that lateral violence causes individuals, we are also dealing with the destruction that it causes to the traditional structure and roles in our societies as we abandon our own ways and become the image of those who oppress us.

[2] R. Frankland (2009) A frank discussion on tackling black lateral violence, NIT, as cited on Creative Spirits.

[3] G. Phillips (2009) Healing Identity in Contemporary Australia: What is a real/traditional/grassroots Aborigine, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Seminar Series, Canberra.

What is cultural safety?

The term ‘cultural safety’ originally comes from the work of Maori nurses in New Zealand, and is defined as,

An environment that is safe for people: where there is no assault, challenge or denial of their identity, of who they are and what they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and experience of learning, living and working together with dignity and truly listening [1]

Cultural competency programs with a focus on developing skills, knowledge and attitudes can be problematic because they may ‘lull practitioners into a falsely confident space.’[2] Cultural safety is more than developing cultural competency: it is a paradigm shift which requires people to ‘examine sources of repression, social domination, and structural variables such as class and power,’[3] and ‘social justice, equity and respect.’[4]

This requires people and institutions to engage in deep, critical and ongoing self-reflection: ‘a stepping back to understand one’s assumptions, biases, and values, and a shifting of one’s gaze from self to others and conditions of injustice in the world.’[5]

[1] R. Williams (1999) ‘Cultural safety – what does it mean for our work practice?’ Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 23(2).

[2] E. Curtis et al (2019) ‘Why cultural safety rather than cultural competency is required to achieve health equity: a literature review and recommended definition,’ International Journal For Equity in Health (18: 174).

[3] D. Doutrich et al (2012) ‘Cultural safety in New Zealand and the United States: looking at a way forward together,’ Journal of Transcultural Learning 23(2): 143-150.

[4] S. McGough, D. Wynaden and M. Wright (2017) ‘Experience of providing cultural safety in mental health to aboriginal patients: a grounded theory study,’ International Journal of Mental Health Nursing 2017.

[5] A. Kumagai and M. Lypson (2009) ‘Beyond cultural competence: critical consciousness, social justice, and multicultural education,’ Academic Medicine 84(6): 782-787.