Master’s Thesis
Dutch women with Afro and Caribbean heritage in
the creative industry
Shared practices to counterbalance boundaries based on limit meaning makings, policies and locality
Maria Anna Dienaar 11083166
MSc Sociology: Cultural Sociology Thesis Advisor: Adeola Enigbokan Second Reader: Pamela Prickett
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I. Abstract
This thesis examines how Afro and Caribbean Dutch women shape the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast during a socio-economic development. Existing research on limiting policies, cultural and social capital is used to place Afro and Caribbean Dutch women within the creative industry. This research uses OSCAM and Juiciety, two locations part of the creative industry networks in Amsterdam Southeast to understand the practices and meanings that shape the creative industry by Afro and Caribbean Dutch women. Amsterdam Southeast is an
imaginary and physical location that together with limiting policies place boundaries on their work. Shared practices, networks and sharing knowledge helps them to counterbalance these limitations.
An outcome is that their work creates stronger positions for themselves and the next generation and connects them to new opportunities in and outside Amsterdam Southeast. Previous research on the creative industry has analyzed meanings of the creative industry, looked into specific fields like fashion and has made connections with urban spaces or social and cultural capital. In the Netherlands little consideration has been given to perspectives of Afro and
Caribbean women in connection with the creative industry, a contribution that often falls outside of dominant Dutch views. This analysis looks in to the impact of Afro and Caribbean Dutch women that use share practices to counter balance boundaries and create new representations. The creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast is a site that uses the qualification of a “true spirit” to connect Amsterdam, the
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II. Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Babs from OSCAM for allowing to me tag along and showing me what your work in Amsterdam Southeast entails. Dewy and Ella from Juiciety, thank you for showing me how dreams of sharing stories, the passion for healthy Caribbean food and the Amsterdam Southeast community comes together in Juiciety. Thank you, Joyce, for our endless conversations about the creative
industry. My gratitude goes out to the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women that I spoke with, thank you for your stories and sharing your insights with me. I hope to see much more of your fabulous important work in the future and keep spreading your creations and collaborations in and outside of Amsterdam Southeast.
To my thesis advisor Adeola: thank you for your guidance, and allowing me to work on the project I imagined. Without you this would not have been possible. Thank you for your constant questioning in my writing and decision-making. And thank you to my second reader Pamela for your time and for redirecting my focus in the right direction.
The process toward this master thesis has been a road of deep rivers and high mountains. There have been moments that I was not sure what road to take, how to make it up to the mountain. However, somehow, giving up was never an option! I would like to thank Keshia for her endless support and being my partner in crime for the last four years. Sarah N, you have been my cheerleader, my sparring partner and have helped me structure my thought processes throughout the masters. Thank you to my sister and mom for your unconditional support. I know it has been a very hard time for all of us. Thank you Rox and the family for taking everything off my mind when I needed it the most. Furthermore, I would like to thank the women in my life who have supported me throughout this journey in so many different ways. You all inspire me in so many special ways. Keep being amazing.
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Table of Content
I. Abstract
2
II.
Acknowledgments
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Table of Content
4
1.
Introduction
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2.
Building Amsterdam Southeast
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2.1
Building Amsterdam Southeast
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2.2
Rebuilding Amsterdam Southeast
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2.3
Amsterdam Southeast in 2019
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3.
Literature review
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3.1
Afro and Caribbean Dutch narratives within the creative industry in contemporary
Dutch society
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3.2
Understanding of the creative industry
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3.3
“Homogeneous” policies
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3.4
Shared practices in the creative industry
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3.5
Cultural capital of the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast
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3.6
Social Capital in the creative industry
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4.
Research Design
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Finding the participants
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Understanding the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast
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Let’s talk creative
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Positioning in the Afro and Caribbean Dutch community as a white researcher
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5.
Analysis
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Juiciety
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OSCAM
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6.
Conclusion
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5
Appendix
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1. Several Creative locations and organizations in Amsterdam Southeast
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2. Nederlandse interview vragen
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1. Introduction
(NL) “Ik ben trots, een trots kleinkind van de Marowijne rivier” (ENG) “I am proud, a proud grandchild from the Marowijne River”
(Babs,, May 2019)
Babs, works at OSCAM, an exhibition space in Amsterdam Southeast, and has her own company. Together with Dewy and Ella, she is one of the main women throughout this thesis. One of the first things that comes to mind when describing Babs is that she is jack-of-all-trades within the creative industry, but first and foremost a mother, as she explained to me during our conversation. Dewy and Ella are the owners of Juiciety, with healthy juices based on Surinamese fruits and vegetables as a homage to Suriname. Their juices are not only healthy, but also delicious. “Got Me Twisted” with pineapple, bitter melon and mint is one of my favorites. Ella I would describe as the goofy one of the two, and Dewy often seems a bit dreamy, but is really precise in her work. Dewy and Ella seem to have natural coordination and clear division of labor. Each of them has their own specialism within the shop.
The way Babs described herself, as a proud grandchild, is one of the many ways that the women within this research about the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast would identify themselves. Which does not connect in any way to how she would be identified within most Dutch research (Essed & Nimako, 2006). Part of her work in the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast is creating stories for the next generation that allows them to be part of the narrative of contemporary Dutch society. With this research the aim is to place the Afro and Caribbean women within the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast in the framework of the creative
industry, instead of them being the outsider(Nimako, 2012). However, Babs is creating a space that allows multiple images and stories to be included within the Dutch narratives for the next generations. She is taking ownership of the trying task to expose underexposed and underrepresented narratives within contemporary Dutch society (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019).
“It is no easy task to find ways to include our multiple voices within the various texts we create – in film, poetry, feminist theory”(hooks, 1990, p. 147).
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Within most research, Babs would be categorized as a migrant, allochthone or any other way that would place her outside of the Dutch narrative, just like stories and images are often excluded in contemporary Dutch society (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019). If the women within this research were placed in the field of labor, their work would be categorized within the context of migrants (Rath, 2000). It seems that, within contemporary Dutch society, including multiple identifications of Dutchness within policies and research is challenging, as the implicit norm of being is white (Essed, 1996). Due to this, minority groups are often placed outside the narrative of contemporary Dutch society. While in general people within the Netherlands share history and cultural expressions, there are always differences due to specificidentities. Flexibility of identification of Dutchness should give more room for multiple identifications that allow us to be more flexible when dealing with people of different backgrounds (Essed, 1996). Kim, who identifies with Amsterdam, Suriname, China and the Netherlands, gave a clear explanation about her multiple identifications within contemporary Dutch society:
(NL) “Als het gaat over inclusiviteit en diversiteit dat zit zo ingebed in mij dus daar zal ik altijd op de een of andere manier mee bezig zijn. Aan de andere kant maakt het
voor mij totaal niks uit. Ik ben voornamelijk Kim). Het hangt net af van welke omgeving ik zit en dan ben ik heel erg Kim en ergens anders ben ik heel er Kim Lioe (met de nadruk op de achternaam) en soms heel erg Surinaams, dus het maakt ook niet echt uit. Ik neem dat allemaal mee. Als ik het echt moet omschrijving ben ik Kim
geboren in Amsterdam”.
(ENG) “When we talk of inclusivity and diversity, this is embedded within me and therefore I will always be dealing with that. Yet, at the same time, it does not matter at all. First and foremost, I am Kim. It depends on the context that I am in: sometimes I
am Kim, other moments I am very much Kim Lioe (with an emphasis on the last name), and in other situations I am very much Surinamese. I take this all with me.
However, if I really have to describe myself, I am Kim, born in Amsterdam”. (Kim, 2019)
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Me as a white woman doing research on Dutch women with Afro andCaribbean women needs to be mindful about her position in relation to the research group, therefore I dissect parts of my identity a little. Being raised in a single parent household in a small town outside of Amsterdam, who since the age of seven wanted to be an “Amsterdammer” and has used the education system for upward mobility, could connect to the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women in several ways. Based on this there could be several connections between the women within this research. We share our gender, and similar history, cultural expressions and our own similarities connect us. Living in the Netherlands means that we share some cultural codes, images and ideas, but we all have different ways of producing and
communicating meanings (Hall, 1997). This means that there several differences, the most visual of which is our skin color and our experiences in relation to this. When we allow multiple identifications and flexible identities within contemporary Dutch society, our connection is then based on common ground and differences within society and within research (Essed, 1996). This list below shows the fluid multiple identifications of the women in this research within contemporary Dutch society:
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This again shows the multitude of identities and where we connect and differ within contemporary Dutch society. All these different identifications are connected to the women within the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast. Within thisresearch the term Afro and Caribbean Dutch will be used to identify all these women that work in the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast, but this term does not do justice to their multiple identifications. Therefore, do I want the reader to remember these multiple identifications while reading. The work of the creative industry and professionals has to be placed in Amsterdam Southeast, a district that started out with a community that was disconnected from the rest of Amsterdam (Mentzel, 1990). The first buildings in the district were built on a large wasteland in 1966, and Amsterdam Southeast continues to expand (F. Wassenberg, 2010). At the start there were no local social facilities that could facilitate the creation of a community and the local needs (Hulsman, 2018). Being disconnected to Amsterdam and political power amplified a society that had to be locally shaped (Mills, 2007).
The local community has been part of a continuous process of building,
renovating and rebuilding surroundings and circumstances. The work of the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women has to be placed in the imaginary boundaries of locality in the creative industry of Amsterdam Southeast (Massey, 2006). They are creating counter-hegemonic cultural productions and produce cultural narratives that challenge and dismantle dominant representation within contemporary Dutch society (hooks, 1990), while dealing with the exclusionary forces of Dutch politics (Wekker, 2016). Cultural and social capital provides the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women with a skill set and a network that connects Amsterdam Southeast and the community with opportunities in the district, the rest of Amsterdam and the
Netherlands (Lee, 2011). Therefore, the research question for this research is:
How do Afro and Caribbean Dutch women shape the creative industry during socio-economic developments in Amsterdam Southeast?
and the sub-questions are:
- What are the developments concerning Amsterdam Southeast?
- What are the practices of the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women that shape
the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast?
- What contributions has the creative industry made concerning the
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The community of Afro and Caribbean Dutch women within the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast creates an imaginary space that allows them to work on assignments, mostly project-based (Mould, Vorley, & Liu, 2014). The women do this within the context of their own companies or as freelancers, and sometimes in combination. Several of those project-based assignments are directly or indirectly connected to art and cultural funding from the municipality and local or national foundations. They either have to apply for funding or get hired by organizations and companies that receive funding. Within the creative industry in AmsterdamSoutheast, the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women are directly and indirectly
affected in subtle ways by policies that exclude minorities and end up on the margin of Dutch contemporary society (Wekker, 2016). This can have severe consequences on their work, their stories and images that are often excluded from contemporary Dutch society (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019). Furthermore, their work is affected by the imprecise ways that the creative industry is defined, and the unclarity in meaning-making of creativity and creative production process (Galloway & Dunlop, 2007).
The locality of their work creates an imaginary boundary between the center of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Southeast (Massey, 2006). This generates a shared practice and “true spirit” and impacts the way the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women within the creative industry create networks and support each other (Bettiol & Sedita, 2011). In Amsterdam Southeast that means that the women are meeting each other at different events in and outside Amsterdam Southeast and this is often connected to showing support for the production of creative work from the
community. The locality of their work creates a local community of creative professionals within Amsterdam Southeast, that is connected to the rest of
Amsterdam, the Netherlands and internationally, and which allows them to share and broaden their skill set within the creative industry (Lee, 2011). Their geographical community within the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast provides the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women with ties that provide them with social capital, and a network (Lee, 2011). This research shows that cultural and social capital is used to overcame the limitations in policy and helps to break through the imaginary and physical boundaries of Amsterdam Southeast.
Throughout the next chapter you will read more about the way Amsterdam Southeast was built, renovated, demolished and is still expanding. This chapter will explain how Amsterdam Southeast came in to existence and influenced the local
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community and therefore the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women within the creative industry.12
Amsterdam Southeast Timeline - 1939 – 1962 The first part of Amsterdam Southeast called, the Bijlmer is being build. The high-rise buildings have the
dominant characteristic of a honeycomb structure. The buildings used to have complete separation of car and slow traffic. Which is part of the experimental final agreement of the General Expansion Plan, adopted in 1935 and realized between 1939 and 1962.
1970 – During the '70s, Dutch citizens from Suriname initially were placed in Amsterdam Southeast. The government
wanted to make sure that there was proportioned number of Dutch citizens from Suriname. When you came from Suriname citizens could not choose where they wanted to live (Heilbron, 2017).
- 1970 The first community center in the flat Grubbehoeve was opened on the 10th of July (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.). - 1974 “The first local tv station “Lokale Omroep Bijlmermeer” (LOB), was founded by residents and welfare
workers”(BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- 1974 Surinam is almost independent from the Netherlands and in 1974 more and more Suriname
residents would move to the Netherlands (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- 1975 A local art committee is established. During that time there is an arrangement that when new housing would
be built, 0,5% of that space should be used for public art and should be funded with 2% from the construction cost” (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.). Currently financing public art is based on budgetary decisions (Amsterdamse Kunstraad, n.d.). Over the years, De Bijlmer has acquired a great deal of art at ground level, in parks and along the lanes (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- 1987 In 1978, a year after the metro line was opened, Amsterdam Southeast officially became part of the city of
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2. Building Amsterdam Southeast
This chapter will explain Amsterdam Southeast as a space that comes with its own history, physical and imaginary space (Massey, 2006). This has to be considered when looking at the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women that are active in the creative industry in the district. The way the borough Amsterdam Southeast was constructed, renovated and is continuously expanding has an impact on their work and position within Amsterdam Southeast, Amsterdam and the Netherlands. Bijlmer is a neighborhood in the Amsterdam Southeast district, one example of several large building projects that were built in the most recent decades throughout Europe and the U.S. Other similar examples are Atlantic Yard in New York and the Thames
Gateway in London. In both Amsterdam and New York the projects were presented as prestigious urban projects by the city halls (Fainstein, 2008). Another example is the banlieues in Paris, that just like Amsterdam Southeast suffer from a negative public image (Wacquant, Wacquant, & Howe, 2008). However, the examples differ in several aspects, such as physical and social developments. The high-rises in
Amsterdam Southeast were built at a time of housing crisis, but the project was never completed as planned. Soon the buildings had to be renovated and several
buildings needed to be demolished (Fainstein, 2008).
2.1 Building Amsterdam Southeast
Before any of the 40,000 high-rise buildings in 1966 were built in Bijlmermeer, there was just one big polder, a wasteland disconnected to Amsterdam. It was an area just outside of Amsterdam that was not even part of the city and with no previous social structures (Bruijne, Van Hoogstraten, Kwekkeboom, & Luijten, 2002). The building project for the Bijlmermeer was aiming for white middle-class families to move in and form a community, and the layout of the buildings and neighborhood was meant to facilitate this (Hulsman, 2018). However, due to budgets cuts, several communal spaces were never realized. Other than the buildings, there was nothing. No social institutions, like schools, doctors, municipality or community centers and no political regulation. There was no local pre-existing relations among the Amsterdam Southeast community that could have negotiated an organized society, or shaped a local community (Mills, 2007). Almost no white middle-class families moved in, as they had an aversion to the project (Fainstein, 2008). The arguments suggest that this
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was due to the lack of political power, downsized initial plans and poortransportation that left residents disconnected from the rest of the city. The metro was not built until the eighties (Mentzel, 1990).
Even till this day Amsterdam Southeast is in some ways disconnected from the rest of Amsterdam. During our conversation, Kaya, a young DJ, expressed that the Bijlmer can often be a bubble. This might be of the geographical imagination of
Amsterdam Southeast, which shapes the mental map that we have of a space (Massey, 2006). However, the banlieues in Paris show that often boroughs outside the city center can have real consequences, for instance in terms of job opportunities (Wacquant et al., 2008). Although not all the women within this research experience Amsterdam Southeast as a bubble, several of them did explain that connecting each other with opportunities in and outside Amsterdam Southeast was important. During the 1980s and '90s mostly Dutch-Caribbean and Ghanaian communities, who were new in Amsterdam, moved into the apartments relied on social networks to help one another (F. Wassenberg, 2010). The residents that moved in had no previous connection to Amsterdam or Amsterdam Southeast and had to form a complete new local community.
The budget cuts to the original construction plan, limited social facilities, residents disconnected from the city and mostly tenants that were new to the city made it clear that it was a disaster waiting to happen. There was no social structure that could help to create a community (O’Neill, 1986). Even if there had been any kind of social structure, this would have been based on maintaining white Dutch society. Relocating Amsterdam residents, previously shaped by Amsterdam society, could have reproduced a social system and a local community (O’Neill, 1986). Since this did not happen, we will never know if the situation in Amsterdam Southeast would have been different. In the seventies 78% of the main tenants was earning a minimal income and 53% was earning less than they required (BijlmerMuseum, 2014).
Eventually, the affordability and economic downturn in the 1980s led to an area with a high rate of unemployment and other social problems (Binnie, Holloway, Millington, & Young, 2006).
The few public spaces were not based on local needs of the community, they were “hardly used and instead of friendly meetings in the covered walks and
hallways, the numerous semi-public spaces were filled with litter, drugs-dealers and homeless people” (F. Wassenberg, 2010, p. 194), which was of course not helpful to
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create any kind of community. Amsterdam Southeast needed activities, practices, and policies that would support positive connections and invested residents to foster a community (Weil, 1996). Part of the problem is that the mostly Afro and Caribbean Dutch community in Amsterdam Southeast were not included within the narrative of Dutch policy-making; they were seen as the other, as backward citizens that needed to adjust to Dutch society (Wekker, 2016). The policies were not in place to represent their needs, but the needs of white Dutch society. This explains the segregation policies that were in place for the new residents from Suriname (Heilbron, 2017). Furthermore, when policies would have been in place for minorities, especiallywomen, they would be scattered over several directorates, which would have made it hard to budget for their needs (Wekker, 2016). Locally it would have given them negotiable position, but within institutions their status would not have been flexible (Mills, 2007). Furthermore within Amsterdam Southeast there was no local pre-existing condition for residents, no local social institutions catering for their welfare needs, which gave them locally a powerful position, but within Amsterdam it left them with a intuitionally weaker positions (Mills, 2007). Even if there had been a pre-existing policy in place, it would be meant for a white Dutch disciplinary society. The social system would exclude minorities outside the narrative of Dutch society. Since there were no local policies in place that would cater to the needs of the mostly Afro and Caribbean Dutch communities in Amsterdam Southeast, the community had to organize themselves. This is reflected in several local activities, practices and the much-needed local policies to support their needs. As can be seen in the timeline about Amsterdam Southeast. The community themselves created their own forms of social connections and support systems. This practice is still reflected in the practices in the creative industry today. The Afro and Caribbean Dutch women in Amsterdam Southeast have created a community, a network that supports each other and exchanges knowledge and opportunities. As Babs said, we are creating their own opportunities and platforms for the stories they want to tell.
It is true that at the beginning there was little access to political power, but the difference in the case of Amsterdam Southeast is that there were no local old ways: no old organizations that had to be resisted; the only thing to resist was the absence of any organization. Even if there had been political power it would have been based on white Dutch society (Wekker, 2016). The experiences of the Amsterdam Southeast residents forced them to start creating and doing. Instead of only
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criticizing the current situation, the community had to be built in order to create their own support system. This contributed to some of the changes and helped to improve the livability of Amsterdam Southeast (Stal & Zuberi, 2010). Furthermore, the self-organization contributed to a network of safety nets for communities that arrived later in the process. The circumstances sound like a disaster, but during the mid-eighties Amsterdam Southeast was a lively district where almost anything was possible. Several residents used the streets for their own recreation and art installations (BijlmerMuseum, 2014).17
- 1987 60% of the Surinam youth in the Bijlmer is unemployed (between 18 – 35 years old) - 1987 Metro stops at Amsterdam Central Station, before that the metro did not go further than Weesperplein, which
is two stops before Amsterdam Central station.
- 1970 / 80 More and more activities were organized, a festival called “Blij met de Bijlmer” was organized in 1986, with
lots of food, a carnival, ice-cream and kid’s activities. Furthermore, several local facilities would be organized, like a local tv-station. Another example is the Surinam girls club; Mi Oso es Mi Kas, which means My House is Your House. (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- In the early seventies, Kwakoe was organized for the first time. Kwakoe is a festival that till this day still exists, it is
nationally and internationally well-known among mostly the Surinam community. The festival started out as picnic and a local football tournament, with fenders selling form their cars and Kwakoe grew into a big festival with food, football and international and national music (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- 1985 A member of parliament suggested, to demolish parts of the Bijlmer. The city of Amsterdam laughs at him. One
of the aldermen’s at says that the Municipal Executive rejects every thought of demolition. New Amsterdam places an advertisement in the newspapers: “Demolition? never!”(BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- 1987 ASWO-MOKRO an illegal café annex barbershop annex sandwich shop in Ganzenhoef in a neighborhood
accommodation, once set up as the cultural heart of the G-neighborhood, was closed by the police. Local Surinamese youth and elderly protest by occupying the nearby office of a community center (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- In 1994 Amsterdam Southeast, with 45,5% had a very high unemployment rate. At least 1200 households were
almost evicted and hundreds of families actual were put out of their residence (Bruijne et al., 2002).
- 1992 The District Council and Municipality of Amsterdam decided to approve the (demolition) plans, as further
elaborated by a local Committee (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- 1992 The physical urban restructuring process was accelerated when a cargo jet crashed into a block of flats on
the 4th of October in 1992 and had a huge impact on the residents of Amsterdam Southeast. The disaster caused 43
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2.2 Rebuilding Amsterdam Southeast
While Amsterdam Southeast might have been one of the liveliest areas of
Amsterdam, the problems and the socio-economic marginalization that was already present in the eighties continued in the nineties. The residents were still isolated from opportunities in the other parts of the city. There was political exclusion and
unemployment often due to the isolation and the lack of skills that was needed to make a living in Amsterdam (Binnie et al., 2006). Till this day the A10 ring road
separates the inner city from the outside boroughs, which creates a barrier between the inner and outer city (Savini, Boterman, van Gent, & Majoor, 2016). Amsterdam is not the only city that deals with disconnected boroughs: the banlieues in Paris are disconnected in similar ways (Wacquant et al., 2008).
At the end of the 1980s, the still very new buildings already needed structural renovation. So, addressing the socio-economic situation and physical state of the buildings was urgent. In 1990, the municipality created a renewal plan that involved physical plans and socio-economic developments. The district council and the housing corporation together planned a large-scale urban renewal (Binnie et al., 2006). The plan would contain three main parts: physical renewal, socio-economic development and improving livability. The physical renewal plan was to renovate and demolish parts of the high-rises, the socio-economic part mainly focused on employment and the empowerment of women, and the third element was partly about intensifying the maintenance of public and semi-public spaces to improve safety and reduce vandalism. Even though the municipality set up a large-scale urban renewal plan, the local community was not involved in the process (F. Wassenberg, 2010).
It is no surprise that the Amsterdam Southeast locals started to speak up about the fact that the plans for urban renewal did not include them. The community started to resist against the municipality, and demanded to be heard and to be involved in the renewal plans. This was about more than just resisting the status quo and challenging what already was, it was about forming a new community
(Duncombe, 2007). Here a new community wanted to be seen and included within institutional power, the municipality. The municipality should have been negotiating the needs of Amsterdam Southeast’s community and the realization of that what was needed (Mills, 2007). Eventually, the local community vocalizing their needs
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forced the municipality to step up, and a questionnaire was set up. Almost 70% of more than 3,500 households responded and supported the idea of demolishing more high-rise blocks (F. Wassenberg, 2010).The Amsterdam Southeast community and the municipality shaped based on interaction between each other and should not be separated. The municipality needs to negotiate for the community and the community needs room to organize themselves (Mills, 2007). This can only be done when the local municipality has enough leeway to act on its own, without the often limited white Dutch policies (Wekker, 2016). This is, when the municipality actually involves the needs of the local community and is not blinded by national policies. A disciplinary power that leaves enough room for the Amsterdam Southeast community can help them to make decisions based on their local needs, since they had to do this all along.
Furthermore, most individuals did not have a pre-existing institutional connection with Amsterdam. There was no set of symbols that coordinated and regulated and negotiated social interactions (Mills, 2007). When you read “White innocence” (Wekker, 2016), it shows that during that time in some ways the
Amsterdam Southeast community did benefit from the non-existing disciplinary white Dutch society. If the political power had been present, one wonders if it would have been beneficial for local residents. The policies that were in place at that time, would have never been able to cater to the needs of a non-white community. Their needs would have been place outside white Dutch policies (Wekker, 2016). Thus, the Amsterdam Southeast community was able to form their own understanding of social interactions, as there were no old ways to be challenged. Since the
community invested in their own livability, has shared meaning makings connect the community and Amsterdam Southeast, it is no surprise that most people chose to stay in the area, and until today the area has retained most of its original community from the early days (Fainstein, 2008; Massey, 2006).
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- 1992 the first parts of the AJAX Arena, the stadium is ready. There are 500 civil servants in the district 500. They
started at around 200 (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- 2004 Completion of the Cultural Educational Center on the Bijlmerdreef, on the spot where the parking garage for
Ganzenhoef / Grubbehoeve / Grunder used to be. The most important activities in the building are lower vocational education for young people and integration courses or language lessons for migrants(BijlmerMuseum, n.d.). OSCAM is located in this building.
- 2009 The Bijlmer Park Theater is finished, a local theatre intended for small theatre performances by Krater and the
Jeugdtheater. Both of them already have locations within the center of Amsterdam (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
- 2018 the employment rate has improved a lot since the early years, but Amsterdam Southeast still has the lowest
unemployment rate in the city, with 9%, compared to 6% in Amsterdam. However, the employment rates in Amsterdam Southeast have been improving the fastest within the city. (OIS, 2018).
- 2019 Bijlmermuseum, On May 29, 2019, the Bijlmer Museum area was designated as a municipal protected
townscape. Thanks to residents' initiatives, the apartment buildings located on either side of the metro track in the heart of the neighborhood were preserved, with the name "Bijlmer Museum" as the name of the town. In this smaller area, the present cultural-historical values are very recognizable as part of the original large urban development plan for the Bijlmer. This concerns the ensemble of the six high-rise apartments (Gooioord, Groeneveen, Grubbehoeve, Kikkenstein, Kleiburg and Kruitberg), the high metro track, the underlying green and water structure and the original bicycle and pedestrian bridges, which together form the Bijlmer Museum (BijlmerMuseum, n.d.).
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2.3 Amsterdam Southeast in 2019
When you read the several articles about Amsterdam Southeast this would suggest that the municipality was the driving force behind building and rebuilding Amsterdam Southwest. “The goal was to create an inclusive, livable and vibrant community across social, economic and racial lines” (Fainstein, 2008; Massey, 2006). I would suggest it was the other way around: the residents provided a precedent that made the municipality step up and provide the facilities that were much needed. This resulted in a collective community on which currently can be built, with a strong sense of thinking from the perspective of “we” and collectivity (Bruijne et al., 2002). Luckily the unemployment rate in 2018 has dropped a lot since the early years, but Amsterdam Southeast still has the highest unemployment rate in the city, with 9%, compared to 6% in Amsterdam overall (OIS, 2018). Nevertheless, not only has the unemployment rate reduced throughout the years, but there is a growing
community that creates chances for new businesses and creates significant value for Amsterdam Southeast. Furthermore, scholarly improvements have resulted in
students with higher grades (Bruijne et al., 2002). Amsterdam Southeast was seen as an example of disastrous urban design, but has slowly changed into an example of how we can live and work within a city (ZO!city, 2015). As said by Dewy’s mom, because of hard work from the local community Amsterdam Southeast has changed a lot from the early days.
The process of change is still ongoing. In the coming years, project developers will build 35,000 houses in Amsterdam Southeast. The current development project is the biggest building project since the start of Amsterdam Southeast. History shows that local plans need to involve the community. Additionally, it is important to know that several projects are separated from existing blocks by the metro line and could become a completely segregated enclave from the rest of Amsterdam Southeast. Just like the separating force of the A10 ring road that surrounds the inner city, the metro line can have the same separating force (Savini et al., 2016). Furthermore the municipality has to facilitate an environment that has differentiation in terms of facilities, mixed incomes and affordable housing for young well-educated
professionals who are already residents in Amsterdam Southeast (Savini et al., 2016). For two reasons it is important that in light of these developments Amsterdam
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and newcomers. First, local people who are already living in Amsterdam Southeast should be able to stay and profit from social improvements and economic growth in the area. Second, it should attract people from outside who actually want to live in the Bijlmer: newcomers that would like to invest in and connect with the existing community in Amsterdam Southeast (Hulsman, 2018).Another aspect that can play a part in amplifying this charter is the creative industry. The Amsterdam Economic Board believes that the creative industry can have a positive influence on sustainability, manufacturing industries, life sciences and health, smart cities, financial business, tourism and food (Amsterdam Economic Board, 2014). However, there is a lot of critique about the creative industries, as the contribution of neighborhoods is not clear enough. One of the problems is that in the process of attracting the creative class, locals are often excluded from being a part of the change (Keere, de & Swyngedouw, 2018). Here again it is clear that policies need to be based on local needs. Therefore, it is important to amplify the community that feels connected and has a shared responsibility in Amsterdam Southeast. One group that is connected to the creative industry and has a strong involvement in the local community is the non-white Dutch women in the creative industry in
Amsterdam Southeast. They have been trying to make connections on different levels with the rest of Amsterdam, the Netherlands and sometimes even
internationally. In some ways the creative industry can contribute in creating a familiar space, that makes outsiders feel safe in Amsterdam Southeast(Guadeloupe & Halfman, 2019). However, most important remains that local creative professionals are included in this new process of change. This chapter about Amsterdam
Southeast has to be seen as the background of the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women that work within the creative industry of Amsterdam, since this provides the imaginary and geographical space that partially shapes their work (Massey, 2006).
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3. Literature review
This chapter will explain how several topics impact the work of the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women that work in the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast. The current representation of Afro and Dutch Caribbean Dutch communities in contemporary Dutch society, show that some stories are often excluded but that several professional in the creative industry are changing this (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019). The narratives that are produced within the creative industry and the meaning-making of representations have an impact on the work of the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women in Amsterdam Southeast (Hall, 1997). The production of their work functions as a counter hegemonic culture: creative work that challenges existing representations within contemporary Dutch society(hooks, 1990). Another aspect that is being addressed are the policies within the creative industry that can have exclusionary consequences (Wekker, 2016). These policies are not capable of including multiple identifications within Dutch contemporary society (Essed &
Nimako, 2006). Together with an unclear understanding of the creative industry (Galloway & Dunlop, 2007), this has an impact on the work of the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women. The locality of the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast creates shared practices and networks (Bettiol & Sedita, 2011). While at the same time there are local differences, since ‘shared meanings’ can never completely unified(Hall, 1997). The shared practices and differences allow the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women in the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast to expand their skills and connections in and outside Amsterdam Southeast. Further it creates a local social and cultural capital in the creative industry that is expanding through connections outside of Amsterdam Southeast (Bourdieu, 2002).
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3.1 Afro and Caribbean Dutch narratives within the creative industry in
contemporary Dutch society
“The Netherlands was one of the major colonial empires involved in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. This history has left behind traces in the contemporary Dutch society,
and yet it is underexposed” (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019, p. 2).
This quote connects to the work of several Afro and Caribbean Dutch women in the creative industry, as Babs explained during our conversation. She wants to make sure that the next generation will be included and reflected in the stories and images that are presented, an believes that the archives and the depots of museum should be open for everyone. This is about expanding the ‘shared meaning’
meanings of images and representations of Dutch narratives (Hall, 1997). Stories of Afro and Caribbean Dutch community have been underexposed and
underrepresented within contemporary Dutch society, but this is slowly changing. In recent years, several Afro and Caribbean Dutch artists have been addressing this in multiple ways. Examples are the articles from writer Karin Amatmoekrim about the concealed Dutch history of several countries in the Caribbean (Amatmoekrim, 2017), and a collection of poems “Let’s not talk about it”, published by rapper Akwasi in 2018, which referred to things that are not said but actually should be talked about (Belgers, 2018). Another example is Brian Elstak, a visual artist, illustrator, painter and children's book writer, who in the past years has released two children’s books. He did not see enough books for children of color and changed this with the books “Tori” and “Trobi”, which mean " story" and "fight", respectively, in Sranan Tongo (Claus, 2018). Furthermore, there is the store Colored Goodies in Amsterdam Noord, which is most famous for its black dolls. The founders' aim is to provide different dolls, to make sure every child feels represented (Bolwijn, 2018). These practices show that there is a wave of Afro and Caribbean Dutch creative professionals exposing
narratives that are underexposed within contemporary Dutch society.
Creative professionals are creating counter-hegemonic cultural productions and are dismantling the existing dominant power of stories within contemporary Dutch society, this is no easy task since some people have more power to speak on certain topics(Hall, 1997). Counter-hegemonic cultural productions produce cultural narratives that challenge and dismantle dominant representation within
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the Afro and Caribbean Dutch community stories that have always been there, hidden in archives, part of local theaters, local cultural institutions and local exhibitions, as well as narratives that have been passed on from generation to generation. As Babs explained in our conversation, she would listen to her grandma, mother, nieces, uncles and aunts for hours:(NL) “Mijn oom, (…) dat is voor mij echt een zuidoost icoon en hij was de beste story teller ever”.
(ENG) “My uncle, (….) for me he was a true Amsterdam Southeast icon and he was the best storyteller ever”.
(Babs, May 2019)
These narratives have often been marginalized in the Dutch narrative (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019). Creative production is a space of imaginative possibilities and can create a liberating paradigm, especially when the creation process is not focused on the commercial marketplace, but on the formation of a canon that legitimates the creation of work from black creative professionals and challenges the colonial imperial paradigms of black identity (hooks, 1990). Local examples from the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast include: Untold, that has been creating theater shows in Amsterdam Southeast since 2003 with and for Afro Dutch youngsters to make them aware of their collective identity (“Untold,” n.d.); ImagineIC, an
exhibition space that has been curating the city and especially Amsterdam
Southeast for almost 20 years; and finally MAFB, an international program to support talent in the fashion industry, that started 2008 in Amsterdam Southeast and since its first show in the youth production house has been able to grow and connect
projects in Amsterdam Southeast with institutions in the rest of Amsterdam and internationally. In these examples, the creative industry is using creative productions to expose the history, stories and images that have been marginalized in the
dominant Dutch narrative (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019). In that sense, the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast is a space where transmission of creative
productions comes to life (hooks, 1990). Exposing the work of Afro and Caribbean Dutch women in the creative industry can help to include voices of women that have been forgotten or neglected. Creative work that should not be valued based on market value, but based on Afro and Caribbean Dutch aesthetics (Ponzanesi,
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2014). Which as mentioned before can contain a multitude of classifications.Additionally, having the power to define meaning makings within the creative industry could be compared to the Harlem Renaissance, as during the Harlem Renaissance artists and writers sought alternative ways to produce representations. Further research should be done to make a sustainable claim about connection. The work of Afro and Caribbean Dutch women needs to be placed in the framework of the individual artist, the political context and the social context.
3.2 Understanding of the creative industry
The independent research organization, Technology Research and Advice (TNO) in the Netherlands, uses three key elements, to define the creative industry. The three key elements are; symbolic meaning, creative entrepreneurship and creativity (Rutten, P., Manshanden, W.J.J., Muskens, J., & Koops, O., 2004). Additionally, TNO makes a distinction between different markets in the creative industry, art, media and entertainment and creative financial services. Furthermore, they separate other elements in those markets. The definition from TNO might seem clear, but it fails to analyze what symbolic meaning, entrepreneurship and creativity, implies. Symbolic meaning in the context of the creative industry is about activities that produce economic value. Activities that primarily deal with symbolic goods derived from their cultural value (Galloway & Dunlop, 2007). DiMaggio (2011), does not give a clear understanding of the meaning making in the creative industry, but does states that the organization of meaning makings trough networks are important in the production of culture. According to him it is not the individual artist that is producing the work, but collaborative networks are producing the art (DiMaggio, 2011). This connects with the call from hooks, for counter-hegemonic productions from the black community (hooks, 2012). Still it does not give a clear understanding of what is the creative industry. The meaning creativity within this context is even harder to describe. Since it suggests that ‘any’ creative activity is part of the creative industry, which is far too broad to be used as key understanding (Galloway &
Dunlop, 2007). Others draw attention to the meaning that professionals within the creative industry give to their work (Bridges, 2018). Angela McRobbie, writes about the different practices within the creative industry, but is using both art and culture. She is refers to several practices, like music, art, acting, graphic design, that are part of the creative industry, but does not specify the meaning of the creative industry
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(McRobbie, 2016). Based on the previous elements, the creative industry deals with anything that has creative meaning. Even Florida (2002), who has written excessively about the creative industry has a very broad definition of the creative industry and includes even sciences, engineering, architecture and design and education. These different concepts of the creative industry are all too broad to have any clear understanding of the creative industry is.The understanding of creative products and labor is just as broad as the
understanding of the creative industry. TNO does not even address creative products and labor, it leaves out intellectual property, use value, joint goods and production methods (Rutten, P. et al., 2004). Dissecting creative intellectual property in this context could help to recognize creative products. Including intellectual property, or any other aspects would give a better understanding of the creative products and creative labor. Conor, Gill and Taylor (2015) describe the creative labor as work that produces aesthetic and symbolic meanings, instead of functional products (Conor et al., 2015). However, this would still be too broad, because it includes science, engineering and academia, therefore it fails to equipped recognize distinct aspects of the creative products (Galloway & Dunlop, 2007).
Furthermore, products from the creative industry that are seen as high-quality and innovative often get different budgets and productions from minority groups that are often excluded from the high-quality label (Essed & Trienekens, 2008). During a talk show at the Rode Hoed, a debate center in Amsterdam, a woman that is part of the creative community within Amsterdam Southeast, was wondering if there is an equal distribution of resources. She asked if collaborations with big institution in the city center of Amsterdam can be seen as equal. How can equal partnership be achieved if foundations have white frameworks and criteria that looks at quality of art based on that (Rode Hoed, 2018). Which can be understood based on the fact that craftmanship by creative professionals, prestige and concepts like
cosmopolitism, authenticity and ethnic-chic are is still defined based on old Western paradigms (Ponzanesi, 2014). This would not be the case if committees in foundations were able to identify creative paradigms of black narratives (hooks, 1990). It could be questioned if committees are equipped to identify what productions from the Afro and Caribbean Dutch community are innovative and of high quality. Previously this was solved by creating explicit budgets for fostering diversity within the creative industry. When this changed in 2012 several Afro and Caribbean Dutch initiatives had
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to deal with large budget cuts and did not survive (Coronel, 2012). In a personal letter in 2014, the founders of the MC Theater in Amsterdam called this the “death of black theater” (De Vrieze, 2014). The meaning-making within policies influences what is perceived as the creative industry and high-end creative products andreproduces and values white Dutch cultural excellence (Savage, Hanquinet,
Cunningham, & Hjellbrekke, 2018). Additionally, the meaning-making within policies often represents the white majority, which enforces the exclusion of minorities within creative workplaces in urban spaces. In that sense foundations are the one in control and have the power to define meaning makings in the creative industry (Hall, 1997).
The foundations as “experts” are gatekeepers that assesses the work of
creative professional, which gives them the power to determines quality. However, it is important to understand that the debate about the Dutch canon of the creative industry involves numerous classifications, perceptions of quality and cultural
traditions (Ponzanesi, 2014). This shows that an unclear perception of the creative industry, creative products and failing to properly identify Dutch communities can amplify the failure of applications to submit significant application within the context of foundations based on Dutch policies on the creative industry. On top of that, foundations fail to recognize significant applications. Thus, due to policies,
foundations fail to understand that some art & cultural activities need to be placed in a creative context that cannot always be captured by the market or the existing understanding of culture (Galloway & Dunlop, 2007). Last but not least it is important, not to forget the role of the market when it comes to creative products, within the literary world the market is becoming stronger and stronger. Creative work becomes about market exchange value, instead of aesthetics qualities and is often framed within the western tradition (Ponzanesi, 2014).
3.3 “Homogeneous” policies
Even though Afro and Caribbean Dutch women are part of producing ‘shared meanings’ and representations of Afro and Caribbean Dutch narratives that are under exposed, there are other influential aspects. I argue that the policies within the Netherlands are not equipped to including a multitude of identities and moreover there is no clear understanding of what the creative industry entails. This becomes clear when you analyze how different communities within the Netherlands are
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addressed. Within most research, Afro and Caribbean Dutch women are identified as first, second or third generation migrants. The term that was used till recently is allochthon, which has been taken out of policy documents for exactly that reason (Sommer & Meijer, 2016). The word allochthonous, within Dutch policies, refers to ethnic minorities and is used for non-natives (Essed & Nimako, 2006). The word allochthone is exclusionary: within policy documents, groups are often identified in ways that amplify group differences (Essed, 2002; Wekker, 2016), which can frame Afro and Caribbean Dutch women outside of the existing Dutch organizational cultures and structures that could benefit them within the creative industry. This shows the preferences for sameness and the difficulty to include multiple identifications for Dutch citizens (Essed, 1996, 2002). Moreover, the notion of homogeneous Dutch citizenship is strongly connected to the understanding of who belongs to the nations-state, which frames descendants of postcolonial or labor migrants often asoutsiders(Modest, 2014).
The problem here is that the policies are not adequate to include multiple identifications and flexible understanding of different identities (Essed, 1996). As shown before, the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women in the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast all have different ways of identifying themselves within Dutch society. “The more fundamental problem of cultural cloning [of spheres of privilege is] embedded in the very fabric of our societies”(Essed, 2002, p. 3). Unclarity about the creative industry and
creative products and the failure to properly identify Afro and Caribbean Dutch women within Dutch
policies can have severe implications on their work. Especially since a lot of work within the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast is direct and indirect subsidized through funding.
Foundations:
In the Netherlands most art and cultural companies, institutions, and ensemble are funded, but not directly by the government. When possible, they are funded through cultural foundations, with each their own expertise. The culture foundations all have different programs, like short and long term project funding’s, scholarships and grants for artists' initiatives (Ministerie van Onderwijs, 2014).
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It might not be possible to find a fixed and stable meaning of the creativeindustry, but it is useful to create a clear distinction between the different terms within policies (Cunningham, 2002), especially when professionals indirectly and directly depend on funding from foundations that are heavily influenced by government policies. The unclarity about the creative industry within policies trickles down to those foundations and fails to clearly separate the different fields and cultural expressions (Galloway & Dunlop, 2007).
This research and the debate about inclusivity in the creative industry deal with culture and therefore meaning-making of Dutch society in terms of policies, which have been shown to be ill-equipped for dealing with multiple identifications of Dutchness (Essed, 1996, 2002; Essed & Nimako, 2006). Policies are incapable of including multiple identifications and therefore have an impact on creative
representations that are placed outside of contemporary Dutch society (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019; Essed, 1996). The debate about inclusivity is about who and what
products are allowed to be part of the creative industry. Part of that debate deals with the exclusion of black art in the Dutch art narrative (Rode Hoed, 2018). This is no surprise when cultural policies in general are not equipped to include a broader lens and often reproduce white Dutch cultural ideologies(Miller & Yudice, 2002). Although the inclusivity debate is relevant in connection to the creative industry, it is out of the scope of this research.
3.4 Shared practices in the creative industry
The restrictions based on policies, the limited understanding of the creative industry and the impact it has on the work of the Afro and Caribbean women within the creative industry must not be underestimated. However, there are practices that can counterbalance these boundaries.
Working in the creative industry often means that professionals are assigned or hired based on a project and work together with larger firms on short- or long-term projects (Mould, Vorley, & Liu, 2014). Within the context of Amsterdam Southeast, it is important to understand that their creative productions are not just projects, some hobbies, that the Afro and Caribbean Dutch women are working on. Because sometimes it seems that not everyone and mostly people from outside Amsterdam Southeast perceive their work as professional. I remember an older man outside of Amsterdam Southeast at Bijlmer Parktheater saying that in Southeast people are
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probably not interested in art. Their projects are part of their professional practices within the creative industry it is their work, their job, their livelihood, Ella made from Juiciety made this very clear. Most creative professional within the industry are highly educated and have a sufficient skill sets that helps them to take the risks that are needed for freelance and project-based work. Others need to work harder, have several projects and take jobs outside of the creative industry in addition to the creative projects that they work on (McRobbie, 2016). The period to work on aproject often depends on the kind of funding that can be used to finance a creative project. In Amsterdam Southeast, creative professionals work in several organizations and companies, as freelancers or in their own companies. Several professionals combine freelancing with other jobs or their own companies, like Dewy, who manages Juiciety, but does several other projects in and outside Amsterdam Southeast. For freelancers this means that securing a new project is an important aspect and for some this can create precarious situations (Setyaningsih, Rucita, Hani, & Rachmania, 2012). The end of each project means finding a new project and requires constant attentiveness (Conor et al., 2015). While working on projects, leaving a good impression to acquire your next freelance job is important (Mould et al., 2014).
However, in Amsterdam Southeast the creative industry is about more than just that. In Amsterdam Southeast, the creative industry creates a local space that allows women to combine raising children and projects, and combine private and
professional time during the projects that they are working on. Dewy and Ella of Juiciety not only manage the shop but also organize juice workshops, cater at local events and organize special brunches and are going to organize a local Caribbean health festival. Dewy has several freelance communication jobs, and often works for creative projects in Amsterdam Southeast. Freelancers are part of the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast, yet there is more. Organizations, foundations, creative agencies and freelancers sometimes work together and during other projects work on their own. Obtaining a new assignment is based on the project-based network in the creative industry (McRobbie, 2016). The opportunities for creative professionals are connected to the network of creative professionals in and outside Amsterdam Southeast.
Acquiring new projects asks for a market with a network of creative professionals and creative projects (McRobbie, 2016). This is partially provided through the
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community of creative professionals and projects in Amsterdam Southeast. Babs works together with a team of creative professionals, but additionally hiresfreelancers on a project basis. It would seem that there are enough creative projects for everyone in Amsterdam Southeast and everyone has equal chances. However, in general the creative industry is not as equal as it seems to be and women are often worse off (Coronel, 2012). This can make the situation for women more precarious than for men. This could be countered if women create a broad network and pass on opportunities to each other; when they create a bond based on commitment to the creative industry and the socio-economic development in Amsterdam
Southeast, and share skills and resources (hooks, 2000). On the other hand, being able to work on different projects does give women a sense of freedom and
independence, as well as an opportunity to mark their cultural identity and upward mobility (McRobbie, 2016).
Working in the creative industry is often seen as fascinating, but due to the importance of networking it can be a job where the private and professional overlap. Almost every evening or afternoon there is an event to attend. Some days you can start with an exhibition opening at CBK, a center for visual arts, from there go on to a talk about fashion at OSCAM and you might even be able to finish the evening with a show at Bijlmer Parktheater and support your fellow creatives. For some this is all part of the ‘fun’ of creative work, while others see it much more instrumentally as a source of potential economic or professional reward. Those who reject it then feel they are somehow ‘missing out’ (Lee, 2011). Some even say that the professionals in the creative industry find fulfillment in their work and the creative community, as a replacement for family kinship (McRobbie, 2016). In Amsterdam Southeast several women have been part of the “creative” community while growing up and the creative community in some ways is their extended family. Guen, who grew up in Amsterdam Southeast, went to the local theater school and still has close ties with several creative professionals that also grew up in the district. A network based on solidarity can create a space that allows differences and the fight for equality in the creative industry (hooks, 2000). An interdependent creative
network of Afro and Caribbean Dutch women that can support each can help fight policies that often do not include them or their work.
The community of Afro and Caribbean Dutch creative female professionals in Amsterdam Southeast amplifies a local community with shared practices that
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contribute to a common identity. However, again we must understand that identity is never unitary (Guadeloupe & Halfman, 2019). The ‘shared meaning’ of practices and identities can make it sound like the local community is unified in these ideals, but we have to understand that are divers meaning and understandings (Hall, 1997). In Amsterdam Southeast, the network creates social relations that protects them from outsiders that do not share their “true spirits” (Bettiol & Sedita, 2011).The socio-cultural elements in Amsterdam Southeast can create a specific vocabulary and additional skills are often transmitted through personal connections (Felton, Collis, & Graham, 2010). The creative professionals consider each other based on terms of quality, reliability and adaptability in the context of Amsterdam Southeast. Yet, the local community with shared practices gives them the
opportunity to consider professionals outside their own network on communality and “true spirit” (Lee, 2011). Outside professionals that might not share the same meaning making of Amsterdam Southeast and the creative industry. As Babs said, they can be equal partners, but they do not get to come here and make use of our creative minds “take our coolness”.
Being connected to a suburban location can limit potential external growth and network opportunities (Felton et al., 2010). The Afro and Caribbean Dutch women are aware of the disconnect to the city that can exist in Amsterdam Southeast, Kaya calls Amsterdam Southeast a bubble and others consciously make connections between Amsterdam Southeast and other parts of Amsterdam. So creative
professionals in Amsterdam Southeast might have a powerful local position, but this has to be distinct from institutional power related to Amsterdam and the Netherlands (Mills, 2007). Their shared practices help other creative professionals and the next generations to negotiated their positions in and outside Amsterdam Southeast. Guen, therefore finds it important to connect different groups that otherwise not be part of each other’s world. When women come together and align their goals it becomes possible to demand better conditions and in this case equal treatment and end notions of sexism (hooks, 2000). Key members within the community in Amsterdam Southeast can function as channels to spread knowledge, skills and networks. However, being part of the community, sharing values and interests is not enough; shared projects are often important among professionals (Bettiol & Sedita, 2011). In addition to that, it is important to understand that fighting forms of
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(hooks, 2000). This connects with the power dimension that is created with thehomogeneous understanding of Dutch citizenship, which does not give any room for the meaning makings of postcolonial descendants or labor migrants (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019; Modest, 2014). When communities are capable of uniting several women from various cultural backgrounds it allows them to not only support the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast, but can help them to end economic exploitation (hooks, 2000).
Being part of a skillful community of creative professionals that respects you becomes more important when there is no unionization for freelancers, which amplifies their precarity and vulnerable position (Mould et al., 2014). Sharing and exchanging skills that create a learning environment become more important. This helps other professionals to share their practices, imagine a new world and align their activities in order to be part of a larger structure (Bettiol & Sedita, 2011). In
Amsterdam Southeast, the Afro and Caribbean Dutch creative professionals are not only imagining a new world within the locality of Amsterdam Southeast (Massey, 2006), but they are imagining a world that exhibits their work and profession within Amsterdam and Dutch contemporary society (Esajas & de Abreu, 2019). As Bernice said, she wants her color to be seen for who she is and understands that this just means she has a different reference point. The women's common imagination for Amsterdam Southeast, the creative industry and their work reflect their “true spirit”. It is a practice of shared values and common interest in Amsterdam Southeast. Which helps them to negotiate their position outside of Amsterdam were they have to deal with institutional power, that has another hierarchal position and is not catered to their needs (Mills, 2007; Wekker, 2016).
3.5 Cultural capital of the creative industry in Amsterdam Southeast
Cultural capital can be seen as your palate of colors that can be used to paint your position within a particular framework (Bourdieu, 2002). Cultural capital can have three forms: embodied, objective and institutionalized state. The embodied state has to do with time and intergenerational capital and is about cultural
cultivation (Bourdieu, 2002). It is a form of character building that gives you the ability to speak and move in a way that is needed within the context that you are in. This can be amplified through shared practices and a community with specific
