Creativity and innovation, or: What have the arts ever done for us?

My typical reaction to the words ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’ in close proximity is exasperation mixed with pessimism. Like probably no other phrase, creativity and innovation stand for a ‘creative industries-turn’ in cultural policy that occurred from the late 1990s onwards (Menger 2013, Oakley 2009, Oakley et al. 2014). In the UK, the complementing visual of this creative industries-turn is the image of Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher attending the then newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair’s media party at 10 Downing Street in 1997: a new era with arts and culture at the heart of policy. Nearly two decades and much critical discussion later, the ‘creativity and innovation’-mantra seems to have lost none of its power and promise. As a researcher of cultural work I ‘naturally’ get asked to write about creativity and innovation or to apply for research money from innovation-focused funding schemes. I say arts and culture, you say creativity and innovation. My heart sinks every single time. And here is why. [Opening paragraph]