Living up to a bohemian work ethic. Balancing autonomy and risk in the symbolic economy of the performing arts

Abstract

Empirical studies generally report that aspiring a career in the performing arts is risky business. Within the contemporary European context of neoliberal capitalism, the particular workforce is inclined to occupy a precarious socio-economic position. We aim to contribute to this body of research by discussing how risk and precarity in the artworld are macro- and meso-governed by existing structures and micro-managed by agents. Our data stem from empirical research conducted among members of the contemporary dance population in Brussels and Berlin. We focus for the most part on qualitative findings from longitudinal ethnographic fieldwork to discuss how the informants live up to a bohemian work ethic that is framed by a more general symbolic economy. In this paper, we argue that within the longstanding sociological agency-structure debate, the outlined bohemian work ethic ties in with the concept of an autonomous heteronomy. Furthermore, despite the relatively different socio-economic macro structures in both locales, we come to conclude that the very similar symbolic economy seems to have a much greater impact on artistic and economic risk taking than the specific social security policy and welfare approaches.